Paging pigletjohn

[dizzyupthegirl86]

I feel like I need the power of the official mumsnet plumbing expert @pigletjohn - or someone with more knowledge of plumbing than me!

My toilet wouldn’t drain yesterday, I haven’t noticed it being particularly slow draining lately but it’s blocked up once before (a hanger did the trick very easily that time) a few months ago.

I’ve tried SO many things to clear it - washing up liquid and hot water, hot water on its own, chemical unblocker, bicarb and vinegar hasn’t worked (unfortunately no wire hangers to be found). I’ve borrowed one of those plunger things on a rod and although that’s working, it takes a LOT of work to make it drain slowly, and it just fills up again the next time you press the flush.

Initially the water was clear but today it’s a murky brown colour (I used the chemical unblocker overnight).
Initially when I started trying to clear it yesterday, there was a little bit of toilet tissue residue coming up (very small broken up pieces) but other than that first time, there’s nothing coming up when I’m plunging. when I stop the plunging action, the water level seems to swell slightly just after.

Is there anything else I can try? I’ve got some snake things being delivered today in case that works, but I’m trying to avoid calling emergency plumber if I can!

This is the toilet I have - I’ve tried to get my hand at the bottom to see if I can feel if anything is there but the u-bend is really steep - it feels almost vertical instead of sloping backwards if that makes sense?

victoriaplum.com/product/orchard-modern-close-coupled-toilet-and-seat

It’s the only toilet in the house, upstairs bathroom - shower and basin are draining as normal. I don’t flush wipes or cotton pads, nothing like that!

well, you have a blockage

is it on the ground floor, or upstairs?

How old is the house?

Is the soil pipe attached to the outside wall, or is it hidden in a vertical duct in the corner of the bathroom (that passes down the corner of the kitchen or other room below)?

Is it an original fitting from when the house was built, or a later alteration?

Thanks for the quick reply!
It’s upstairs - house is 1930s. The toilet is on an outside wall so the soil pipe is attached to that. It’s the original bathroom, but I had the bathroom suite replaced when I moved six months ago. It’s all basically like for like though in terms of the location, so the toilet is in the same place as the old one, which was there for at least ten years!

can you post a pic of the outside wall, showing the soil pipe and its connections please. All the way from the roof to the ground.

And one where it goes into the ground, including any nearby drain from the kitchen.

And another round the back of the WC, showing how the spigot attaches to the (presumably old) iron socket coming through the wall.

Here you go - outside drain is the other side of the outbuildings

Outside drain and toilet connection attached too.

Second batch didnt attach!

I can't see the bath and basin connected to the soil pipe. Where do they go?

Ah that’ll be the other side (also outside wall) - pic of that attached now too

thanks

so the reason the bath and basin drain OK is that they go down a different pipe.

I think the blockage will either be at that connector at the back of the WC, where it is angled to accomodate the difference in height, and something might have caught on a rough edge.

Or it might be at the bottom of the soil pipe, near where it goes into the ground, resulting from a crack or break.

Your snake will be able to clear the pan connector, but it is odd that the plunging and flushing has not shifted it. You can use hot water and washing soda crystals which may help clean it and break down deposits. You can get a pump which I think is more effectove than an ordinary plunger. Scoop out any detritus and dispose of it hygenically.

Don't use aggresive caustic chemical which may injure a plumber who has to work on it.

If the soil pipe was blocked at the bottom, it would probably drain away overnight, and seem to flush correctly in the morning, until it built up again.

Don;t call anyone who advertises as an "emergency plumber." A well-established local plumber canfix it. Try to get a recommendation from someone you know or trust. Don;t call a freephone or out of area number, it will be an agency.

Meanwhile, use your garden trowel to dig out that gravel round the drains in the ground. You are looking for any signs of wet soil, broken or sunken concrete, or patches and repairs. Red worms, and wild tomato plants, are signs of organic fertiliser leaking from the soil pipe. Look for manhole covers nearby.

I have the snakes arriving soon and a pneumatic pump thing which a friend recommended.
Just been to check that pipe and it IS wet at the bottom. The gravel maybe 3-4 inches further along is dry - so water does seem to be around the pipe itself! It’s in concrete which is at an angle (it looks like it steps down) and I think I can see a little bit of running water coming from behind the pipe - only a trickle of it, mind. I’ve taken a picture - that white foamy substance on the right is what I assume to be the bicarb and vinegar from earlier

aha

If the pipe is blocked at the bottom, that would cause water to escape from any loose joints above.

It is very common for the underground pipes in houses built before 1946 to be cracked at the bend near where they enter the ground. The crack or break usually allows water to escape, causing the ground to sink, but the rough edges can catch material such as sanpro which may accumulate a blockage.

Sometimes the iron soil pipe will have an oval plate that can be unscrewed to rod it in case of blockages, and looking down it may tell you what's going on. Drain people usually have a camera on a long cable they can poke inside to inspect. .

btw the gravel may look ornamental, but it was probably placed to conceal a defect of some kind, like a leak or cracked concrete repairs.

The gravel covers the rest of the garden too so about 20mtr x 8.5mtr! You may be right though.
With the above in mind, do you think it’s still worth using the hydraulic thing in the toilet, or is that likely to cause more damage?

I’ve just been out to see if there’s any oval plates on the pipe and can see a slow but steady drip coming from one of the joints (the one just before the angled pipe meets the downpipe)….

Friends had a similar blockage. The plumbers they called in did manage to clear it while the cat watched with interest, but for various reasons and the fact that it had blocked all the way up the pipe, the action of clearing it caused a sudden, massive fountain of ordure to erupt, much of which landed on the cat.
Which was not impressed.
So stand well back when you/they attempt to unblock it......

@dizzyupthegirl86

The gravel covers the rest of the garden too so about 20mtr x 8.5mtr! You may be right though. With the above in mind, do you think it’s still worth using the hydraulic thing in the toilet, or is that likely to cause more damage?

I’ve just been out to see if there’s any oval plates on the pipe and can see a slow but steady drip coming from one of the joints (the one just before the angled pipe meets the downpipe)….

you mean the pump?

Is it a plastic thing like a deformed and tubby bicycle pump? Won't do any harm.

btw the dripping joint will be above the blockage, which gives a clue of where it is. Sounds like the soil pipe to me.

Well that was an eventful afternoon!
After seeing the drip and how wet the bottom of the pipe was, I was sort of resigned to the fact that it wasn’t going to be something I could fix myself.
I rang a drainage company (the neighbours didn’t know any but they had lots of good reviews on google) - and it turned out he was around the corner!
40 minutes after I rang him, he was on his way home after jetwashing and clearing out the waste pipe via next door neighbours manhole cover (that was interesting trying to make small talk with my new neighbours whilst trying to ignore the smell) - he found half a brick, some chunks of concrete, plastic piping…. All sorts!

Anyway, it’s all done now and though I’m not relishing cleaning all of the tools I’ve been using to try to clear it, it’s the best £80 I’ve ever spent.

Thank you so much for your help - I think I’d have still been plunging away if it wasn’t for all your advice.
#pigletforpresident