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Original poster

To ask for your advice - blocked toilet, broken soil pipe under house, autistic DD and new dog!

91 replies

Plumbingcrisis · 25/01/2026 18:29

Have name changed for this because I need to keep the details accurate, but I'm a long term MN reader and poster.

DD is 15, autistic, getting an assistance dog who is due to move in with us permanently on Wednesday. This was already a huge deal and quite stressful all round (the dog will help her enormously in due course, but the first few weeks and months will be tricky with all of the extra demands and routine changes). But we were just about on track to be ready with doggy preparations.

However, our upstairs toilet has become blocked. Fortunately we have another downstairs, but DD isn't coping well with this as she normally avoids the downstairs loo like the plague. She's also waking me in the night to take her for a wee, scared to go downstairs on her own.

We've had the drain guy out today and the soil pipe is blocked and cannot be unblocked because it's damaged. Looks like we will have to pull up the conservatory floor, dig down, fix the pipe, get a new floor etc. I am freaking out, I've contacted the home insurance but won't hear back until tomorrow and have no idea what they're going to say. I've never even made a claim before.

I think I'm going to have to postpone the arrival of the dog, I can't see how we can stay calm and get her settled into her new home when we've got workmen in digging up the conservatory. The cats are going to freak out about the dog, and also about the work, and I'm worried about the impact on them of having both things happen at once. Even getting the dog outside to the back garden to toilet will be tricky, as the way to the garden is through the conservatory! DD isn't happy. But I don't think IABU to say we need to postpone.

My actual AIBU though is to ask - AIBU to not know how how this stuff works, and please can you offer any advice?

Will my home insurers promptly organise everything for me, and quickly?

Or are they going to tell me to get a bunch of quotes and send them in and then have delays while they fanny about deciding what/whether they're going to pay?

And if they do expect me to get quotes etc, who do I even contact to get a floor pulled up and a concrete dug out and a soil pipe fixed?

And how do I generally stay sane with all of this?! We have no family support locally. Can't just move out and stay elsewhere anyway even if we haven't got the dog yet, because we can't leave the cats. I just feel like I'm on the edge of a nervous breakdown.

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Ihad2Strokes · 16/03/2026 20:52

Very weird, just got a notification you'd updated the thread?! Must have got list in the post ?!!!🤣🤣

mow we need updated photos & general update!!

I think it was 'sensitive' as she's heartbreakingly gorgeous!! 😍

Original poster
Plumbingcrisis · 19/02/2026 19:31

No idea why one of the photos got marked as sensitive, it's just a lovely cute photo. :-)

OP posts:
Original poster
Plumbingcrisis · 18/02/2026 20:26

@Ihad2Strokesall going ok thanks, except that the guys came to dig outside and concluded that they would have to dig inside. (Boo!) But then the person back at the office decided they could fix it by digging outside (again) after all. (Yay!) So we’re waiting on them coming back. Basically the soil pipe should be 100mm diameter, and that is the liner diameter. But our (broken) pipe is only 75mm diameter. So they couldn’t sort it first time. But they have now sourced a 75mm diameter liner.

DD coping well with the paper bin, which we may just keep long term seeing as we have a slimmer-than-ideal soil pipe.

DDog settling nicely! Three weeks now and counting. DD not participating in early morning walks, so that’s usually just me and the dog, but at least my average step count has risen considerably. 🤣

Sensitive content
To ask for your advice - blocked toilet, broken soil pipe under house, autistic DD and new dog!
To ask for your advice - blocked toilet, broken soil pipe under house, autistic DD and new dog!
To ask for your advice - blocked toilet, broken soil pipe under house, autistic DD and new dog!
To ask for your advice - blocked toilet, broken soil pipe under house, autistic DD and new dog!
To ask for your advice - blocked toilet, broken soil pipe under house, autistic DD and new dog!
OP posts:
Ihad2Strokes · 02/02/2026 10:13

Isn't she gorgeous!

please keep updating. How is DD coping with the new 'paper bin'? A million years ago as a (NT) teen I first encountered this when travelling with a friend in Greece. We thought the woman was bonkers when she did a charade telling us to put toilet paper in the 'open' bucket next to the toilet.

Please keep updating with additional tax! Doesn't matter it's not the doghouse. Beauty should be everywhere!

Musicaltheatremum · 01/02/2026 20:31

Oh, she is adorable

MangaKanga · 01/02/2026 20:14

What a honey.

May she amd your DD have many brilliant years together

Tableforjoan · 01/02/2026 20:05

Good news.

