Happy New Year – unless your toilet blocks!

Drain Doctor franchisees across the country have been busy over Christmas and the days since, sorting out emergency plumbing problems for households and businesses.  Blocked drains, blocked loos, leaking pipes – it is all in a day’s work for Drain Doctor, even over the festive holiday.

Don’t forget that Drain Doctor will also be working on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day offering the same high standard of service at the same competitive prices as it does all through the rest of the year. There are no call-out charges and no ‘overtime rates’ for working on bank holidays.

So, all of us at Drain Doctor hope you have a great New Year celebration. If a plumbing disaster does strike, though, give us a call on 0800 3357 999.

Avoid toilet stress this Christmas with a few tips from the Drain Doctor

Follow Drain Doctor's tips for a stress free Christmas

If you are hosting a Christmas party or family get together this year you’ll want to add preparing your kitchen and bathroom to your list of things to do. You don’t need a plumbing disaster ruining the festive fun.

Christmas is probably the largest single day of food consumption in the UK.

According to statistics from the British Turkey Information Service, in the UK at Christmas we consume approximately 10 million turkeys, 25 million Christmas puddings, 250 million pints of beer and 35 million bottles of wine. Meanwhile, Santa chomps his way through roughly seven million mince pies left for him by children on Christmas Eve.

At this time of year your family and friends cram into your home to help eat all that food, which means your kitchen drains and toilets will likely be working overtime.

Drain Doctor Plumbing and Drainage has some handy precautions that you can take before your guests arrive to help keep your home’s plumbing in good working order:

• Throw food scraps in the bin and put left over vegetable matter like sprout and potato peelings in the compost pile.
• Avoid pouring grease down the drain, because grease hardens when it’s in your pipes and can cause a blockage over time.
• Wipe off greasy plates and pans with a paper towel before washing them.
• Remove small objects from the top of your toilet tank that could fall in causing it to block up.
• Make sure your rubbish bin is easy to see so guests won’t flush paper towels, napkins or facial tissue down the toilet.
• You may want to stock your bathroom with single-ply toilet paper, depending on the number of people attending your party. This can really help to avoid a blockage.

These tips will help keep your plumbing in good working condition. However, if you are unlucky enough to have a plumbing emergency, Drain Doctor is on call at Christmas, and there’s never an overtime or call-out charge.

Drain Doctor price check to beat rogue traders

Drain Doctor prices its jobs before work starts according to a national pricing menu.

According to this story in The Telegraph about a pensioner who was charged £14,000 for unblocking his drain, rogue traders are still giving the emergency plumbing industry a bad name.

Drain Doctor is keen to dispel that image. That’s why the UK’s largest emergency plumbing and drainage repair company is reassuring its customers that it is maintaining its price check policy, even over bank holiday weekends.

No overtime is charged for evening, weekend or bank holiday emergencies and there are no call-out charges. Every job is priced and agreed with the customer before work starts, working to a national pricing menu.

We are truly on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Service requests are handled quickly and efficiently and prices are agreed before the job is done, so there are no surprises. Our constant aim is to give superb and specialised service.

Drain Doctor customers can rest assured that if they are unfortunate enough to suffer a plumbing emergency over the coming August Bank Holiday weekend, Drain Doctor will not charge any more than at any other time of year.

Franchisees offer a full 24 hour per day seven day per week service with no call out charges and they give fixed-price, no obligation quotes with a full guarantee on all their work.

Related articles

• Unblock your drain? That’ll be £14,400 please (telegraph.co.uk)
• OFT warns against rogue traders this winter (confused.com)

Drain Doctor helps householders avoid rip-off plumbers

A burst pipe or blocked lavatory is a problem at any time and it can prove to be an expensive nightmare. ‘Rip-off’ plumbers can charge a small fortune just to take a look at the problem.

If you needed a reminder of just how much of a financial nightmare this can be and how some companies are damaging the reputation of the emergency plumbing and drainage industry, just take a look at this from the Guardian newspaper’s Consumer Champions. One firm in Reading in Berkshire charged a customer over £500 for half an hour’s work, billing them by direct debit, allegedly without gaining their agreement to do this first or advising the customer of call-out charges.

Drain Doctor is reassuring its customers that it is maintaining its price check policy, even if it is called out to an emergency late at night.

