Drain rodding or jetting: what each costs and clears

Rodding is usually the cheaper first try and jetting the stronger second step, but the price guides we opened on 2 November 2026 do not agree on either figure. Their rodding ranges run from £60 to £180 and their jetting ranges from £70 to £400, so a single number tells you very little. What settles the price is what is in the pipe, how far along it sits and whether the first method works. This guide sets the four published ranges side by side, shows the sum for rods that fail and then need a jetter, and ends with the questions that make two quotes comparable. These are UK market figures from other sites, not CB Drainage prices. If you already know you need a drain unblocking visit, the quote checklist near the end is the part to use.

What four price guides say, and where they differ

None of these pages is a Scottish price list, and none is an official index. Each is a UK-wide guide written by a platform or a marketplace, and we opened all four on 2 November 2026. The first two give the ranges in the form most buyers see them. Read the VAT column before you compare anything.

Three things stand out. The Fantastic Services and Housekeep figures are identical, so treat them as one view, not two. The jetting ceilings differ by a factor of more than three, £125 against £400. And on three of the four pages rodding is the cheaper of the two, but on MyJobQuote the bottom of the jetting range (£70) sits below the bottom of the rodding range (£80). A low jetting price is not impossible, but it is not the norm on every page either.

The wide spread is itself the finding. BestBuilders says its figures are daytime prices, that out-of-hours call-outs add 50 to 100 per cent and that they should be checked against three written quotes. MyJobQuote lists distance, ease of access, CCTV needs, the time of the call-out and extra repairs among the things that move a price. A guide cannot know any of that about your drain.

What rods clear, what a jetter clears, and where the guides disagree

Rodding pushes flexible or rigid rods along the pipe to break up and dislodge what is blocking it. Jetting sends high-pressure water through a hose to scour the pipe. The guides agree on that much and disagree on the detail, so the table below says who said what rather than pretending the answer is settled.

One caution from the table is worth repeating. MyJobQuote says a professional should check for cracks before jetting, because some pipes may not be strong enough to take the pressure. A camera costs extra, but the same page puts a basic survey at about £90, against a pipe damaged by the method used to clear it. If you do not know the age or condition of your drain, that is a fair thing to raise before the jetter is unrolled.

CB Drainage's own jetting page lists grease, silt, scale and roots as what its high-pressure jetting is for. That is the firm's description of its service, not an independent test, and it is not a price.

The sum that catches people out: rods first, jetter second

A common pattern is to try rods because they are cheaper, find that they do not shift it and then book a jetter. On MyJobQuote's own ranges, the bill becomes both prices. The arithmetic below uses its figures only, before any VAT question.

• Both at the bottom of the range: £80 (rods) + £70 (jetting) = £150.
• Both at the top of the range: £145 (rods) + £175 (jetting) = £320.
• Jetting straight away: £70 to £175.

So rods that fail add between £80 and £145 on top of the jetting you needed anyway. That does not make rods the wrong first try. For a soft blockage near a fitting they may be exactly right, and the Drainfast page describes them as suited to localised blockages. It means the sensible question to ask before the visit is what happens if the first method does not work, and whether the second is priced now.

The same rule applies to out-of-hours work. BestBuilders adds 50 to 100 per cent for it. On a £150 daytime jetting job, that is £75 to £150 extra: £150 + £75 = £225 up to £150 + £150 = £300. Ask which rate the figure you are given is.

VAT: the line that changes the comparison

GOV.UK sets the standard VAT rate at 20 per cent, and says a business must register once its taxable turnover goes over £90,000. A smaller firm may have no VAT to add. Housekeep makes the same point, noting that many sole traders operate below the threshold and may not charge the 20 per cent. So two firms quoting £150 are not necessarily quoting the same thing.

• A £150 quote that does not include VAT: £150 + £30 (20 per cent of £150) = £180.
• A £180 quote that includes VAT: the pre-VAT price is £180 ÷ 1.2 = £150.

Citizens Advice Scotland, in its guidance on getting work done on your home, lists whether the price includes VAT among the things a written quote should say. Ask for the total with VAT in it, on paper or by email, before anyone starts.

If you rent or share the drain

The method matters less if the bill is not yours. Citizens Advice Scotland says the owner or landlord has to arrange and pay for repairs to a blockage in a private pipe, and that where pipes are shared, as in flats, the owners are jointly responsible, with the title deeds setting out the split. For a private let, the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006 says in section 13(1)(b) that the structure and exterior of the house, including drains, gutters and external pipes, must be in a reasonable state of repair and in proper working order. Paragraph (c) says the same of the installations for sanitation.

That is the repairing standard, and the practical steps follow from it. Citizens Advice Scotland advises a private tenant to report the problem in writing, keep a copy and give a deadline, with 14 days usually reasonable, before escalating to the First-tier Tribunal. Our guide to blocked drain: landlord or tenant to pay takes the steps in order. It is worth reading before you pay anyone to rod or jet a drain you do not own.

What to ask before you accept a quote

Citizens Advice Scotland says to ask for a quote and not an estimate, because a quote is a fixed price and an estimate is a rough guess that can end up higher. It also suggests getting written quotes from at least three contractors, and being wary of a price that is much lower than the others. For rods and jetters, turn that into six questions.

1. Which method, and why that one?

   Rods, jetting or a camera first. A firm that can say why it has picked one has seen the problem described properly.

2. What if it does not work?

   Ask for the price of the second method now, so a failed first try is not a surprise.

3. Is VAT in the figure?

   Included, added or none to add, in writing.

4. Is that a daytime price?

   If you ring in the evening, ask for the out-of-hours figure in the same message.

5. Is a camera included?

   Ask whether you see the footage or photos, and what it costs extra.

6. What do I pay if the blockage is not cleared?

   A broken pipe needs a repair quote, not a repeat of the same method.

If a job goes ahead with no price agreed, section 51 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 treats the contract as including a term that you pay a reasonable price for the service, and says what is reasonable is a question of fact. That is a fallback and not a plan. A written total is the cheaper way to avoid the argument.

What to send for a fixed quote

A firm can only price what it can see. Send these and the answer is usually quicker and firmer:

• Which fittings are affected, and whether the others drain normally.
• Whether the water level in the nearest chamber is high or empty, with a photo from above (do not climb in).
• How long it has been like this, and whether it has blocked before.
• The age of the house, and whether you own it or rent it.
• Your postcode, so any travel is priced with the rest.

Our guide to drain unblocking cost in Stirling and Falkirk shows the same ranges for the whole job, and do plumbers unblock drains helps if you are not sure who to ring. When you are ready, the drain unblocking service page shows how to reach Brian.