Drain issue, please help.

[KarenBrockman]

I have never had a problem with drains before.

I put some Mr Muscle down the sink in the hope that would sort the drain, nothing improved. I have just put some other stuff down the actual drain outside. I have swept the water/poo mix down the drain outside and bleached the place. I got the rubber gloves out and the rod thing that came with the drain stuff liquid and there was nothing solid down there.

Could this be an issue that the drains are just clogged up due to the rain or should I be calling people and if so who?

[PigletJohn]

you mean they are blocked?

is it the sink that is blocked or the WC?

Is there a gulley outside?

Is anything coming up the drain?

have you been putting cooking fat down the sink? Or anything except poo and bogroll down the WC?

how old is the house?

[KarenBrockman]

Hi, thank you. I am sore, cold and I have experienced the most grim few hours of my life.

We do not know what the issue was, basically there was poo and toilet roll under every man hold up to the rim.

My neighbour came and helped me. He had hoses, buckets and a mop. I did a lot of moving around of the hose and reporting movement of water/waste down drains, I supplied rubber gloves and a torch. He had to scoop the poo and toilet roll out of the drain he sloshed it into a bit of drain that wasn't blocked followed by a bucket of water and the hose each time, until we could see what was going on. Plunging with the mop did the trick, followed by buckets of water and the hose. We had to do two different blockages.

I hope never to have a problem like this again, I am repulsed by the visions and smells. > [vomit emotion]

[Clargo55]

It's a grim job to do. Ours were blocked a few months back due to neighbours flushing those so called 'flushable' wipes and pouring cooking oil etc down the sink.

Hope you've had a nice bath and a cheeky

[PigletJohn]

Well done the neighbour!

"poo and toilet roll under every man hold up to the rim."

ah.

when that happens (probably too late now) you follow the flow direction along the drain until you find the empty one. The blockage is between the first empty one and the last full one. Preferably rod from the empty towards the full, and stand well back when it starts to gush.

After is it clear, poke again and see if you can detect broken pipe or tree roots. If you are lucky-ish the drains are not broken, but there was a foreign body (toy car, wad of kitchen roll, wet-wipes or disposables) blocking the outlet from one of the pits. It is useful to try to determine the cause so you can prevent it happening again. It can be brickwork in a pit collapsing to the bottom, especially if cars or other vehicles have driven over or beside it.

[KarenBrockman]

No cars over it. Apparently the two Men who had rods locally have moved away. I will buy some rods and have a poke around the area that had the blockage, then I will have them if needed again. Where is a good place to buy them?

Will bleach be suitable to put over the footpath? It is germ city out there now.

Yes well done Neighbour. I gave my neighbour tea, a frozen meal I had made previously, so he doesn't have to cook tonight and some money.

[BakingBad]

If the blockage is in a shared drain your local water company will clear it free of charge.

I have an ongoing drain problem and before I was aware of this ^^ I took out plumbing and drainage insurance with Eon which has paid for itself several times over.

[KarenBrockman]

Even on my land? My drain goes into the neighbours drain. So should I ring them to look at the drains?

[PigletJohn]

try here

[PigletJohn]

p.s.

if you hose the detritus away, whatever goes on the soil will quickly be broken down by bacteria and eaten by worms. You can bleach the concrete if you want. Rain will wash it away provided you shovel up any visible materials. You can put it in a trench and it will soon be gone.

[BakingBad]

My house is at the beginning of a drain run so I'm responsible for maintaining my own drains until the point where they join the neighbour's.

The blockages that affect me are caused by a step where my pipe joins the neighbour's and this is under their patio. So luckily for me - and my neighbour - this is Severn Trent's responsibility.