Emergency line 24/7
Floor drain unblocking in Belgium
A cellar gully backing up, a garage trap giving off a drain smell, water standing on the utility-room floor instead of draining away: the lowest outlet in the house blocks up slowly, through sand, silt and leaves. We clean the gully and the whole pipe behind it, we clear the chamber and the trap until the water runs freely again.
- Final price given before we start
- Up to 2 years warranty on labour
- Emergency line available 24/7
- Direct phone contact: +32 2 000 00 00
Our approach
From the chamber to the pipe, a complete clean
Clearing the grate is not enough: the real blockage hides in the trap and the pipe below. We treat the outlet as a whole, so we act on the underlying cause rather than the visible symptom alone.
- 01
Opening the chamber
We lift the grate, empty the basket and clear by hand the sand, leaves and silt built up in the gully chamber.
- 02
Trap diagnosis
We inspect the trap beneath the gully to place the blockage: compacted deposit in the bend, or an obstruction further along the pipe.
- 03
Matched clearing
Professional auger or high-pressure jetting depending on the deposit: we shift sand, silt and fibres along the whole run without damaging the pipe.
- 04
Check and water seal
We test the flow, restore the trap's odour-blocking water seal and confirm the floor drains freely again, including after a generous rinse of the surface.
Every gully, its own cause
Cellar, garage, utility room or terrace
Floor gullies do not all block for the same reasons. The cellar gully is often the lowest point of the network: when a pipe blocks downstream, everything comes back up through it, which makes it frequently the first sign of a blockage further along. The garage trap, meanwhile, takes the sand and grit carried in on tyres, DIY dust and sometimes traces of oil that set hard with the dirt.
In the utility room, the gully receives textile fibres and detergent residue which, mixed with dust, form a paste that lines the trap. On a terrace or a courtyard, it is mainly dead leaves, moss and gravel that saturate the chamber, particularly in autumn: rainwater no longer finds the outlet and spills towards doors or walls.
In every case the logic stays the same: an outlet collecting material nobody keeps an eye on, and a trap that needs opening up and clearing out. We simply adapt the technique to the nature of the deposit and to how reachable the chamber is, rather than stopping at a surface clean.
The lowest point
Why a floor gully always ends up blocking
A floor gully is an open outlet, set flush with the tiling of a cellar, a garage, a utility room or a terrace. Its job is to collect the water running across the floor, but it collects everything that comes with it at the same time: sand, soil, dust, hair, pet hair, clothing fibres and dead leaves. Those particles settle first in the chamber, under the grate, then drop into the trap sitting just below.
Unlike a sink used every day, a cellar or garage gully only serves occasionally. The build-up therefore happens slowly and silently, and nobody notices it until the day the water stops going down. The silt compacts at the bottom of the trap into a hard blockage, and the outlet that seemed harmless becomes a persistent puddle every time the floor is washed or a storm passes.
On top of that comes a problem specific to little-used gullies: the trap's water seal evaporates and lets drain smells back up. A blocked or smelly gully is therefore not inevitable, but neglected maintenance of the chamber and the pipe beneath it, precisely what we come to put right.
Warning signs
The signs of a gully that needs attention
If you recognise one of these around a floor gully or its trap, the outlet is blocking up: better to act before it backs up completely.
- Water stands above the gully grate and goes down very slowly.
- A drain smell rises from the cellar, garage or utility-room gully.
- The gully pushes dirty water back at the lowest point of the house.
- Sand, leaves or visible silt build up in the chamber.
- The trap gurgles as the water tries to go down.
- After rain, the terrace gully overflows instead of draining.
Until we arrive
What to do while you wait for us
A few simple steps limit the mess around the gully and make the job easier. Most important: do not push the silt further down the pipe.
- 01
Lift the grate and basket
Take off the gully grate and empty the basket: removing the visible leaves and silt by hand already keeps the blockage from getting worse.
- 02
Stop adding water to the floor
Stop washing the floor or using the outlet that backs up: every extra litre raises the standing water and pushes the deposit along.
- 03
No chemical drain cleaner
Aggressive products do nothing against sand and fibres, they eat at the trap and they complicate our clearing of the gully.
- 04
Clear access to the chamber
Mop up the standing water and free the space around the gully so the technician can quickly reach the chamber and the trap.
Transparent pricing
What determines the price
Our call-outs start from €63.60 incl. VAT (6 % for homes over 10 years old, otherwise 21 %).
The price of unblocking a gully depends on the access to the chamber, the nature of the deposit and the length of pipe to clear. An easily reachable cellar trap is not the same work as a long, heavily fouled run, and we explain that to you plainly before we start.
You get an estimate before we set off, and we only close the job once the flow is fully restored. Call us for an indication: we answer price questions clearly, with no runaround.
Benefits
- Chamber, basket and trap all treated, not just the grate
- Downstream pipe jetted where needed
- Odour-blocking water seal restored
- Basket and grate refitted cleanly
Equipment & techniques
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Question not on the list? We answer it by phone, no obligation.
+32 2 000 00 00How much does floor drain unblocking cost?
Our call-outs start from €63.60 incl. VAT (6 % for homes over 10 years old, otherwise 21 %). The price of unblocking a gully depends on the access to the chamber, the nature of the deposit and the length of pipe to clear.
What exactly blocks a floor gully?
A floor gully collects everything lying at floor level: sand, soil, dust, hair, pet hair, textile fibres and dead leaves. Those particles settle in the chamber basket and then, bit by bit, in the trap sitting just below. Over the months that silt compacts into a blockage that first slows and then stops the flow. Unlike a sink, a cellar or garage gully is rarely used, so the build-up goes unnoticed for a long time before it backs up.
Why does my gully give off a drain smell?
A gully trap holds a water seal that blocks smells. At a little-used outlet (cellar, garage, utility room) that water evaporates after a few weeks and the barrier disappears. Pouring a bucket of water into the gully is often enough to restore the seal. If the smell persists despite that, the trap is fouled or the pipe downstream is blocked.
Can I clean the gully chamber myself?
Lifting the grate, emptying the basket and removing the visible leaves and silt by hand is well within reach, and it is good preventive maintenance. What actually blocks, however, sits in the bend of the trap and in the pipe: pushing an improvised tool in there compacts the deposit instead of removing it. Beyond the chamber, proper equipment is the answer.
Water is rising at the lowest point of my cellar, is that serious?
It is a signal worth taking seriously. Because the cellar gully is often the lowest point of the network, it becomes the escape route as soon as a pipe blocks downstream. The backflow there is not necessarily the problem but its symptom: the blockage may sit much further along, on the main run or the connection to the sewer. A camera inspection then places it precisely.
Can a chemical drain cleaner clear a floor gully?
No. Those products are designed to attack grease and hair, not the sand, soil, gravel or fibres that make up a gully blockage. They sit in the water, eat at the trap and its seals, and make our clearing more dangerous. Mechanically cleaning the chamber and the trap remains the only effective method.
When should you call a drain technician straight away?
Some signs mean the blockage is no longer local: waste water backing up into a shower, sink or toilet, several fixtures draining slowly at the same time, water rising from a yard gully, or a sewer smell that lingers despite ventilation. In those cases, avoid reaching for chemical drain cleaners again and again: they attack seals and pipework without reaching a blockage further down the run.
Present in Brussels, in Wallonia and in Flanders
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