The Drain Man

My house was built in 1926 and our storm water drains have been invaded by roots of towering cypress trees. I have some drain cleaning equipment but it was not up to clear these roots. Tom arrived on time and set his cameras down the drain. First… Read more ·  3

he used a conventional.coil clearer with a diamond shaped head to clear enough for water to flow. He followed this with a very high pressure water tool which can cut through roots. I was intrigued and impressed to see him manipulate both camera and spray head so he could see what he was doing below our polished bluestone paving.

He was able to manipulate these tools to clear all legs of our drains from just two entry points.

Very impressive! Not cheap, but wort it.

Was very happy with communication with Jackson in the office and Tom's expertise at clearing tree roots from our blocked septic pipes that had backed up into our shower down in Bass Coast. All up a very professional outfit that I would use again and highly recommend. Thank you guys. Also love their donation to RCH Good Friday appeal in our name. Show details ·  1

Never call any other plumber for your drain issue ever again!!!!!! I had a plumber I've used before come to my property because of a blocked sewer pipe. He used his pressure hose and couldn't clear the blockage after an hour of trying. I got charged $550 for this and he said more than likely the pipes collapsed or there's a tree root causing the… Read more ·  2

problem. He then quoted me $6600 to dig up the back yard to find the blockage and replace the pipe.

Shocked at the ridiculous quote I received, I voiced my disappointment to one of my customers who then said "why don't you call The Drain Man? They've got cameras and all sorts of technology to be able to clear the drain." I thanked him for his suggestion and called The Drain Man immediately.

Darren who took my call was understanding of my situation and extremely helpful. The Drain Man arrived in less than 24 hours. Ben and Jayden immediately saw faults with what the previous plumber had attempted to do. They sent their camera and other equipment down the drain pipe and cleared the blockage almost immediately. They then sent the camera further down the pipe into the neighbour's yard over the back fence and discovered the tree root that was causing the problem.

As this is an issue with the Water Council's property, they then informed me that I'd be entitled to a reimbursement for any expenses incurred, and to help me support my case The Drain Man has supplied me with video footage of the whole process, proving that there was nothing wrong with the sewer pipe on my property, and instead the fault lies with them. Ben even called Western Port Water himself and reported the fault so they can action it themselves.

Ben and Jayden are absolute weapons!!!!! They smashed this job out in under 45mins and are truly experts in what they do. When Ben first arrived he said "don't worry mate, I'm pretty good at my job." What an understatement this was, he's beyond an expert, in fact if there was such a thing as a Doctor of plumbing this is the guy.

Apologies for the long review, but I've never been this impressed by a Company ever before.

Make sure you only ever call The Drain Man, and never waste your time and money on anyone else ever again.

Having used The Drain Man before, I called to arrange a visit for Friday. The initial plumber couldn’t clear the blockage because the boundary trap had been paved over by our back unit neighbour and he could not locate the boundary trap. We were left without working toilets and the task of locating the boundary trap — which wasn’t going to happen… Read more ·  1

easily. So I called The Drain Man back and asked them to handle the entire job.

Since the original plumber wasn’t available, Ben came out instead — and what a difference! He located the exact position of the boundary trap, cleared access, lifted the tiles, cut through the concrete slab, and exposed the area. He found that the problem was caused by roots invading the Yarra Valley Water pipes and cleared all the blockages. Ben is a true professional who takes exceptional pride in his work. He even tidied up the area afterwards — when was the last time you heard of a tradie doing that? His attention to detail and pride in his craft really stood out, and The Drain Man is lucky to have him. Both our neighbour and I were initially worried after the first visit, but we ended up super happy with the outcome Ben delivered.

I’ve had a very disappointing experience with The Drain Man. When my drain was running very slow, I contacted them because I had heard them advertised on Ben Fordham on 2GB. (By the way, I’ll be feeding my experience back to 2GB.) In summary, they arrived without the tool (electric eel) needed to do the job. Plumber said he would give me a… Read more

credit due to this, but later they reneged on that commitment. Said they would be back the next day but never showed up. Arrived the day after that and, using an electric eel, cleared the drain. However, they overstated their time onsite. Charged me a total of $1,518 for 3.5 hours over 3 days. I firmly believe that had they used an electric eel on the first visit, the job would have been successfully completed in a much shorter time. I ended up paying more due to their lack of basic drain cleaning equipment. I have relayed my concerns to The Drain Man management but they just say that’s the way it is and I should be happy because they didn’t charge me one hour 15 minutes travel time for the second visit! If the problem had been resolved on the first visit, as it should have been, a second visit wouldn’t have been needed. Needless to say, I will not be using The Drain Man again and I would certainly not recommend them to anyone who has a plugged drain. All in all, for me, a very disappointing and expensive experience. Here is the full story…

