Drain Doctor - Lincoln Reviews 

In June 2026 I paid around £580 to Drain Doctor (Lincolnshire / Notts East) for a blockage clearance and CCTV drain survey at my home near Worksop. The engineer on the day was polite and the blockage was cleared properly, no complaints about the visit itself.

The report and quotation that followed are another matter. I was quoted £12,660 inc VAT "list price" for 16 patch repairs, "discounted" to £8,695. Independent market rates for the equivalent repair. A full-length lining of the affected runs. Are in the region of £3,000–3,500. Full lining is the standard recommendation when defects are this numerous, and in my view a better repair than 16 separate patches. The report never mentions lining as an option.

The sequence of events speaks for itself. The report describes three defects as urgent and near-collapse. It then took 27 days to reach me — at which point a 10-day deadline was attached to the discount, alongside warnings in both the report and the covering email about what these defects would mean for a future house sale or mortgage valuation. Genuinely urgent findings are not sat on for four weeks and then delivered with a countdown.

The report cites the WRc OS19X coding standard but contains none of what that standard exists to provide: no structural grades (1–5), no clock positions, no per-run condition grades. Every defect, from a displaced joint to a broken pipe, is labelled identically as "Structural". In my opinion this is a sales document formatted to look like a survey.

What concerns me most is who this approach would work on. I have a technical background and questioned the quote. An older or more trusting customer, told their drains were near collapse and given ten days to secure a £4,000 "saving", could easily be pressured into paying several times a fair price for an inferior repair.

I have requested my CCTV footage and the graded survey data in writing. I will update this review based on how the company responds.

Update 09/06/2026 — response to the company's reply:

Thank you for responding. Unfortunately the reply raises more questions than it answers, and I have still received no response to the detailed email I sent the company directly — the only engagement so far has been here on the review platform. The CCTV footage promised in your reply has also not yet arrived.

Your reply states the booking was "a visual check, not a full CCTV structural drainage survey." I have the written quotation I booked and paid against. It is headed as covering "a CCTV inspection of the drainage system to assess its condition, identify any defects, and provide a clear report on the findings," states "the survey will be carried out as follows," and lists as deliverables a "CCTV survey" (item 5), defects "logged and referenced to their location" (item 6), and a report "together with CCTV evidence and recommendations" (item 9). No lesser "visual check" tier is mentioned anywhere in it. The report I then received is itself titled "CCTV Drainage Survey Report & Quotation" and is signed by an NADC-qualified drainage surveyor. Readers can judge for themselves which description is accurate.

This matters because of what followed: a document citing the WRc OS19X standard, but containing none of its structural grading, was used to declare 24 defects requiring repair and to support a quotation of £8,695 with a 10-day discount deadline. If, as your reply now states, the underlying inspection was below survey standard, then in my view that quotation rested on evidence you yourselves class as insufficient.

On the blind laterals said to make full lining unsuitable: I know this system. One connection is a soil stack entering at an access chamber — where liners terminate naturally — and one is a gutter connection on the long run, which sectional lining works around as standard. Notably, your own defect schedule records no junctions on either run.

I will update again when the footage arrives and when I receive a reply to my email.

Last updated: 09/07/2026

What an exceptional service! Harry was with us within an hour of my calling the office. He was friendly, polite and talked me through every stage of the process to unblock the drains! An exceptional service from an exceptional man! Highly recommended!

Harrison (Harry) Large. Was with us within half an hour of phone call. He was polite, efficient, reassuring and hardworking. As a disabled members of the LGBTQ + community he put us at our ease. We would recommend this company and Harry for all your plumbing issues.

We had the waste pipe from the upstairs toilet leaking outside the rear of our property going under patio. A gentleman named Nick arrived on Monday morning surveyed our drain and said clay pipe was leaking/broken in two areas and would require patches put inside existing piping to save digging up the paito. Nick returned next day and completed the two repairs and showed us on survey camera the work that was done.
We were very happy with all the work and nick was very polite and cleaned up any mess that was made.

The speed to reply and confirm my booking was excellent.
Also how readily available they are to attend is impressive.
The engineer Nick Laker arrived the next morning, on time, made a fast assessment, advised of next steps, carried them out and resolved the issue.
I needed confirmation where my man hole was, if the drains are in tact and if rats were coming from them.
All confirmed at the first visit.
Very impressed.

My call to Drain Doctor was a great experience. Sophie said she could probably get an engineer to us that day, even though I had said that the problem wasn’t urgent. Both Sophie and Nick, the engineer, kept us updated on when he would arrive and 2 hours later he was inspecting our drains. Nick worked solidly in intense heat, keeping us informed about everything he was doing. He removed the blockage and surveyed all of our drains, showing where problems were occurring. The charge for several hours hard work was very reasonable we got a comprehensive report and further work has been arranged. I would certainly recommend this company.

Lee arrived and soon set about identifying our blocked drainage problems. The Drain Doctor van was full of high tech equipment that soon identified and cleared our problem. I cannot recommend the Drain Doctor highly enough for their efficiency and professionalism… thank you !

Made a call about smelly drains. 4 hours later an engineer had arrived. He assessed the situation and advised me to call Anglian Water as problem was due to shared drainage.
He completed immediate problem easily and swiftly.
At time of review I'm still waiting for Anglian Water to sort out the bigger problem.
The engineer was called Lee. He was polite and courteous.

Nick the engineer was very thorough with his investigation ,very satisfied customer would definitely recommend Drain Doctor

Nick was very helpful and showed me what to do if the problem happens again. A lot cheaper than another company that I got a quote from as well.

Got the appointment very quickly and had a text saying he was on his way. After an initial assessment the person told me what he needed to do. The price was given to me. As I was happy to pay it he did the work. The man was very pleasant and got the job done. I was able to pay using Apple Pay. The whole thing took about 1.5 hours.

The engineer, Lee, arrived early and promptly identified the problem with one of my outside drains, namely the downpipe wasn't in the correct place and rainwater was causing all the surrounding area to crack and break. After a couple of hours the downpipe had been replaced and the surrounding area newly concreted. Fantastic job!

The engineer who came to assess the blockage o our drain was punctual, careful to explain what his equipment revealed and was concerned to point out the expense involve in rectifying the problem. The job was expensive due to multiple fractures in our pipework but clearly (visibly) necessary. The engineer (Lee) was very pleasant, patient - and highly efficient.

First class communication from initial phone to completion of the job.
Lee was very friendly and knowledgeable. Talked me through the issue and options and then just got on with the job. Explained what he had done, cleared away all the debris.Recommended 2ply toilet roll to prevent further blockages

Not cheap, but great custoner service and outcome.

It has taken a while but all of our requirements have been fulfilled. Firstly a sewer blockage was removed by Ciaran. Then plant roots were removed from the various pipe joints by Ben. Finally after a miscommunication, the pipe joints were sleeved by Kieran. We found the engineers to be polite, punctual and skilled, we feel that we can relax now the work has been completed. Keith and Jean Cropper, Leicester

Well done, Harry. Efficient and surprisingly cheerful given his job. Problem solved, thank you.

Very good response came same day excellent job done by harry very good at his job very polite 10/10

Really nice guy very helpful just got on with the job! Thankyou.

Very thorough and sorted the problem in no time.

Quick reaction to the initial problem(blockage)
Lee the engineer explained and gave advice of the situation,also explained how to repair Broken pipe
An estimate was emailed and on contacting dr the repair was done the same day as the estimate ,
Cannot get better than that
Lee came did the repair,very friendly and informative.
Thanks dr drain.😀😀