Category: drain unblocking

Welcome back to Melbourne’s Annual Drain Unblocking Competition! I’m your host Sue Ridge and I’m joined this afternoon by Shannon Gardiner. We’re only moments away from one of the contestants becoming this year’s drain unblocking champion, and I’m so excited that I’m tingling! How are you feeling Shannon?

I couldn’t have said it better myself, Sue. I’m on the edge of my seat here. Before the ad break, George was the clear frontrunner, but his pipe burst and now the remaining gunk is seeping all out onto the floor. One of the requirements to qualify for the win is to have no sewerage remaining anywhere in, on, or around the blocked drain. He’s going to need a bucket and a mop pronto, especially with Tom hot on his tail. 

Yeah, Tom is doing a great job. He’s quite a bit slower than George, mostly because he spent so much time on the initial drain cleaning. In the Melbourne CBD, the cleanliness of our drain network is taken very seriously, which is why it’s a part of the competition’s completion criteria. While it looked like he was potentially going too slow, it now seems like it was the right thing to do. It almost reminds me of the tortoise and the hare situation. Maybe George will be caught out.

I think it’s safe to say that he will be, Sue! George has now completely finished his drain repair, but he can’t announce it because the area around him is so disgusting. It’s quite an oversight by him, that’s for sure. I saw him call someone, presumably his wife, about ten minutes ago. Will she make it from home in time to give him a bucket and a mop before Tom finishes? I’m on the edge of my seat.

It doesn’t look like it, Shannon! Tom has just finished his drain unblocking. In the Essendon area, they must breed them differently. For a man to think about keeping the space clean the entire way through is unheard of. I wish my husband was like that. Anyway, congratulations to our champion!

I fear the future is bleak for me and my flat. I have NO skills in DIY, and I’m not really too keen on cleaning either. I always worry that something will go horribly wrong one day- like, I won’t have heating in the dead of winter- and I’ll be too shy to call the landlord so I’ll just have to suffer in silence for the entire season. Is that my destiny? I have to ask.

I only just learned recently how much maintenance has to be done on a property. It’s a lot more than just cutting the grass and replacing the windows when someone’s cricket through goes amiss. No, you have to worry about paint jobs, weather damage to the brick, window replacements, gas fittings, heating and cooling services, roof tiling that falls off in storms and almost smacks you while you’re in a rush and…probably a lot more. I have a loft space, so there’s probably a lot of stuff to do with that. Rats, termites, possum nests…you name it.

Obviously I need to be prepared for the future. Find a quality Melbourne based drain plumber I can trust, keep them on my list. Make them first on my list, actually…because I don’t have a list yet and I feel like I should have one. I need plumbers, roofing people, heating and cooling folks, gardeners, window repair people, anyone who can help me in a time of crisis. Plumbers most of all, though; I just couldn’t bear it being the dead of winter and having my hot water break down. I’d have to go into work smelling like a person who hasn’t washed in days, which would be absolutely true. They don’t make deodorant that strong. And then I’d be stuck when it came to washing the dishes, so out would come the paper plates and that’d be it in terms of good habits I’ve managed to build up. Stress, so much stress. I’ll ask Angela at work if she knows anyone who can do the drain replacement in Melbourne. She knows everything, Angela. Maybe I’ll just borrow her 24 hour emergency plumber list.