No overtime is charged for evening, weekend or bank holiday emergencies and there are no call-out charges. Every job is priced before work starts, working to a national pricing menu.

Drain Doctor chairman Freddie Mitman said: “We are truly on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Service requests are handled quickly and efficiently and prices are agreed before the job is done, so there are no surprises. Our constant aim is to give superb and specialised service.

“Drain Doctor customers can rest assured that if they are unfortunate enough to suffer a plumbing emergency at night, Drain Doctor will not charge any more than at any other time of day.”

Launched in the United Kingdom in 1993, Drain Doctor Plumbing has quickly grown to become the country’s largest emergency plumbing and drain repair service. It now provides a 24 hour a day, 365 days a year service in every part of the country with each franchise run as an independent business.

The central principle is to deliver dazzling levels of service in a market plagued by cowboy operators who are overcharging customers for shoddy workmanship.

Franchisees offer a full 24 hour per day seven-day per week service with no call out charges and they give fixed-price, no obligation quotes with a full guarantee on all their work.

Technicians are trained not just with technical skills – including the latest techniques such as closed circuit camera drain surveys and no-dig drain repairs – but in customer care that is reflected in such things as wearing overshoes while in customers’ homes and clearing up carefully after every job.

Plumber saves Christmas

Image via Wikipedia

A poet at our sister company in the USA – Mr Rooter – has written the following which appears on the Mrs Rooter blog.

We thought we would share it with you this Christmas Eve.

Christmas Eve it was Snowing

The weather was cold

But Santa and his reindeer

Continued on so bold

 

The clickety-clack of the reindeer paws

And the ho-ho-ho of dear Santa Claus

 He sprang to the chimney in less than a dash

And landed below with a terrible splash

 The chimney you see to Santa’s amazement

Went to the fireplace down in the basement

 The sewer was blocked and all he could see

Was two feet of water and floating “uch”

 Santa thought he was finished

He’d not get to his sled

When a shadow appeared

Top of the stairs dead ahead

 The bangety-bang-bang of a sewer machine

As it came down the steps for the sewer to clean

 Santa then smiled cause in the dim light

Mr. Rooter was there to deliver his plight

 Merry Christmas said he

And Santa replied

If it wasn’t for you

Christmas could’ve been done

The basement was clean in less than an hour

Santa went up to catch a quick shower

 Mr. Rooter was gone by the time Santa was done

But he swore to his reindeer he’d tell everyone

 

Mr. Rooter saved Christmas Santa said with a blink

HO-HO-HO don’t you know they’re “Quick as a Wink”.

 

Don’t forget, if you need a plumber today or tomorrow (or at any time over the holiday period) you can call Drain Doctor on 0800 70 71 72. There are no call-out charges and no extra costs for holiday working.

Related Articles

• Avoid rip-off Christmas plumbers (draindoctor.wordpress.com)
• Thanksgiving turkeys cause American plumbing problems (draindoctor.wordpress.com)

Don’t call the fire brigade

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You may find it difficult to believe – but apparently some people call the fire brigade when they have a burst pipe.

The brigade in Yorkshire is asking them to stop.

Don’t call the fire service, call Drain Doctor! Phone 0800 358 68 98. We are there throughout the Christmas holiday period – and still offering a full emergency plumbing service with no call-out charge and no extra costs for holiday working.

Thanksgiving turkeys cause American plumbing problems

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Thanksgiving Day in the USA, the fourth Thursday in November, is a holiday for most Americans – but one of the busiest days of the year for Mr Rooter, Drain Doctor’s equivalent plumbing and drainage company in the USA.

The reason? Too much food and turkey fat going down the drain and the garbage disposal systems of American kitchens.

The  Mrs Rooter blog gives some good advice to avoid Thanksgiving plumbing problems. Although USA-style garbage disposal units are rare in the UK, the advice about not putting fat and grease down the drain is good advice on either side of the Atlantic.

Of course, over here it is Christmas rather than Thanksgiving that is the big holiday – and the big day for eating turkey. Mrs Rooter’s Thanksgiving advice is just as valid on 25 December, however.

Drain Doctor does not charge extra for turning out on Christmas Day (or at any other time) but your Christmas will surely be more enjoyable if you do not need to ring us!

