We've got some builders round at the minute re-laying a block paved
drive. Part of this involves lowering a raised section of the block
paved area on which is the man-hole cover of the foul drain inspection
pit. I spoke to the builder tonight and they said that they had lifted
the cover to make sure they had enough clearance to lower it and found
sewerage'y water backed right up. They said that they would try and
clear it tomorrow (I assume they have some rods) or else I would have
to get Dynarod or similar in before they can proceed.

The bath still empties fine, the loo still flushes and the storm drain
which is 3 or more feet higher (at the back of the property) isn't
overflowing. The drain flowing (or not as the case may be) through the
inspection pit serves only our property.

Am I right in assuming that given what I have described in the last
paragraph the blockage is likely to be down-stream of the inspection
pit? If so, who is responsible, me or the council? (1970's house by
the way).

If it is my look-out how much are the likes of Dynarod likely to
charge to get the errant turds blasted free?

Thanks for any guidance.


Chris.

On Mon, 09 Jan 2006 21:08:32 GMT, a particular chimpanzee named ChrisJ
randomly hit the keyboard and produced:

Am I right in assuming that given what I have described in the last
paragraph the blockage is likely to be down-stream of the inspection
pit? If so, who is responsible, me or the council? (1970's house by
the way).

Hasn't been 'the Council' for many a year. If the blockage is in the
public sewer, it's the responsibility of your sewerage company
(usually, but not always, your water company). If it's in your drain
serving just your property, it's entirely your responsibility. This
is not necessarily up to your boundary. The tricky bit comes if it's
a private sewer; draining more than one property, but not adopted.
Theoretically, if the blockage is in the private sewer, you should
recoup the costs from all those 'upstream' of the blockage. Good
luck.
--
Hugo Nebula
"If no-one on the internet wants a piece of this,
just how far from the pack have you strayed?"

"ChrisJ" wrote in message
...
We've got some builders round at the minute re-laying a block paved
drive. Part of this involves lowering a raised section of the block
paved area on which is the man-hole cover of the foul drain inspection
pit. I spoke to the builder tonight and they said that they had lifted
the cover to make sure they had enough clearance to lower it and found
sewerage'y water backed right up. They said that they would try and
clear it tomorrow (I assume they have some rods) or else I would have
to get Dynarod or similar in before they can proceed.

The bath still empties fine, the loo still flushes and the storm drain
which is 3 or more feet higher (at the back of the property) isn't
overflowing. The drain flowing (or not as the case may be) through the
inspection pit serves only our property.

Am I right in assuming that given what I have described in the last
paragraph the blockage is likely to be down-stream of the inspection
pit? If so, who is responsible, me or the council? (1970's house by
the way).

If it is my look-out how much are the likes of Dynarod likely to
charge to get the errant turds blasted free?

Thanks for any guidance.

Phone the council.... mine does a fixed fee job (private house) iirc £35 = a
lot less than any private company

Regards Jeff

On Mon, 9 Jan 2006 22:33:43 -0000, "Jeff"
wrote:


"ChrisJ" wrote in message
.. .
We've got some builders round at the minute re-laying a block paved
drive. Part of this involves lowering a raised section of the block
paved area on which is the man-hole cover of the foul drain inspection
pit. I spoke to the builder tonight and they said that they had lifted
the cover to make sure they had enough clearance to lower it and found
sewerage'y water backed right up. They said that they would try and
clear it tomorrow (I assume they have some rods) or else I would have
to get Dynarod or similar in before they can proceed.

The bath still empties fine, the loo still flushes and the storm drain
which is 3 or more feet higher (at the back of the property) isn't
overflowing. The drain flowing (or not as the case may be) through the
inspection pit serves only our property.

Am I right in assuming that given what I have described in the last
paragraph the blockage is likely to be down-stream of the inspection
pit? If so, who is responsible, me or the council? (1970's house by
the way).

If it is my look-out how much are the likes of Dynarod likely to
charge to get the errant turds blasted free?

Thanks for any guidance.

Phone the council.... mine does a fixed fee job (private house) iirc £35 = a
lot less than any private company

Regards Jeff


Thanks for that. I'll give them a ring in the morning.

