methods
Drain jetting vs rodding: which do I need?
Rods are great for solid blockages, jetting wins for fat, scale and roots. Here's a plain-English comparison.
Both work. They're just better at different things.
Drain rods
Linked plastic-tipped rods, screwed together and pushed through the drain by hand.
Best for:
- Solid blockages (toys, wipes, fat plugs you can punch through)
- Locating a blockage when you don't know where it is
- Short runs and accessible chambers
Limitations:
- Won't clean the pipe walls
- Limited reach (typically 12–20 metres)
- Won't cut roots
Cost: Often the cheapest first option. Around £80–£140 for a simple domestic job.
High-pressure water jetting
A flexible hose with a nozzle, pushed through the drain at pressures up to 4,000 PSI. Different nozzle shapes do different jobs.
Best for:
- Fat, grease and scale (kitchen runs, restaurants)
- Root mass (with a cutter head)
- Silting in storm and surface-water lines
- Cleaning a pipe before a CCTV survey
- Long runs (40m+)
Limitations:
- Needs water on site (or a bowser)
- Pressure has to be set correctly for old clay or pitch-fibre pipes
- Costs more than rodding
Cost: From £180 for a van-pack jet on a domestic run.
Which should you ask for?
A good drainage engineer will turn up with both and pick the right tool. If a firm only offers one method, that tells you what they're selling — not what your drain needs.