If you do need us, though, just call 0800 70 71 72.

Cat stuck in toilet Down Under

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First we had bank worker Mary Bale getting caught on CCTV depositing a moggy in a wheelie bin.

Now it seems kittens are getting flushed down toilets. New South Wales emergency services were called to a home in Sydney’s North West recently when a kitten was flushed down a loo by a two-year old girl. The kitten survived.  Rescuers were able to locate the pussy using a CCTV camera in the drain. They removed the toilet and a concrete slab in order to get the kitten out.

Hopefully the little girl wasn’t unduly influenced by Ding Dong Bell. Anyway, all’s well that ends well.

Remember, don’t use the toilet like a rubbish bin. Don’t flush large items such as nappies and avoid flushing wet wipes and materials that don’t break down in the water. If the toilet blocks – call the Drain Doctor.

Related Articles

• Soggy moggy flushed down toilet (news.theage.com.au)
• Soggy moggy survives toilet flushing (news.theage.com.au)
• Firemen Rescue Flushed Kitten (neatorama.com)
• Toilet terror for newborn Aussie kitten (newsinfo.inquirer.net)

Check plumbing now to avoid winter disasters

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It might seem hard to believe as we bask in the Indian Summer sunshine but winter is just around the corner. The long-range weather forecast from the Met Office says we’re in for unsettled weather and spells of frost towards the end of October. Then the clocks go back an hour and before you know it the late autumn weather will have given away to winter.

Perhaps it’s a little early, but checking your plumbing and drainage now and following a few simple tips now could save a lot of frustration later. 

Turning off your central heating in the winter can lead to the system freezing, causing a burst pipe.  Ice in the pipes can put them under immense pressure and both metal and plastic pipes can be affected.  The most vulnerable to damage are pipes in areas exposed to severe cold, such as outdoor hoses and water supply pipes in unheated areas like the garage, cellar or attic.

Disconnect external hoses and store them before the onset of winter. Also insulate external taps.

Don’t leave garage doors open where there is a water supply pipe that is likely to freeze.  Pipes can freeze up in a matter of minutes in severely cold weather.

You could add anti-freeze to the water in the central heating system.  Pour anti-freeze into the cistern in accordance with manufacturer’s instructions then drain off enough water to allow it to be drawn into the system.  After restoring the water in the cistern to its correct level, turn on the heating for a short while to allow the anti-freeze to mix thoroughly with the water.

If you suffer regularly from burst pipes invest in some trace heat tape to keep the temperatures of the problem pipes above freezing point.  Wrap the tape around the pipe before lagging it.  One end will be attached to a special block supplied with the tape, the other to the frost thermostat.  As the temperature drops, the thermostat switches on and the tape heats up just enough to prevent the pipes from freezing.

It’s also a good idea to know where your stopcock is. If you are unfortunate to have your pipes freeze then you will need to turn off the water supply to the house. Find the tap which is at the lowest point in the house and turn it on to allow water in the system caused by the thawing ice to drain away. Then find the frozen pipe and gently heat it with a hair dryer to melt the ice. Never use a naked flame to do this.

If you do end up with burst pipes this winter and you need emergency repairs then call a qualified plumber. Drain Doctor technicians are on call 24 hours a day seven days a week and there is no emergency call out charge

Suffolk Drain Doctor to the rescue

Drain Doctor Plumbing (www.draindoctor.co.uk) has come to the rescue of a holiday maker who had lost her keys and looked set to miss a flight to the sun. 

The Drain Doctor franchise covering Suffolk recently received a panic phone call at 9.30am from a lady in Stowmarket, Suffolk. She was due to leave home to catch a flight for a family holiday. However, she had just dropped her car keys down the toilet! 

Recognising the urgency and always ready to display dazzling levels of service, customer service representative Daisy Simpson immediately diverted a technician who was just 15 minutes away from another job to answer the emergency call. 

He arrived within 20 minutes, removed the toilet pan and retrieved the customer’s car keys. The job was completed quickly and efficiently and the customer was able to leave in time to get to the airport and catch her flight. 

As a husband and father I can appreciate how stressed our customer must have felt at the time. I am so pleased we were able to help and hope they are now relaxing by a pool somewhere.

The customer was unavailable for comment – she was on holiday with her family!