Called The Drain Man on Tuesday morning and they arrived at my Baulkham Hills home (Sydney) in the afternoon. Plumber used a high pressure water hose to attempt to clear tree roots from my drain. The work didn't go very well. The high pressure jet wasn’t dealing with the roots and pump motor kept stopping. A lot of time was spent running back and forth to the ute to restart it. The plumber said it was going to take too long. I asked him why he didn't use an 'electric eel' tool to cut the roots and he said he didn't have one with him (?). Said he had come from a relining job and had taken it off his ute (I question who goes to a drain cleaning job without the prime tool needed to do that type of job?). At the hour mark, he said someone would come back the next day. He would only charge 40 minutes for this visit and I would have 20 minutes credit from this visit for the future work. Billed $528 and my sewage drain is still very slow. Not a good result. Next day, Wednesday, I waited all day and no one showed up. I had a call in the morning from the plumber saying he was on his way. He then rang back to cancel, said he would be there after lunch. No one showed after lunch. A call later in the afternoon said they couldn't get there and it would now be Thursday morning. My drain is still running very slow. Thursday morning, plumber arrived at 7:30am. I explained the problem to the new plumber and he started work with an electric eel tool. The drain was cleared and I was pleased with that result. They finished at 9:45am (although they said it finished at 10:05am which is not correct). The second plumber didn’t know anything about the credit from the first plumber and ignored what I had told him about it. My credit card was immediately billed an additional $990.

Excellent standard of work. Kane as the Lead from the Drainman displayed exceptional problem solving and persistence with a task that proved more difficult than first thought. Result was first class. As the work involved our front driveway, the final clean up was impeccable. Would use the Drainman again. Show reply

Kane from the Drain Man is an absolute ripper. Came out quickly, knew exactly what he was doing, and just got stuck in and sorted it without any drama. Explained what was going on in plain English (which I definitely needed), and didn’t muck around. Great operator and clearly takes pride in his work. Would 100% recommend Kane and the Drain Man. Show reply

Ben came to address a gurgle in our kitchen pipes and explained clearly what he thought the issue maybe and how we would address it. He was very thorough, looked at it from 2 angles and appears to have fixed it as to date no more annoying noises. Darren also asked Ben to review another issue with our storm water overflowing in the garage which he… Read more ·  1

did. Again, explained the issue and what he was doing and to date all now seems good. I was impressed with Ben's professional approach and work methods in addressing the issues. Highly recommend.

Drain man found a blockage using camera about 10 metres from downpipe in garage near front of driveway.Tried with high pressure hose inserted in garage downpipe, but stated it wouldn't maneuver to blockage. The apparent blockage was closer to council pit near driveway, but he wouldn't attempt to clear from said pit. As far as I can ascertain… Read more

there is nothing to prevent a plumber from accessing a council pit in order to see water flow and/or to attempt to clear a blocked drain as long as it is not major works. I was extremely disappointed that this possible remedy wasn't attempted. So I spent over $500 for 45 minutes with absolutely no result.

We called The Drain Man to clear a blocked kitchen sink. The job was booked for Thursday 15/5, the plumbers arrived on time, were friendly and courteous. After paying $462.00 up front for the first hour and call out fee, they commenced the job to unblock our sink. When you call to make a booking they tell you that they will try to clear the drain… Read more

within the first hour!! However, we were charged $198.00 for every 1/2 hr once the first hour is up!! So another 2 hours later the total cost to clear the blocked sink was $1254.00!! During this time they stopped on two separate occasions saying that they had to go and get some parts?? I'm bewildered about this, as we are still paying them for this time. Why don't they already have everything they need with them?? Just another little quirk, you get charged for the next 1/2 hr as soon as the time ticks over, no matter if it's just an extra couple of minutes into the next 1/2 hr!!

