Blocked outside drain - has anyone dealth with blocked outside drains before?

[NextDoorToAlice]

I noticed something last week. Whenever the kitchen sink or washing machine is in the use and the drain pipe outside located at the kitchen that drains into a drain, that keeps flooding and over flowing.

So that is likely blocked.

I bought drain clearing rods and checked YouTube for tutorials and I got to work and I was able to bring the water level in the drain lower but when the sink was used again, it flowed up and out again.

So I bought a drain unblocker.

I think tonight I will have to do some with the unblocking rods and then use the drain unblocker cleaner that I got and hope that helps.

The drain unblocker I got is from the brand HG.

Has anyone here dealt with a blocked outside drain?

Is it easy to unblock? Or do I need to call for a professional?

How about the cleaner I got...what would be the best way to use that?
It says to pour 300 ml down the drain and then pour the same amount of hot water down.

I don't know about pouring hit water down the drain because I would be afraid it will only just fill the water in the drain again.

I looked down the bathroom drains outside and the water levels are down much lower in those pipes/drains. It's just the kitchen outside drain that is raised and over flows.

Can anyone help me please and thanks.

This is something I will have to likely tackle tonight when everyone is in the bed so the kitchen sink doesn't get used while I am working on the outside drain.

Leave the unblocker overnight

Just call your water company and ask them to deal with it. If in England it's normally free.

You need to call the waterboard as it sounds like it needs a flush with a jetter.

Funnily enough I had to do this a couple of weeks ago for the first time in 30 years.

They didn't charge anything.

I had this a couple of months ago and I bought a lot of different drain unblockers, nothing worked and eventually the outside drain was just completely full, didn’t go down at all.

Rang round a few professionals and found somewhere that charged 120 total cost (inc call out and however long it took to sort). It took 3 men about 2 hours in total. Wish I had just got someone in at the beginning as I probably spent a big chunk of that money on cleaners and rods!

It'll be fat buildup I imagine (even if you don't pour fat down the fink, it builds up). Do the water authorities really do it for free if it's on your property? I'd be very surprised. I've always had to get a company in if I couldn't fix it.

If the manhole is flooding due to a blockage they'll do it for free.

If it's just the owners little gully, they won't.

Also, have you used the rods in both directions? The water doesn’t always flow in the direction you think it should.
We assumed our drains flow down our driveway, as our drive slopes down, but actually they flow the other direction and connect to another drain in the garden behind. In the surface it looks like it’s uphill, but the drain under ground slopes the other way slightly.

No I never used the rods in both directions. I don't know where the other end is. It's not my home. It's my mother's and I don't know where the pipes are exactly.

I will see how I get on with the drain unblocker cleaner/chemical and see if that helps before I make any phone calls for professionals.

Fgs call the water company 🙄

Drain rods should work, otherwise if you have British Gas insurance you might be covered for dynorod.

Only time I had this, my small daughter had flushed her knickers down the loo and caused a blockage- is any kind of blockage visible? Is there a manhole further on you could access?

I wouldn't use drain unblocker or at least if you do, and it doesn't work, and you call someone out, let them know you used it so they can take precautions with the chemicals.

Can you see a manhole cover on your mums property ? The blockage might be In that - if you can get the cover off and ‘rod’ that then flush a load of water down

do you have a grille that catches leaves/moss?
I assume outside drain = victorian property. the old pottery drains sometimes collapse or roots grow through.
we had to replace our drains and took the opportunity to also replace the opoen outside drain.

Use the drain unblocker at full strength according to instructions - it will be fat blocking it if it’s the kitchen drain. You might have to do this more than once. the fat builds up over time. If you partially cleared it then it blocked again it is prob quite a large blockage.

I can't see a blockage in the drains. There is a manhole cover at the end of the property but that is the septic tank and I won't be opening that. That will be for the professionals. I am not familiar with any other manhole cover.

If the drain run is on private property, you will be responsible for it. Depending on the age of the property you may have old earthenware pipes. These can crack and become susceptible to root ingress. This would be a professional job. No prizes for guessing how I know this!

I'm so sorry to read about your issues. It sounds awful.

Yes, it's a private property. It's not in an estate. It's a rural dwelling. I think the drain pipes are plastic. They are covered. There are no nearby trees to the drain so I doubt it's roots branching outwards.

How come? Never heard of this!

Because it blocks the network and sewage leaks into gardens etc.

Just get a man in.
We did recently, our drains were getting squashed by the earth on top and a lip had developed which meant any big poo was getting stuck and then blocking backwards.

Took an hour unblocking all the man holes in turn around the house (it was bad, they were all full to the top).
Builder has now dug down and repaired the lip and now the drains flow properly again.

Also rural house. Of course the water board won't unblock your drains for you!! Why on earth would they? It is your responsibility in the boundaries of your property.

Really does depend on where your drain is positioned. The water board have always done mine for free because my drain is only a couple of feet inside my property line so the blockage is usually outside.