The prevention calendar for your drains: monthly, quarterly and per season

Drain maintenance is not a project but a rhythm. Monthly: rinse the kitchen drain with a kettle of hot water against grease film, empty the hair strainer on the shower drain and pour a jug of water into drains and gullies that see little use — that keeps the water seal filled and the sewer smell out.

Quarterly: unscrew and clean the traps of sink and basin (bucket underneath), empty the shower drain and check outside whether gullies and the base of the downpipe are clear. Little effort — and you see immediately whether something is starting to narrow, before it becomes a blockage.

Then the seasonal work. In autumn: keep gutter and gullies leaf-free, because falling leaves slide into the downpipe and outdoor drainage and lodge in the bottom bend — right before the wettest season. And before the holidays one preparation pays double: December is the season of table-top grilling and deep-frying, and all that fat wants to go down the sink afterwards. Set out an empty bottle or jar for the cooled fat and wipe pans with kitchen paper. The cheapest blockage is the clog that never forms — certainly in the week you least want to wait for a technician.

For older house sewers — vitrified clay or cast iron, many trees around the house, a history of blockages — one more fixed item belongs on the calendar: periodic preventive jetting (€ 95-175 per service), the cheapest insurance against an emergency job of € 125-350. All rates are in the price index.