Drainlayers Wellington — Your Job On Time, Or It’s Free
Southern’s drainlayers have been digging, clearing, relining and replacing Wellington drains since 1982. 40+ years, around 29,000 jobs, every suburb from Seatoun to the Kapiti Coast. Fixed-price quotes before we start. And if we don’t turn up when we said we would — you don’t pay.
Phone 0800 484 353 for fast response across Wellington, the Hutt Valley, Porirua and Kapiti.
Every Drainage Service Under One Roof
We own all the kit — excavators, CCTV rigs, hydro-jets, pipe-reline equipment. Residential and commercial, new builds and heritage villas, emergency blockages and full sewer replacement:
- New drain runs for extensions, sleep-outs and granny flats
- Gully trap replacement and repositioning
- Sewer line replacement (house to boundary)
- Stormwater lines, downpipe connections and soakpits
- Sump and channel drain installation for driveways
- CCTV drain inspection with USB footage
- Mechanical, water-blast and hydro-jet drain unblocking
- Pipe relining (no-dig repairs)
- Septic tank installation, servicing and pump-out
- Drainage for bathroom and laundry renovations
- Dye testing and drainage investigations
All work certified to the NZ Building Code and signed off for council.
Signs Your Home Drains Need Attention
Most homeowners ignore drain problems until there’s sewage on the lawn. Early warning signs:
- Gurgling noise from toilets or showers when the washing machine drains
- Bad smells near the gully trap after rain
- Toilet flushing slower than it used to
- Showers pooling or draining slowly
- Wet patches on the lawn that never dry out
- Multiple fixtures blocking at once (= main drain problem, not a single fixture)
- Water coming up through a floor waste during heavy rain
If you’re seeing any of these, book a CCTV inspection — cheapest way to find out what’s actually happening underground.
Older Wellington Homes — Earthenware & Clay Drains
If your house was built before 1980, the drains are almost certainly glazed earthenware with mortar joints. Those joints degrade — tree roots get in, ground movement cracks them, and the whole run slowly fails. Common in Khandallah, Karori, Island Bay, Kelburn and Thorndon villas.
The permanent fix is either excavate-and-replace with modern uPVC, or trenchless pipe relining where access is tight. We’ll CCTV the whole run and tell you which option makes sense — and quote it fixed-price.
What a CCTV Inspection Actually Shows
Most drain problems are invisible — the pipe’s underground, and guessing costs money. We feed a self-propelled camera into your drain and you watch the footage live on a monitor. You see:
- Exactly where the blockage is (distance from access point)
- Whether it’s tree roots, grease, wipes, or structural damage
- Cracked or displaced pipe joints
- Bellied sections where the pipe has sagged
- Pipe material and diameter — useful for renovation planning
- Council-vs-property-side boundary location
We mark the surface directly above the problem so any repair dig is short and targeted. You get a USB copy or emailed video file of the full inspection — useful for insurance, pre-purchase reports, or your own records.
Drain Unblocking — The Right Tool for the Job
Different blockages need different tools. We carry the full kit on every van:
- Hand rod — shallow, light blockages close to access points
- Machine worm / electric eel — cuts through tree roots and compacted debris
- Industrial hydro-jet — scours pipe walls clean, removes grease and build-up
- Vacuum truck — sumps and channels full of silt
- Pipe relining — permanent repair for cracked or root-damaged pipes, no excavation
Nine out of ten Wellington blockages come from: tree roots in old earthenware joints, fat/grease from kitchen sinks, “flushable” wipes (they aren’t), sanitary products, collapsed pipe sections, bellied pipes, toys, or silt build-up in stormwater pits.
Most blocked drains are cleared in under an hour. Call 0800 484 353 — same-day response across Wellington.
Pre-Purchase & Insurance Claim Reports
Buying a pre-1980 Wellington home? Get the drains CCTV-inspected before you sign. A $400 inspection can save you a $12,000 sewer replacement six months after settlement.
We also do insurance claim reports — footage, written cause assessment, and itemised repair quote in the format insurers want to see. Sudden events (earthquake damage, tree-fall root intrusion) are often covered. Gradual deterioration usually isn’t. The CCTV footage determines which category it falls into.
Built for Wellington’s Terrain
Wellington drainage is harder than most cities. Steep sections in Karori and Khandallah, reactive clay soils in Island Bay, rock in Seatoun, high water tables along the Hutt River flats, seismic movement everywhere.
That’s why we’ve built a team that knows how to work it: mini excavators that fit Wellington driveways, tracked dumpers for wet sites, specialist no-dig relining rigs for heritage villas where you can’t trench. And a Certifying Drainlayer to sign off every job.
Fixed-Price, Certified, Guaranteed
Before we dig, you get a price in writing. That price is the price. No “we found another problem halfway through, that’s another $2,000”. If unknowns genuinely need investigation first (old pipes, unmapped services), we say so up front and charge a diagnostic fee — credited back if you proceed.
- Master Plumbers member 25+ years
- Certifying Plumber, Gasfitter & Drainlayer on staff — we self-certify our own work
- Every new drain designed and laid to NZ Building Code, council-notified, pressure-tested, CCTV-recorded as-built
- Fixed-price quotes in writing before any digging
- SuperGold discount — just mention it
- Your Job On Time, or It’s Free
Read our testimonials or request a quote. For after-hours emergencies — 24/7, every day of the year — call 0800 484 353.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Same-day across Wellington, Hutt Valley, Porirua and Kapiti for unblocking and inspections. New drain laying and replacements scheduled inside 1–2 weeks depending on size and consent timing. Emergencies (sewage overflow): 1–2 hour response. Call 0800 484 353 — answered 24/7.