Tree Root Drain Clearance at the Lion and Hogarth Centre, Brentwood for Storm Group

Project Snapshot

Client Storm Group
Sector FM & Property
Location Lion and Hogarth Centre, Brentwood
Services CCTV drain survey, Picote root milling, high-pressure jetting, suction clearance
Duration 3 weeks
Challenge Repeat internal flooding over several years at a council-owned day care centre, cause undiagnosed until CCTV survey confirmed tree root ingress

Overview

The Lion and Hogarth Centre is a council-owned day care facility for older people in Brentwood. For several years, the centre had experienced repeated internal flooding that disrupted operations and damaged facilities. The cause had not been identified.

Storm Group engaged LDF to investigate. A CCTV survey confirmed tree root ingress as the source of the drainage failure. LDF used Picote milling to clear the blockage, restored drainage flow with high-pressure jetting, and resolved a problem that had been recurring for years, in three weeks.

Tree root ingress in drainage at Lion and Hogarth Centre, Brentwood council day care facility
Tree root blockage in the drainage at Lion and Hogarth Centre, Brentwood, the source of repeat internal flooding over several years at the council-owned day care facility

The Challenge

Repeat flooding in an occupied public sector building is a compounding problem. Each incident disrupts the people using the building, damages the interior, and puts pressure on the staff managing the facility. At a day care centre for older people, that disruption has a direct effect on vulnerable service users.

Storm Group had been engaged to address the drainage problems at the Lion and Hogarth Centre, but without a clear diagnosis, there was no basis for a lasting fix. The flooding had continued over several years, which suggested the cause was structural rather than incidental: something in the drainage system itself was failing repeatedly.

LDF were brought in to identify the problem and clear it.

CCTV drain survey identifying tree root blockage at Brentwood council property
CCTV drain survey in progress at the Lion and Hogarth Centre, confirming tree root ingress as the cause of the persistent flooding problem

Our Approach

The first step was a full CCTV drain survey. Without an accurate picture of what was happening underground, any clearance work would be treating symptoms rather than the cause. The survey confirmed what the repeat flooding had suggested: tree roots had grown into the drainage system, spreading through any available crack or weak joint in the pipework and progressively restricting flow.

Tree roots are a persistent drainage problem in established grounds. As they grow, they track along disturbed soil paths around buried pipework and exploit any imperfection in the pipe wall. Once inside, they continue to grow and accumulate debris, causing blockages that worsen over time and return after standard jetting because the root mass itself remains intact.

With the location and extent of the ingress mapped, LDF deployed Picote milling equipment to remove the blockage directly. The Picote system uses a combination of twister brushes, a 3mm metal panel, and a front drill head fitted with star carbides to cut through root masses and hard blockages from within the pipe, without any excavation. The team resurveyed by CCTV at intervals throughout to confirm progress and verify clearance section by section.

High-pressure jetting was used alongside the milling to flush material through the system, with suction equipment clearing the arisings as the work progressed. The full programme was completed in three weeks.

Picote milling equipment removing tree root blockage from drainage at Brentwood FM property
Suction pipe used to clear arisings during drain clearance works at Lion and Hogarth Centre, Brentwood

The Outcome

The drainage blockage was fully cleared and confirmed by CCTV survey. The Lion and Hogarth Centre’s flooding problem, which had persisted for years without a resolution, was resolved within the project timeframe.

Storm Group could close out the job with a clear record of the diagnosis, the works carried out, and the confirmed outcome. The day care centre resumed normal operations with the drainage system functioning correctly.

About This Project Type

Tree root ingress is one of the most common causes of persistent drainage failure in public sector and commercial buildings with established grounds. Standard jetting can restore flow temporarily, but it does not remove the root mass: the problem returns. Identifying tree roots as the cause requires a CCTV survey, and removing them requires equipment capable of cutting through dense organic blockages from within the pipe.

Picote milling, the same equipment LDF used to remove hardened concrete at Heathrow Airport, handles root masses with the same approach: the drill head cuts through the obstruction, CCTV resurveying confirms clearance, and jetting flushes the system clean. No excavation, no surface disruption, and a confirmed outcome at the end.

For FM and estates teams managing council properties, schools, care facilities, or any building with mature trees in the grounds, CCTV surveying as part of a planned maintenance programme is the most reliable way to catch root ingress before it becomes a repeat flooding problem.

Work with LDF

Call our 24-hour helpline: 0800 612 2179
Or visit: london-drainage.com/drain-unblocking

Some images on this page have been digitally enhanced to improve resolution.