Chris.

this is true - had ours unblocked last month. Every house attached to
that sewer until the point it meets the main sewer (water company
owned) is legallaly obliged to contribute to teh unblocking costs.
It'll tell you this on any water company's website. The dynorod guy
even wrote "this bill must be shared" on the report he wrote out.
Dynorod was £120 but he unblocked 2 drains. Expect about £80

"ChrisJ" wrote in message
...
We've got some builders round at the minute re-laying a block paved
drive. Part of this involves lowering a raised section of the block

It depends how honest the company is, if they turn up with jetting equipment
show them the gate. The oldest con in the book. Surely you would have
noticed a blocked drain! Did it only appear suddenly!

"Hugo Nebula" abuse@localhost wrote in message
...
On Mon, 09 Jan 2006 21:08:32 GMT, a particular chimpanzee named ChrisJ
randomly hit the keyboard and produced:

Am I right in assuming that given what I have described in the last
paragraph the blockage is likely to be down-stream of the inspection
pit? If so, who is responsible, me or the council? (1970's house by
the way).

Hasn't been 'the Council' for many a year. If the blockage is in the
public sewer, it's the responsibility of your sewerage company
(usually, but not always, your water company). If it's in your drain
serving just your property, it's entirely your responsibility. This
is not necessarily up to your boundary. The tricky bit comes if it's
a private sewer; draining more than one property, but not adopted.
Theoretically, if the blockage is in the private sewer, you should
recoup the costs from all those 'upstream' of the blockage. Good
luck.
--
Hugo Nebula

Wrong! It depend on how old the drains are. If they are more than a
certain age then the local council WILL cover the cost even on private
property. My neighbours have just saved thousands thanks to checking first
and not listening to rumours or people that think they are correct.

On Mon, 09 Jan 2006 22:51:11 GMT, a particular chimpanzee named
"Brian" randomly hit the keyboard and produced:

Wrong! It depend on how old the drains are. If they are more than a
certain age then the local council WILL cover the cost even on private
property.

Pre-1937, any drain serving more than one property is a de-facto
public sewer. However, the OP mentioned that his house is a 1970's,
therefore I was correct.
--
Hugo Nebula
"If no-one on the internet wants a piece of this,
just how far from the pack have you strayed?"

On Mon, 09 Jan 2006 21:08:32 GMT, ChrisJ wrote:

| We've got some builders round at the minute re-laying a block paved
| drive. Part of this involves lowering a raised section of the block
| paved area on which is the man-hole cover of the foul drain inspection
| pit. I spoke to the builder tonight and they said that they had lifted
| the cover to make sure they had enough clearance to lower it and found
| sewerage'y water backed right up. They said that they would try and
| clear it tomorrow (I assume they have some rods) or else I would have
| to get Dynarod or similar in before they can proceed.
|
| The bath still empties fine, the loo still flushes and the storm drain
| which is 3 or more feet higher (at the back of the property) isn't
| overflowing. The drain flowing (or not as the case may be) through the
| inspection pit serves only our property.
|
| Am I right in assuming that given what I have described in the last
| paragraph the blockage is likely to be down-stream of the inspection
| pit? If so, who is responsible, me or the council? (1970's house by
| the way).
|
| If it is my look-out how much are the likes of Dynarod likely to
| charge to get the errant turds blasted free?

Let your builders try to rod it which will probably work. If not
Dynorod *expensive,* or a cheaper local company, can push a flexible
hose with backwards facing jets, which will pull itself into the
drain, and almost. I had mine done some years ago, which was not
expensive. The drain is used by two houses, but it was easier to
pay than argue.
--
Dave Fawthrop dave hyphenologist co uk
17,000 free e-books at Project Gutenberg! http://www.gutenberg.net
For Yorkshire Dialect go to www.hyphenologist.co.uk/songs/

Brian wrote in message
...

"Hugo Nebula" abuse@localhost wrote in message
...
On Mon, 09 Jan 2006 21:08:32 GMT, a particular chimpanzee named ChrisJ
randomly hit the keyboard and produced:

Am I right in assuming that given what I have described in the last
paragraph the blockage is likely to be down-stream of the inspection
pit? If so, who is responsible, me or the council? (1970's house by
the way).

Hasn't been 'the Council' for many a year. If the blockage is in the
public sewer, it's the responsibility of your sewerage company
(usually, but not always, your water company). If it's in your drain
serving just your property, it's entirely your responsibility. This
is not necessarily up to your boundary. The tricky bit comes if it's
a private sewer; draining more than one property, but not adopted.
Theoretically, if the blockage is in the private sewer, you should
recoup the costs from all those 'upstream' of the blockage. Good
luck.
--
Hugo Nebula

Wrong! It depend on how old the drains are. If they are more than a
certain age then the local council WILL cover the cost even on private
property. My neighbours have just saved thousands thanks to checking
first
and not listening to rumours or people that think they are correct.

