Going insane with ongoing Plumbing/Drains Blockages/SpecialNeeds

[RunningAway2JoinTheCircus]

Solo parent of autistic kids here & homeowner. First homeowner. We have only one toilet. This means every time we have this issue, no one can go to the toilet for hours and hours and it’s massively difficult and stressful.

Soil pipe and soil stack (the pipes wot take your waste away to the sewer) are becoming continually blocked (over three years). I have spent about two grand on drain cameras, drain jetting, and £650 of work to fix a slight displacement which “may” be causing it.

This has not fixed it at all. I have had to get someone out twice in a week £350 to jet it.

Now the Drain Engineer No 2 is saying the camera shows another slight displacement which he didn’t think was too bad but which “may” be causing it.

Meanwhile 13 year old has been caught putting a cardboard tube down the toilet one night when he “ran out of paper” (there was loads nearby which I would have happily got). And last night, I found that the toilet wasn’t flushing and I (when I put my hand around the u bend) discovered big wet wedges of toilet paper. He initially said he had used only a little bit then there was what I would call loads.

The drain engineer has told me to pour buckets of water down the external drains every few days.

The house is 130 years old and a mid terrace.

The latest piece of work will involve excavation and drainage work in the yard to fix a displacement near a join, which will come to £1000. The drain fixing work is probably necessary but sometimes it feels like a blank cheque if it’s not resolving the issue.

Does anyone have experience of stopping SEN young people using so much toilet paper?

Is there some sensory reason why a child would be using massive amounts?

At this point, I’m considering marine toilet paper, different types of toilets which wash and dry your bottom, and I am starting to go slightly insane.

@pigletjohn would be very grateful for your thoughts.

@RunningAway2JoinTheCircus maybe ration the toilet paper?? Know its a bit extreme but if the loo is constantly getting blocked.....

Have you thought of asking the water company to check the main sewer? also ask you neighbour if they have similar issues because it might be that the problem is not coming from your house but somewhere else in the system for your row of terrace houses.

I would ration toilet paper and install a bum spray thing.

At my old house we had this a bit and after rodding the drains out (do you own rods? It'd be a lot cheaper for you!) we found that there was an old edwardian drain covering blocking one of the drains. Just a bit of pottery. Took it out and it worked fine.

Thank you - the water company said it’s not their doing & neighbours say no problem on their sides. Maybe I should ask the water company again though.

Im not sure what it is called but swapping to toilet tissues? rather toilet rolls and saying he is only allowed to use X number. Would this work?

I cannot rod this as often the issue is outside. I have to pay a company to put a jet inside the pipe and have a torrent of poop along the side return. I then need to pay or get involved for it to be cleaned.

What are these bum spray things? Are these the toilet attachments?

I have had two drain surveys where a camera is fed into the drain on a pipe. So I think they would have picked up a thing in the pipes.

Yeah it's quite common for children with ASD to overdo it on the loo roll, sensory issues or slight OCD usually at the root of it.

I agree with the suggestion to get a bum sprayer hose. Much less loo roll needed then!

It's clearly the amount of paper being put down the loo. Do your DC put wipes down too? These don't break down and cause most blockages.

I'm sorry I have no idea about how to help with SEN although the hose attachment sounds like it might help.

How would you feel about having a bin for paper? Like they used to do in Greece? You'd have to empty it regularly though 💩 and not sure what you'd do about visitors.

The rod PP mention are for you to use outside to rod the drains not the toilet

My son (AuHD & LD) used to do this a lot. I ended up having to remove the toilet paper from the bathroom - not ideal! Fortunately he no longer does this but he does often remove the plug from the washbasin and puts toys and stuff down it. So my plumbing skills have improved. I am toying with getting an alarm.for the bathroom door as he has flooded the bathroom a couple of times now.

A friend lived in a Victorian cottage & could only use single ply toilet roll, otherwise there would be blockages.
If the buckets of water don’t work - I found an effective way to clear toilet blockages - wet mop, place in bin bag & tie it tightly, plunge into the toilet & repeat if necessary (I find once is enough).

Are you using fancy loo roll? Might be time to swap to the cheap stuff.

Also, keep a bottlenose strong washing up liquid by the loo and get him to put a squirm down each time he's finished. It will help break down the loo roll. Warm water helps too.

If it's only the loo that's blocking I'd suggest it is only an issue with the loo or the associated waste pipes.

Thay said we've had some issues with blocked drains. Bought rods. The rods were going through fine. But then we used the disc shaped end and that wasn't going through fine and there was a small bit of fine root matting causing a lip on one of the pipes. As soon as we got rid of that (lots of huffing and puffing and getting this disc shaped thing to travel through thr pipes cleanly) we have had no trouble. So it could be something very small causing the pipes to block!

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Purrfectzone-Sprayer-Handheld-Install-Hygiene/dp/B076G9M9J

this is the hand bidet (aka bum sprayer) I have and it’s life changing, their customer service is very good.

What ply toilet paper are you buying? Important not too comfort / thick.
Also pop into a hard ware store and buy spirit of salts -talk to them about it first to check it’s right for you but it’s stronger than draino. It’s very cheap less than 5 pounds

We are using the two ply toilet roll. I didn’t know there was a one ply!

How powerful is the flush on your toilet. The one in our house with the less strong flush is the one that tends to get blocked up every now and then. Usually sorted out with washing up liquid and bucket of warm water. But it would not cost a lot to get someone to change the flush if you think that may contribute to the problem.

We’ve had this same issue with Ds who has autism and sensory issues now aged 13. We really had to explain that if he’s going to use huge wads of paper then he needs to break it into smaller clumps and flush between each wad- if that makes sense, but obviously that depends on how well you can communicate with your dc. We found Cushelle (the original one in the blue packaging, not the quilted ones) paper better than others as it’s so soft it seems to “melt” in the water. It’s often on special offer at Tesco,

Failing that a weird but possible suggestion is to get a camping toilet and put it in the bathroom and empty it regularly rather than use the main toilet - but obviously I know that sounds mad when you have a working toilet!

We had exactly the same; two kidney plates had dropped in to the drain. They were probably displaced by previous jetting. Some previous owners had laid a concreted path over the access points so we had no idea they were there. The drain man fished them out and threw them away, apparently it’s a very common problem in old drains.

An easy thing to do is to squash the roll before you put it on the toilet roll holder so that it doesn't unravel easily.

I've seen adverts for a company called Wype that sell some sort of gel that you put onto loo roll and then helps to clean your bum better and use less loo roll - no idea if it's any good (and may not work if your kids have sensory issues), but definitely some sort of spray/hose thing would seem to be ok, as presumably the kids are ok with water on their bums in shower etc

I have already explained to him that if he flushes little and often this would be better. However I think he maybe is in a world of his own and just forgets.

Please do not call out private drainage companies. Call your local Water Authority. Look on your bills to see who you pay your sewerage charges to. They will check for you and decide if it is a private problem or their responsibility. Even if it is a private problem they should offer a clearance service at a fraction of that price

I called United utilities last week. They were adamant that it was a me problem and not a them problem. Not any problem that would cost them money.

is there something documented as to their responsibilities?

can they not argue that it is a me issue and within the confines of my home etc - not yet at the joint drain area and therefore unlikely to be their responsibility?

do they really have any requirement to help me with my drains??