Floor trap choke
A choked floor trap leaves water pooling on the bathroom, kitchen or service yard floor, often with a bad smell or gurgling. Most are cleared in under an hour by removing the hair, soap scum, grease or lint caught in the trap and the short pipe beyond it.
Typical price
$50–$180per job, standard hoursTypical job time
30–60 min
Estimate, confirm on WhatsApp
What it looks like
- Water pools around the floor trap during a shower and takes minutes to drain away.
- The service yard floor floods when the washing machine drains.
- A sewer-like or musty smell from the grating, even after cleaning.
- Gurgling from the floor trap when you flush the toilet or run the basin.
- Dirty water rises up through the grating when another fitting is used.
Common causes
- Hair mixed with soap and shampoo residue, the usual cause in bathroom floor traps.
- Cooking grease and food bits in kitchen floor traps, especially where the sink waste pipe runs into the trap.
- Lint, hair and detergent residue from the washing machine outlet hose in the service yard.
- Sand, cement, tile grout or other renovation debris washed down during works.
- Small items such as bottle caps or hair ties, often because the grating is missing or broken.
- A blockage in the branch pipe or common stack beyond the trap, which makes other fittings back up too.
Before you call
Safe things to try first
- Wearing gloves, lift the grating and pull out any hair or debris you can see. Gratings lift out or unscrew, and replacing a damaged one is simple work anyone can do.
- With some water in the trap, seal a plunger over the opening and push and pull firmly 10 to 15 times.
- Pour a pail of hot tap water (not boiling) slowly to soften soap scum and fresh grease, then wait 10 minutes.
- Do not chip, hack or remove the floor trap body. HDB tells owners not to tamper with floor traps, and damage can cause leaks into the flat below.
Stop and call if
- The floor trap backs up when you flush the toilet or use another fitting.
- Several floor traps in the home are slow at the same time.
- The choke started during or after renovation, which usually means cement or grout in the pipe.
- Neighbours on the same stack have the same problem. In HDB blocks, call your town council first.
What we do
- 1Check which fittings drain into the floor trap and whether the toilet and basin drain normally, to tell a trap choke from a branch or stack choke.
- 2Remove the grating and clear the trap by hand and with a drain spring, taking out hair, soap scum, grease or lint.
- 3If the blockage is further along, run a motorised drain machine through the branch pipe towards the stack.
- 4For set cement or grout, break it up with the machine where possible. If a pipe section is too badly blocked to clear, replacing it is sanitary piping work for a PUB Licensed Plumber, and you are told the cost first.
- 5Run water from every connected fitting to confirm full flow, then refit the grating and clean up.
How much it costs
Most floor trap choke jobs in Singapore cost $50–$180 (per job, standard hours). This is an estimate; the final price is confirmed on WhatsApp or on site before work starts.
- Clearing hair, soap scum or lint from the trap$50–$120
- Motorised drain machine on the branch pipe$130–$220
- Clearing renovation debris such as cement or grout$150–$350
- After-hours surcharge$50–$150
HDB, condo and landed
HDB
Floor traps, gratings and the branch pipe up to the common stack are the owner's to maintain, and HDB asks owners not to tamper with the floor trap itself. Renovation debris chokes are cleared at the owner's cost. If floor traps on the same stack back up, call the town council first.
Floor trap choke in HDB homesCondo
Floor traps inside your unit are yours to maintain; the vertical stack is the MCST's. Let security or the management office know a plumber is coming, and check whether drain machine use is limited to certain hours.
Landed
Floor traps in bathrooms, kitchens and outdoor areas usually run to inspection chambers around the house. If several are slow together, check the nearest chamber. Standing water there means the blockage is further down the line.
Floor trap choke: common questions
Why does my floor trap smell even when it is not choked?
A floor trap holds a little water that blocks sewer gas from coming up. If the trap is rarely used, that water dries out and the smell comes through. Pour a cup of water into unused traps every week or two. A smell together with slow draining usually means trapped hair and soap.
Why does water come up through the floor trap when I flush the toilet?
The toilet and floor trap usually share a branch pipe. If water or bubbles come up through the floor trap when you flush, the blockage is past the trap, in the branch pipe or the stack, and needs a drain machine rather than a plunger.
Can I replace a broken floor trap grating myself?
Yes. Changing the grating is not licensed work and you can buy one in a matching size. What you should not do is break, hack or remove the floor trap itself, which HDB tells owners not to tamper with.
My service yard floods every time the washing machine drains. Is the machine faulty?
Usually not. A washing machine pumps out a lot of water quickly, and a floor trap partly blocked by lint and detergent cannot keep up. Check the outlet hose is seated in the trap, clean the machine's own filter, then have the trap and pipe cleared if it is still slow.
Do I need a licensed plumber to clear a floor trap?
No. PUB lists clearing blockages in floor traps as work that does not need a PUB Licensed Plumber. Replacing damaged sanitary pipes, if any are found, does.
Get a price for floor trap choke
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