On Fri, 6 Apr 2018 23:26:37 +0100, alan_m
wrote:

On 06/04/2018 22:41, MM wrote:


Any other suggestions most welcome!

You can probably get the hose up up the downpipe by feeding from the
bottom - the downpipe will stop the hose folding back on itself.

If you have room at the bottom of the downpipe a bare end of a hose may
be sufficient to clear a blockage but ideally a nozzle set to the
narrowest higher pressure jet will work a lot better. Feed the hose up
before turning on the water.

You don't say if the downpipe has push-fit or solvent welded fittings.
If the former you may be able to take off an angled shoe at the bottom
of the downpipe to give you more room.

If you have moss on the roof the blockage is probably that. If so just
clearing the downpipe may not be a long time cure as the moss in the
gutter will migrate to the downpipe again in heavy rainfall.

The downpipes on these fairly new houses (2004) don't end at the
bottom over a drain grille, but are fed just below the surface of the
ground and into a plastic drain connector like this:
https://www.plasticdrainage.co.uk/me.../g/ug254_1.jpg

I bought a rainwater diverter:
http://www.3ptechnik.com/files/product_2000120_001.png

This requires the downpipe to be cut, thus also allowing me access to
the pipe from about 4 feet up from the ground, so I can poke suitable
tools up there.

I'd already thought of using my garden hose. I have two types of hose,
the original one, a standard green garden plastic hose, and a much
thinner one from Wilko, which is less bulky, but still delivers plenty
of water to, say, wash the car or water the garden.

So it's a toss up between the standard, less flexible one and the
other, thinner one. I also have guide rods for feeding e.g. Ethernet
or other cables through walls. These rods are much thinner than drain
rods, but are fairly stiff. Too stiff to negotiate the elbow at the
top of the pipe, but I might strike lucky and find a blockage half-way
up which even these thin rods - or either of the hoses - will
dislodge.

And then, finally, I have the option of getting one of those spiral
unblockers.

The one thing I am loathe to do is buy a long ladder, as I have never
liked heights and while I'm okay on a fairly high step ladder (mine is
a six footer) or even the loft ladder, I'd need a very long one to
reach the gutter.

So as soon as it gets light outside I'm going to try sticking things
up the pipe. First the standard hose, then the thinner one. Or
(thinks...) maybe I'll try those feeder rods first.

By the way, I do also have a Karcher pressure washer and Karcher do an
accessory kit consisting of 20m of high pressure hose and a gutter
sled, but now we're talking big bucks here. Around £64 from Screwfix
or Amazon I believe. But it would almost certainly blast out any
blockage.

Thanks for your comments.

MM