Also wrong. Non shared drains are always the responsibility of the homeowner
to the point at which they meet the public sewer. Shared drains, which are
properly called private sewers, are the complex bit.

Shared drains built prior to the implementation of the Public Health Act on
1st October 1937 are the responsibility of the local water company. Nothing
whatsoever to do with the local council. Each house is still solely
responsible for the part of its own drain prior to it joining someone else's
drain and becoming a private sewer.

Shared drains built post 1st October 1937 are the joint responsibility of
the various homeowners unless the water company has 'adopted' them. It
doesn't matter where in the shared system the blockage occurs. Everyone
connected pays their share. Again each house is solely responsible for the
part of its own drain prior to it joining the private sewer.

Sadly I didn't know any of this several years ago in connection with my own
1926 house when the daft bitch next door blocked the joint part under my
land not just once but three times by flushing tampons and baby nappies down
the loo and leaving me to pay for it. Grrrrr. I could have just got the
water company in if I'd known.

BTW - I concur with previous advice never to use a dynorod type company or
plumber. The local council usually offer a cheap fixed price service.
--
Dave Baker

Dave Baker wrote in message
. ..

Shared drains built post 1st October 1937 are the joint responsibility of
the various homeowners unless the water company has 'adopted' them. It
doesn't matter where in the shared system the blockage occurs. Everyone
connected pays their share.

Addenda - unless your drain joins the private sewer downstream of the
blockage of course in which case it isn't your problem. That will never
apply if there are only two shared drains as in the most usual case of a
semi detached house. However all upstream of a blockage share the cost of
fixing it regardless of under whose land the blockage occurs.
--
Dave Baker

Jeff wrote:

Phone the council.... mine does a fixed fee job (private house) iirc £35 = a
lot less than any private company

Regards Jeff



Absolutely! Don't go anywhere near Dynorod - they overcharge, try to
sell you extra services and drive offensively-coloured vans. My council
arranged a local man for a fixed charge of, I think, £55.

Cheers
Another dave

"Another Dave" wrote in message
...
Absolutely! Don't go anywhere near Dynorod - they overcharge, try to sell
you extra services and drive offensively-coloured vans. My council
arranged a local man for a fixed charge of, I think, £55.


And if it's likely to happen again, plumbing cover costs about the same and
could well be worth having. I've had it for 2 years now (£55 a year with my
water company) and called them 3 times, which more than makes up for the
cost! Twice for a blocked drain (one sewer with a nappy stuck further down
the road and one grease in the kitchen drain outside) and once for a
corroded thread on a washing machine tap causing dripping. I bought a new
tap before and gave it to him (about £2!), he hacked off the old and
soldered on the new for me (bloody awkward position!!).

All of the above I could have done myself (with a borrowed rod anyway), but
the first two were disgusting the and soldering was in a f**king terrible
position! So I've had that done for me and known that if anything sprung a
leak they would send someone straight away. I do have basic plumbing skills
(replaced all my rads last year), but it's nice to have an expert at hand in
case everything goes really pear shaped. Particularly as I just soldered
over 40 joints 6 months ago!! *touches wood* ...





a

On Tue, 10 Jan 2006 07:47:04 +0000, Dave Fawthrop
wrote:

On Mon, 09 Jan 2006 21:08:32 GMT, ChrisJ wrote:

| We've got some builders round at the minute re-laying a block paved
| drive. Part of this involves lowering a raised section of the block
| paved area on which is the man-hole cover of the foul drain inspection
| pit. I spoke to the builder tonight and they said that they had lifted
| the cover to make sure they had enough clearance to lower it and found
| sewerage'y water backed right up. They said that they would try and
| clear it tomorrow (I assume they have some rods) or else I would have
| to get Dynarod or similar in before they can proceed.
|
| The bath still empties fine, the loo still flushes and the storm drain
| which is 3 or more feet higher (at the back of the property) isn't
| overflowing. The drain flowing (or not as the case may be) through the
| inspection pit serves only our property.
|
| Am I right in assuming that given what I have described in the last
| paragraph the blockage is likely to be down-stream of the inspection
| pit? If so, who is responsible, me or the council? (1970's house by
| the way).
|
| If it is my look-out how much are the likes of Dynarod likely to
| charge to get the errant turds blasted free?