Original poster
Plumbingcrisis · 01/02/2026 20:05

Here she is. 💕

To ask for your advice - blocked toilet, broken soil pipe under house, autistic DD and new dog!
OP posts:
Original poster
Plumbingcrisis · 01/02/2026 20:03

Thanks to everyone who responded in my time of crisis! Am pleased to report that the insurance company accepted the claim and that they are going to go for excavation OUTSIDE, not under the conservatory, and install a liner. Toilet upstairs is working fine, but we will not be putting any paper down there any time soon! And the lovely assistance dog has joined us and is starting to settle in. I know this isn't The Doghouse, but I thought you might like a photo for tax anyway. :-)

OP posts:
SaffyWall · 27/01/2026 13:03

We had a similar situation with a Victorian soil pipe at our last house - our insurance sorted the whole thing and a contractor relined the pipe with some sort of resin which worked rreally well and we never had another problem. When the ground warmed up in the summer the resin gave off a strange perfumy smell - it took me weeks to figure out where it was coming from!! Also - when we moved house we had to present the associated paperwork/information so make sure you keep hold of any details.

Original poster
Plumbingcrisis · 27/01/2026 12:35

@Ilikewinteralthough I agree with you about the seasons - I like winter too, and hate summer! But I'm quite glad we don't get the dog until tomorrow, as the storm conditions here are terrifying. I would not find walking a dog to be stress relief today. :-)

OP posts:
Ilikewinter · 27/01/2026 10:11

I've just binged read the whole thread, it had me stressed out for you OP, but it's good to hear there's a happy (sort of) ending ! I hope the new dog settles in well, he could be stress relief for all of you 🤣

Seelybe · 27/01/2026 09:58

@Plumbingcrisis as a bit of lateral thinking, there are possibly 2 options to avoid digging up floors etc. The first is to see whether the upstairs soil pipe could be rerouted to join the main sewer at a different point i.e.. not involving the conservatory. The second is to consider a saniflo. They have drawbacks and always have to be used properly but much less plumbing/drains upheaval involved and much less labour.

MangaKanga · 27/01/2026 01:07

Yay op xx

Ihad2Strokes · 26/01/2026 20:56

🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗

if you don't like hugs, just pass them on! (Or put them in your new paper bin!!)

I am in awe of how well you have coped with this, on top of everything else you already cope with (and without sounding patronising being ND yourself too). I don't know how you do it anyway, but with this on top!!...

I am so pleased your insurance company has been so good!!

🤞🏼🤞🏼🤞🏼the liner works!

🤞🏼🤞🏼🤞🏼the dog settles in & the cats cope ok!

and you retain your sanity 🥰

ForNoisyCat · 26/01/2026 20:18

Plumbingcrisis · 25/01/2026 18:29

Have name changed for this because I need to keep the details accurate, but I'm a long term MN reader and poster.

DD is 15, autistic, getting an assistance dog who is due to move in with us permanently on Wednesday. This was already a huge deal and quite stressful all round (the dog will help her enormously in due course, but the first few weeks and months will be tricky with all of the extra demands and routine changes). But we were just about on track to be ready with doggy preparations.

However, our upstairs toilet has become blocked. Fortunately we have another downstairs, but DD isn't coping well with this as she normally avoids the downstairs loo like the plague. She's also waking me in the night to take her for a wee, scared to go downstairs on her own.

We've had the drain guy out today and the soil pipe is blocked and cannot be unblocked because it's damaged. Looks like we will have to pull up the conservatory floor, dig down, fix the pipe, get a new floor etc. I am freaking out, I've contacted the home insurance but won't hear back until tomorrow and have no idea what they're going to say. I've never even made a claim before.

I think I'm going to have to postpone the arrival of the dog, I can't see how we can stay calm and get her settled into her new home when we've got workmen in digging up the conservatory. The cats are going to freak out about the dog, and also about the work, and I'm worried about the impact on them of having both things happen at once. Even getting the dog outside to the back garden to toilet will be tricky, as the way to the garden is through the conservatory! DD isn't happy. But I don't think IABU to say we need to postpone.

My actual AIBU though is to ask - AIBU to not know how how this stuff works, and please can you offer any advice?

Will my home insurers promptly organise everything for me, and quickly?

Or are they going to tell me to get a bunch of quotes and send them in and then have delays while they fanny about deciding what/whether they're going to pay?

And if they do expect me to get quotes etc, who do I even contact to get a floor pulled up and a concrete dug out and a soil pipe fixed?

And how do I generally stay sane with all of this?! We have no family support locally. Can't just move out and stay elsewhere anyway even if we haven't got the dog yet, because we can't leave the cats. I just feel like I'm on the edge of a nervous breakdown.

i had a bath pipe leak a few years back and it destroyed my boiler. Insurance company sorted the workmen for me. How will your DD cope without dog? This must be so stressful for you all. Hope it’s all ok snd not too expensive!

ForNoisyCat · 26/01/2026 20:16

LifeOfAShowgirl13 · 25/01/2026 18:34

Do you know what has caused the damage to the soil pipe? Unfortunately if it is age-related and has degraded then I think it is unlikely to be covered by insurance. It might be covered if it has somehow been suddenly damaged though.