The worst part is that over the weekend the sink is showing signs of still being blocked?? So we call back on Tuesday to advise that the job has not been completed satisfactorily. Only to be told that they will generously not charge another call out fee, however we will need to pay $198.00 per 1/2 hr for them to return and complete the job!! So, if they are there for say 33minutes we will have to pay $396.00. God forbid it should take another 2hrs to 3hrs!! Having read some of the other reviews, it is extremely disappointing that we did not have the same positive experience as other customers. We won't be asking them to come back and have to pay more money to fix a problem that should have already been sorted out the first time!! Certainly wouldn't be recommending The Drain Man to anyone, as we feel very disgruntled and let down by this company.

Jeremy & Deb Keyt

We had Kane come out to look at the drains we had blocked, I cannot recommend this guy enough. He knew exactly what he was doing and did an absolute amazing job. We are just beyond grateful for his dedication and hard working skills. Highly recommend Kane Thank you JB Show reply

Thanks to Ben & Jayden for their great work to unblock a pipe that was constantly flooding our garage. They did a fantastic job and would highly recommend them for any future jobs! Show reply

We used the Drain Man on hearing their commercial on the radio. Kane came to see what the problem was and he located the blockage. He came back later and fixed our drain, he showed us the camera footage up and down. All was clean and clear! With thanks Michael Show reply

We had a blocked toilet. As we had another working toilet, there was no urgency, & an appt was booked for two days later. Ben & Jayden arrived a few minutes early & got to work straight away. Then it started to rain. The boys just grabbed their rain coats & kept working. The blockage was quickly found & cleared. I was sent an attachment with video… Read more ·  1

footage of the job done whilst they were packing up. I found both to be very professional & courteous. I will continue to highly recommend them to Friends & Family with blocked drains.

The main bedroom shower recess and basin sink have been blocked for a few days. Rang up this morning Monday 30-03-26 at 9am. I was able to book same day over the phone and was assured job would be attended to between 10am and 2pm. I was contacted by Ben around 45 mins too !hr later to say he was on his way. Great manner over the phone which was… Read more ·  1

really reassuring. Ben was every bit as down to earth and polite in person. Great guy. Job was promptly completed successfully and video sent to my email. Can’t fault the service and Ben was fantastic to deal with. No hesitation in using their services again in the future.

Matt. Officer, Vic 3809

Punctual, courteous, efficient, knowledgeable and informative are all words that perfectly describe Ben Ward of The Drain Man when he responded to my call out to a blocked storm drain at my house recently. Ben was early and got straight to work uncovering my problem - broken & collapsed concrete pipes throughout my old, original drain. Ben cleared… Read more ·  1

the drain so that it now flows better than it ever has and showed me video of the damage while describing the innovative method he strongly recommended to fix it permanently, which I am considering. Many Thanks Ben for your excellent work!

I am wrting in appreciation of the inspection performed by Kane and Jill. They were punctual and identified the drain issue in a short period of time with great communication. Thank you. Show reply

Kane from the drain man was fantastic, came in and identified the problem quickly and had it resolved even quicker, highly recommend and will be using the drain man again Show reply

Our kitchen double-sink was clogged up and despite trying several different methods we could not clear it. Paul, the technician from The Drain Man cleared it for us in a very short time. Paul's service was friendly, efficient and quick and also absolutely professional. Paul also went to the extent of providing practical advice about maintaining the kitchen drainage. Show reply

First time user having heard their ad over the years on 2GB radio but will definitely use them again if required. Kirk attended my property at the start of the indicated time slot, having called ahead to alert us to his arrival. Besides his friendly demeanor and clear communication, he is clearly a competent practitioner and is well resourced with… Read more ·  1

the necessary technology and equipment to both diagnose the problem and then remedy it promptly. Plumbing services are never cheap but in The Drain Man's case I don't feel I was paying any premium for a highly trained and well-resourced professionals.

Wow, had plumbers before come out (roots in drain), but always fiddling, wrong tools etc, their time wasting was always charged to me. Called up the Drainman (heard them on the radio), wanted payment up front, i was cautious but did read a heap of good reviews, so thought i'd try. For the money, TWO guys attended the site, all the tooling ready to… Read more ·  1

go, and it included a camera inspection, with me getting a copy also. Turns out they do drains, they wont install your bathroom tap i assume, but they sure do know what they are doing. Thought the reviews were a gimmick, they are not, call these guys first.

Ben was excellent. He was friendly, kind and had a great work ethic. He did the best job in the quickest time possible. We are grateful that we used The Drain Man. We would not hesitate to recommend The Drain Man to our friends and family. Show reply

Tom arrived on time & was very thorough in everything he did. He kept me informed of everything that he was doing & explained what needed to be done. I would highly recommend the Drain Man. Show reply