Let your builders try to rod it which will probably work. If not
Dynorod *expensive,* or a cheaper local company, can push a flexible
hose with backwards facing jets, which will pull itself into the
drain, and almost. I had mine done some years ago, which was not
expensive. The drain is used by two houses, but it was easier to
pay than argue.

Thanks for all the feedback.

As it happens the builders were successful rodding it (one of them
unfortunately reverse parked his breakfast due to the process). When I
offered to pay them extra for this they said just to cover the cost of
the rod hire (peanuts) and get them some beer. If only all builders
were so decent.

Dave Baker wrote:

However all upstream of a blockage share the cost of
fixing it regardless of under whose land the blockage occurs.

So this means that if, for instance, somebody has tree roots on
his property blocking a pipe, but it is upstream of the point
where his outflow joins the shared pipe, then he, though
responsible for the cause of the blockage, does not have to
contribute to the clearance?

Chris
--
Chris J Dixon Nottingham UK


Have dancing shoes, will ceilidh.

Wish I had read this thread before this morning!

Noticed downstairs loo was not flushing properply. I know my property
is the start of the drain, lifted the manhole cover and was greeted by
a sea of turds; went next door and with the help of the neigbour
lifted his drain cover, same result. three further houses down found a
clear drain. Got a lenght of overflow pipe and sucessfully pushed the
blockage further down stream :-( Neighbour and myself now tired dirty
and fed up, then another neighbour turned up and said that he got the
local water company in to the clear the last blockage and it was free
as it was a public sewer; Our houses are pre-1937 and reading the
above thread, the blockage should be removed for free.

Only puked up once, nice way to spend a Saturday, I was supposed to be
looking at why the inside my car windscreen was frosting up, instead
spent it looking at hundreds of turds :-(

Brian

In article ,
Chris J Dixon writes:

So this means that if, for instance, somebody has tree roots on
his property blocking a pipe, but it is upstream of the point
where his outflow joins the shared pipe, then he, though
responsible for the cause of the blockage, does not have to
contribute to the clearance?

What makes you think a tree owner is in any way responsible
if his tree blocks a sewer? A tree root is not the slightest
bit interested in a sewer pipe, unless it's already broken.

--
Andrew Gabriel

Andrew Gabriel wrote:

In article ,
Chris J Dixon writes:

So this means that if, for instance, somebody has tree roots on
his property blocking a pipe, but it is upstream of the point
where his outflow joins the shared pipe, then he, though
responsible for the cause of the blockage, does not have to
contribute to the clearance?

What makes you think a tree owner is in any way responsible
if his tree blocks a sewer? A tree root is not the slightest
bit interested in a sewer pipe, unless it's already broken.

So it couldn't possibly be the agent of damage, in the same way
that roots can lift pavements, damage walls etc?

Chris
--
Chris J Dixon Nottingham UK


Have dancing shoes, will ceilidh.

On 15 Jan 2006 16:40:39 GMT, (Andrew
Gabriel) wrote:

A tree root is not the slightest
bit interested in a sewer pipe, unless it's already broken.

A thick root beneath a sewer may lift the pipe and break it, just like a
tarmac drive.

Many old sewer joints also leak slightly, even if this is far too little
to count as "a leak". In dryish ground this can be enough of a source of
moisture to be attractive to small roots.

In article ,
Chris J Dixon writes:
Andrew Gabriel wrote:
What makes you think a tree owner is in any way responsible
if his tree blocks a sewer? A tree root is not the slightest
bit interested in a sewer pipe, unless it's already broken.

So it couldn't possibly be the agent of damage, in the same way
that roots can lift pavements, damage walls etc?

I asked a drain surveyor that same question, and he said he'd
never seen a pipe run knocked out of true by even very thick
roots -- they just go round them like they were lumps of rock.
An exception is when a tree is losing anchorage in the ground
and roots may be moving in the wind. He had seen a couple of
cases where cameras showed pipework knocked out of true, and
in both cases, before they returned to reline the pipes, the
sewer had been completely ripped out when the tree fell.

What normally happens is a joint leaks, and the roots seach
out the source of moisture, entering and blocking the pipe.
However, the tree would never have known it was a pipe unless
it was already leaking.

--
Andrew Gabriel