Gurgling
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Blocked sink in Brussels: kitchen sink, basin and shared stack
In short: A kitchen sink that drains a drop at a time, a basin full of grey water, a sour smell from the trap: in all 19 Brussels municipalities, Service Technic Belgium sends a drain technician who finds the blockage and clears it, with a drain snake or pressurised water. Call 0477 03 88 98.
In Brussels terraced houses and apartment blocks, the kitchen sink often shares its waste pipe with the dishwasher, and sometimes with the stack serving the whole building. We first find where the water stops, then pick the tool.
5,0on Google· 22 years of experience
Kitchen sinkGrease and coffee grounds
Bathroom basinHair, soap and scale
Shared stackApartment blocks
Call-outCost given first
Why kitchen sinks block
Cooking fat runs away hot and liquid, then sets a few metres further on, where the pipe cools down. It sticks to the walls and catches coffee grounds, rice and food scraps. For months the passage narrows without any sign.
When the water finally stops going down, the blockage is rarely in the trap. It usually sits in the bend behind the cupboard, or in the horizontal run that goes through the wall to the downpipe.
The dishwasher does not help: its hot, detergent-heavy water dissolves a little grease, which settles again further along.
The bathroom basin
In a basin, hair, soap and toothpaste form a soft plug that hangs on the pop-up waste rod. Unscrewing and cleaning it is sometimes enough.
If the water still sits there with a clean trap, the problem is further on: a waste pipe that is too narrow, laid without enough fall during a renovation, or a dirty bend inside the wall.
In the old town houses of Ixelles, Saint-Gilles and Schaerbeek, lead or cast-iron pipes have lost part of their bore to limescale. A drain snake clears them without damaging them.
How we clear a sink
The technician first removes the trap and looks at what comes out: grease, hair, sand or building debris. Then a power snake goes into the pipe, with a head that suits the diameter.
If grease coats the whole length, the snake makes a hole but does not clean the walls. A rinse with pressurised water and a fine nozzle then gives the pipe its full bore back.
He refits the trap with new washers if the old ones have hardened, runs hot water for a few minutes and checks that nothing drips under the cupboard.
When it is the building stack
If your sink fills up by itself when the neighbour upstairs does the washing-up, the blockage is in the shared stack, not in your flat. Water from several kitchens stops at the same point, often at the foot of the stack in the basement.
The technician then needs access to the foot of the stack or an inspection hatch. We inform the managing agent or the owner and note on the job sheet what we found.
In a building where this happens every winter, cleaning the stack once a year spares the ground-floor flats from water damage.
After the sink is cleared
A sink stays clear if grease no longer goes down the drain. Wipe pans with kitchen paper before washing them and pour frying oil into a bottle for the recycling centre.
A strainer in the plughole stops coffee grounds and peelings. Once a week, a litre of very hot water melts the first traces of grease.
If the blockage returns to the same spot within weeks, the pipe probably runs backwards or has a broken bend: a camera inspection will show it.
Sinks in Brussels kitchens
In a town house in Saint-Gilles or Schaerbeek, the kitchen has often been moved to the back or to the half-landing. The sink waste then runs a long way horizontally under the floor before it reaches the stack, with two or three bends. Grease settles in those almost flat stretches.
In flats in Ixelles, Etterbeek or Jette, the sink drains into a kitchen stack shared with the neighbours above and below, so part of what blocks your sink did not come from you. In open-plan kitchens with an island, the waste often runs under the screed with no access point.
The technician first asks where the pipe runs and looks under the sink: grey PVC, old lead, bottle trap or tubular trap. That tells him where to get in and which size of snake to use.
Restaurants, takeaways and large kitchens
In a professional kitchen the sinks take litres of hot water full of grease and starch every day. Without a grease trap in good order, the pipe blocks within months. We clear the sinks, jet the pipe up to the grease trap and empty it.
For a restaurant in the centre or in Ixelles we come after service or before opening. The technician leaves a pipe that is clean along its whole length, not just a hole through the grease, otherwise it blocks again within the week.
Schools, nurseries and care homes have the same problem with their big kitchens: jetting once or twice a year costs far less than a kitchen out of action.
Signs not to ignore
Smell
A sour smell from the trap in the evening.
Slow water
A full sink takes minutes to empty.
Water coming back
Dirty water rises in the other sink or in the shower.
What you can do in the meantime
No caustic products
Soda and acids attack old pipes and burn whoever opens the trap afterwards.
The trap, if you feel confident
Put a bucket under it, unscrew it by hand and empty it. If it is clean, the blockage is further on.
Stop the dishwasher
Do not start another cycle while the sink will not empty: the water would end up on the floor.
A photo
Send a WhatsApp photo of the space under the sink: the technician sees which trap and pipe he will find.
From your call to the invoice
A short call
The office takes your address, which drain is affected, and books a time.
No surprises
You know the call-out cost before anyone sets off; larger jobs get a written quote.
On site
Find and explain first, then your agreement, then the work. Job sheet and invoice from Service Technic Belgium.
What our customers say
Sinks cleared across the Brussels Region
We cover all 19 municipalities, from the narrow streets of the city centre to the detached houses of Uccle and Woluwe. Tell us if there is parking outside: the van carries the snake and the jetting unit.
AnderlechtAuderghemBerchem-Sainte-AgatheCity of BrusselsEtterbeekEvereForestGanshorenIxellesJetteKoekelbergMolenbeekSaint-GillesSaint-JosseSchaerbeekUccleWatermael-BoitsfortWoluwe-Saint-LambertWoluwe-Saint-Pierre
Frequently asked questions
Can you clear a sink in the evening in Brussels?
Yes, we also come in the evening and at weekends when a blocked sink stops you cooking. You are told the call-out cost on the phone.
Can a drain snake damage an old pipe?
The technician picks the cable size and head for the diameter and material. On lead or old cast iron he works at low speed.
My sink and dishwasher are both blocked, is that normal?
Yes, they often share the same waste. The blockage is after the point where they join, and that is where we look for it.
Will the kitchen units have to come out?
Rarely. We work through the trap or an access cap. If a pipe is broken inside the wall, we tell you before touching anything.
What if the sink blocks every week?
Have a camera run through the pipe. Too little fall or a badly made joint holds the grease; that needs fixing rather than clearing again and again.
Do you work for restaurants?
Yes, for commercial kitchen sinks and the pipes leading to the grease trap, which we also clean.
Do coffee grounds really block a sink?
Yes, mixed with grease they form a paste that sticks to the pipe walls. Put them in the bin or the compost, not down the sink.
My sink smells of drains but empties fine, what should I do?
Run the tap for a while to refill the trap. If the smell comes back, the trap, the stack ventilation or the basement chamber is the cause: the technician checks all three.
How do I book?
Call 0477 03 88 98, send us a WhatsApp message or book online with the « Book an appointment » button. Tell us the municipality and what is blocked.
A blocked sink in Brussels?
Call 0477 03 88 98 or book online: the technician tells you what he found before starting.