Usually the home owner is responsible for the pipes but I had blockages last week, phoned Thames water with various questions and paid online for a drainage map snd the guy said thsmes water is responsible for my pipes! thus must be unusual but I hope he’s right

Original poster
Plumbingcrisis · 26/01/2026 19:43

YorkieShared · 26/01/2026 14:17

Have had issues with upstairs toilet blocking frequently

Recommend a big bin with bin liner in bathroom to put paper in

This is similar to what some other hot countries do where sewers are not able to cope.

It helps lots

Thanks, this is what we have done today! Trip to B&M, largish pedal bin now installed next to toilet for paper, and there are about 10 bright orange signs up reminding household members to put all paper in the bin. And to head downstairs instead if they need a shit. 🤣

OP posts:
YorkieShared · 26/01/2026 14:17

Have had issues with upstairs toilet blocking frequently

Recommend a big bin with bin liner in bathroom to put paper in

This is similar to what some other hot countries do where sewers are not able to cope.

It helps lots

RoachFish · 26/01/2026 13:43

That's great news OP. I had relining done too in my current home. The work took about 2 days in total. From memory, first they flushed/cleaned the pipes, then they had to dry for a day. Then relining took an hour or two and we couldn't use the pipes for about 24 hours afterwards whilst everything set but since then there has been no issues.

Breadcat24 · 26/01/2026 13:29

Sometimes they can line the pipe. They access from a point outside and put the liner up the pipe, inflate it then cure it- this may mean you do not need your conservatory floor dug up

FuzzyWolf · 26/01/2026 13:27

Plumbingcrisis · 26/01/2026 13:26

Update: thanks all for your help! Insurance company have been fab and are hopefully going to cover the costs, it'll just cost me the £500 excess. They have acted with lightning speed this morning and had their drainage guy here to survey the issue before lunchtime. He was fabulous and has unblocked the pipe enough that we can use the upstairs loo at least for wees. Just need to get a bin that we can put toilet paper in, as we'll risk another blockage otherwise. That alone helps massively, as DD will only have to use the downstairs loo occasionally (for No 2s).

He sent a camera down and there's a proper hole in the pipe, it's a bit f**ked really but he seemed hopeful that a big of digging outside in the garden and installation of a liner would be the most likely approach. We can cope with that. It'll only be if that fails that we have to dig up the conservatory, but if we can at least wee upstairs in the meantime we can potentially put that off for a few weeks (until things have settled with the new dog).

So it looks like we are OK to have DD's assistance dog join us this week, after all. And that of course is also massively stressful, but at least we've been preparing for that for a very, very long time!

Great update! I hope all the work goes smoothly and the dogs fits in well.

Original poster
Plumbingcrisis · 26/01/2026 13:26

Update: thanks all for your help! Insurance company have been fab and are hopefully going to cover the costs, it'll just cost me the £500 excess. They have acted with lightning speed this morning and had their drainage guy here to survey the issue before lunchtime. He was fabulous and has unblocked the pipe enough that we can use the upstairs loo at least for wees. Just need to get a bin that we can put toilet paper in, as we'll risk another blockage otherwise. That alone helps massively, as DD will only have to use the downstairs loo occasionally (for No 2s).

He sent a camera down and there's a proper hole in the pipe, it's a bit f**ked really but he seemed hopeful that a big of digging outside in the garden and installation of a liner would be the most likely approach. We can cope with that. It'll only be if that fails that we have to dig up the conservatory, but if we can at least wee upstairs in the meantime we can potentially put that off for a few weeks (until things have settled with the new dog).

So it looks like we are OK to have DD's assistance dog join us this week, after all. And that of course is also massively stressful, but at least we've been preparing for that for a very, very long time!

OP posts:
Original poster
Plumbingcrisis · 26/01/2026 13:22

Ablondiebutagoody · 26/01/2026 10:53

Not minimising. Autism or not the toilet is blocked, luckily there is another. No need to flap and cancel the dog. If it was my house, I'd be shitting in the garden!

Edited
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I want to thank you for your contributions, but TBH it's very clear that you have no idea about all of this.

If you had a paraplegic teenager and a lift in your house for them and it broke... would you just say, "Wheelchair or not, you can use the ground floor of the house, no need to flap, just sleep on the kitchen floor"?

OP posts:
Original poster
Plumbingcrisis · 26/01/2026 13:19

GasPanic · 26/01/2026 10:48

Having a sewage pipe that runs under the conservatory seems like a bad idea to me.

Who owns this pipe ? Is it you or the sewage company ?

This may be a wild idea, but would it be possible to reroute the soil pipe on the outside of the house so that instead of going underneath the conservatory it empties into it at another point after it comes out from under the building ? That way you will always have access.

I don't actually know who owns the pipe, probably us. Hopefully us, actually, as it will avoid having to get United Utilities involved as well.

Yes, I agree, building a conservatory over existing sewage pipes wasn't ideal! It was the previous owners that did it.

OP posts: