Every Queenslander knows it – the weather has been an absolute BEAST lately. Cyclones, floods, record rain, all slamming Brisbane with its chaos. Ex-Cyclone Alfred dumped a mind-blowing 275mm on the CBD in March 2025 alone – the wettest since 1974, if you can believe it. Streets were turned into rivers, and homes into swamps. Are you a homeowner? It’s not just outside or even inside that’s a mess – you could be left wondering how to unblock shower drain clogs that have become pretty urgent.
Right here at Brisbane Drain Cleaning, we’ve seen shower drains absolutely choke under this weather onslaught:
- Silt
- Leaves
- Hard and soggy gunk, all piling up.
So let’s zoom in on why wet seasons hit blocked shower drains particularly hard – and how to fight back!
Why wet seasons wreck shower drains
Brisbane’s wet season – think November to April, roughly – ramps up your drainage woe exposure. And 2024-2025 have been particularly brutal – 34 percent above average, according to BOM. The storms do a brilliant job at washing all that debris into your pipes – and then the humidity fuels the mould, the floods back up the sewers, and the result? Your shower drains, very much bearing the brunt.
Think of a shower drain blockage as nature’s revenge – although we know that doesn’t make it any easier! Only one has been in the headlines, but there have been multiple cyclones in the region over just the last few months. Townsville recorded an eye-watering 301mm in a single day – and it all leaves our pipes screaming for relief.
So how do you tackle this sort of thing from a plumbing perspective?:
Wet season culprits: How to unblock shower drains
We’ve outlined the plumber-tried-and-tested fixes for Brisbane and beyond’s rainy chaos. It’s real solutions for how to unblock a shower drain, rather than guesses:
1. Silt & mud – Plunger power
Floods push that silt – under pressure – through pipe cracks. We find that debris clogs are almost double towards the end of summer – clogging up your shower drain.
The Fix:
- Grab a flange plunger
- Seal it over the drain
- Pump 10-15 times steadily
- This should sift the storm-induced mud in a blocked shower drain.
2. Leaves & twigs – Snake it out
Storms blow and flow all that debris into your open drains, eventually disturbing your otherwise relaxing shower.
The Fix:
- Rent a drain snake (a few dollars a day from a hardware store)
- Feed it in
- Twist to grab all the junk
- This should clear most shower drains blocked messes.
3. Soap cum surge – A hot water blast
Yes, we know the humidity is skyrocketing. What does that mean for all the soap that has drained down the shower? Plumbers (like us!) report that soap buildup clogs are doubled at this time of the year.
The Fix:
- Heat water to 50-60°C – or a boiled kettle left to sit for a while.
- Add dish soap
- Pour it all down
- Wait 15 minutes
- Flush!
This should have softened all that scum, for an easy answer for how to clear blocked shower drain headaches.
4. Mould & gunk – Vinegar soak
All this damp is the perfect breeding ground for mould. We usually see at least twice the mould growth each and every summer, which can be even more when the sky just won’t stop dumping its soggy contents.
The Fix:
- Mix vinegar and baking soda (1:1)
- Pour it in
- Let it fizz for 20 minutes
- Rinse with hot water.
This is a great DIY solution to unblock shower drain mould. It’s eco-safe, and it kills those gross odours.
5. Sewer backup – Bucket boost
An incredible 10% of all Brisbane homes have been affected by the weather in March ’25 alone. The result?: a hopelessly blocked up shower!
The Fix:
- Dump a 10L bucket of water fast into the shower
- Repeat twice, which adds extra force to your unblock drain dilemma.
Still dealing with a shower blockage? Calling in the professionals is your next best bet.
When wet wins – Call the Pros
The methods we’ve outlined above deal with most blocked shower drains – but relentless rain like this can really be overwhelming. The result? Sewer mains flooding, observed by professionals like us at almost unprecedented levels, means you might definitely need an expert to check out your situation:
- Hydro-jets blast 95% of clogs
- CCTV drain inspection sees all that deep muck in HD.
In other words, Brisbane Drain Cleaning has got all this latest gear, and much more, to tackle your problem.
Beating Brisbane’s wet drain blues
Our wet seasons tend to turn a simple problem of how to unblock drains into a seriously difficult survival skill! Hundreds of millimetres of rain in a day means unblock shower drain solutions can’t be handled with simple DIY. So: shower still clogged? We’re here around the clock with the best tools and techniques to answer all your how to unblock shower drain woe problems. Reach out to Brisbane Drain Cleaning today!
