Same-day drain clearing on the Lower North Shore.
Blocked sinks, toilets and main sewer lines cleared in Greenwich — with a camera down the line afterwards, because a root that got in once will get in again.
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Greenwich is almost evenly divided — 50.6% separate houses against 43.8% flats — on a peninsula with frontage to Gore Bay and Gore Cove. The house half blocks on roots into aged private lines running under established gardens; the apartment half blocks on shared stacks. The peninsula adds the complication that drainage runs in two directions depending which side of the ridge a property sits on.
How people live in a suburb decides what blocks its drains. A high proportion of separate houses means most of the drainage here is private line running under gardens, which is exactly where roots find it.
Greenwich sits in the Municipality of Lane Cove, postcode 2065. A peninsula on the northern side of Sydney Harbour at the opening of the Lane Cove River, with frontage to Gore Bay and Gore Cove.
Local figures sourced from: ABS 2021 Census QuickStats — Greenwich · Greenwich, New South Wales — Wikipedia
A drain rarely stops working without warning. These are the patterns worth acting on here — each one points at a different cause, which is what decides the fix.
House or unit changes the likely cause completely, and it is the first thing worth establishing.
Under established peninsula gardens this is the usual finding rather than the unusual one.
Peninsula blocks often have more private pipe between house and main than the frontage suggests.
On the house half, roots through a joint in Georgian or Federation pipe under an established garden. On the apartment half, an ordinary stack build-up. Peninsula blocks also throw up longer private runs than the frontage suggests, draining towards Gore Bay or Gore Cove depending on the ridge.
Most repeat blockages are a pipe problem, not a blockage problem. We look before we quote.
Land grants began in 1794 and George Green subdivided in 1840, so Greenwich carries Georgian and Federation housing with drainage to match — jointed earthenware, in some cases very old. The apartment stock is far newer, which is why two adjacent properties can fail in entirely different ways.
Roots have to come out before anything else can be assessed, and what happens after that depends on the state of the joint they came through.
The first move here. A cutting head removes the root mass and flow returns the same visit — but roots regrow through the same opening, so on its own it is a treatment, not a cure.
Shows the joint the roots came through and whether the pipe around it is sound. That is what decides between an annual clear and a repair.
A new liner cured inside the old pipe seals the joints the roots came through, removing the entry point without excavation.
Used here to flush out debris once the root mass is cut, and to show the joint clearly enough for the camera to assess it.
A camera first, because in a suburb this evenly split the cause cannot be assumed from the address. Where roots have come through a joint in Georgian or Federation pipe, relining seals it without opening a garden that has been there as long as the house.
Nobody likes ringing for a price and being told “it depends”. These are typical ranges across the Sydney market — not Voyager’s price list, but a realistic yardstick to judge any quote against, including ours.
| Clearing a simple blockage | $150 – $400 |
| Clearing a blocked main sewer line | $300 – $600 |
| High-pressure jetting | $250 – $600 |
| Cutting tree roots from a line | $400 – $1,200 |
| CCTV drain inspection | $250 – $550 |
| Pipe relining, per lineal metre | $450 – $800 |
| Pipe relining, typical whole job | $4,000 – $10,000 |
| Excavate and replace, per metre | $300 – $600 |
Voyager prices by the job, not by the hour, so the number you approve is the number you pay.
Describe what’s happening at your Greenwich property and we’ll tell you straight — including when the simple clear is the whole job.
If this line has blocked before, say so when you call. In Greenwich a repeat is the signal that something is growing in the pipe rather than stuck in it, and that changes what needs to happen on the visit.
Stop using the fixtures on that line. Every flush and every sinkful adds to what has nowhere to go, and on a main sewer blockage that is what turns a contained problem into an overflow.
Do not pour drain chemicals down it. They rarely clear a real blockage, they make the line unsafe to inspect or work on, and caustic product sitting against an old earthenware joint does the pipe no favours.
If sewage is surfacing, treat it as urgent. That is a health issue, not an inconvenience — keep people and pets away from it and call.
If it is out of hours and getting worse, ring rather than book — Voyager runs a 24/7 line for Greenwich and the rest of the Lower North Shore. More on emergency plumbing.
In a house, know where the line runs before planting or building over it — on blocks with this much established garden, that single fact avoids the expensive version of every future repair.
Storm season finds every drain that was never quite right. Better to know before it rains.
Which fixture, how long, and whether anything is overflowing. That is usually enough to tell how urgent it is.
A cutter or jetter takes the mass out and restores flow, usually the same visit.
A camera down the cleared line shows whether this was a one-off or a pipe that will do it again.
Including when the answer is that nothing further is needed. A cleared drain with no fault is a perfectly good outcome.
A blocked drain is sometimes the symptom rather than the problem. These cover what comes next:
Voyager covers the whole Lower North Shore. These are the closest to Greenwich:
Most often for one reason here: a peninsula draining to two coves, half of it in houses. On the house half, roots through a joint in Georgian or Federation pipe under an established garden. On the apartment half, an ordinary stack build-up. Peninsula blocks also throw up longer private runs than the frontage suggests, draining towards Gore Bay or Gore Cove depending on the ridge. A drain that clears easily and blocks again within months is telling you the cause is still in the pipe — which is why we put a camera down a cleared line rather than leaving it at ‘it’s moving again’.
Voyager runs a 24/7 line for Greenwich and the rest of the Lower North Shore. If sewage is surfacing or a main line has stopped, say so when you call — that is what decides how fast someone needs to be there rather than the booking order.
Across the Sydney market a simple blockage typically runs $150–$400, while cutting tree roots from a line runs $400–$1,200. Root jobs sit at the higher end because clearing the mass is only half of it — the joint it came through is the other half. Those are market ranges rather than Voyager’s price list. Property type first, then run length. A long private line on a peninsula block costs more to locate accurately and far more to excavate, which is what makes precise location worth paying for rather than skipping. We price by the job, not the hour, and you approve the number before anything starts.
Rarely, and it can make things worse. Caustic product does not shift a root mass or a collapsed section, it sits in the line where it is a hazard to work on, and against an aged earthenware joint it does the pipe no favours. If a chemical has already gone down, tell us before anyone opens the line.
If it is a genuine one-off — something went down that shouldn’t have — clearing it is the whole job. If the same line has blocked before, a camera is what tells you whether you are looking at an annual clear or a pipe that needs repairing. We would rather tell you it is fine than clear it twice.
Cutting the roots restores flow but leaves the opening they came through, so they return — usually within a year or two. Relining seals the joints from inside, which removes the entry point without digging up whatever sits above the pipe. In a house, know where the line runs before planting or building over it — on blocks with this much established garden, that single fact avoids the expensive version of every future repair.
Both, almost exactly — 50.6% separate houses against 43.8% flats. That matters because the two block for different reasons and are fixed differently. Roots into aged private pipe on the house blocks; fat and wipes in a shared stack in the units. It is why nothing here is quoted from the address alone.
Yes, and telling them apart matters — they present similarly from the surface and are fixed completely differently. A drain that only misbehaves in heavy rain is usually stormwater or ingress rather than a blockage. A camera settles it in one visit.
Free quote, a fixed price agreed before the work starts, and someone on the end of the phone at any hour.
Voyager Plumbing · NSW Contractor Licence 476657C
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Page reviewed and updated 20 August 2026
