My soil stack is indoors and boxed in by plasterboard.After a blockage
in the toilet ,which was cleared with plunger,the blockage is now
lodged in the stack.
Outside we have rodded as far as we can go so assume the clog is in the
vertical part still - downstairs sinks drain away fine.
I cannot get onto the roof to rod down the stack so I wonder if I
remove the plasterboard , would there be an access panel in a cast iron
stack?
If not any ideas how I can dissolve this blockage? I think its due to a
cleaning wipe which I doubt will break down.

firefox wrote:
My soil stack is indoors and boxed in by plasterboard.After a blockage
in the toilet ,which was cleared with plunger,the blockage is now
lodged in the stack.
Outside we have rodded as far as we can go so assume the clog is in the
vertical part still - downstairs sinks drain away fine.
I cannot get onto the roof to rod down the stack so I wonder if I
remove the plasterboard , would there be an access panel in a cast iron
stack?

I doubt it.


If not any ideas how I can dissolve this blockage? I think its due to a
cleaning wipe which I doubt will break down.

If it's only a "cleaning wipe" it shouldn't be much of a
blockage! If you need to get access, you'll probably be
best off removing the WC bowl.

Have you tried pouring a pail of water into the WC from
a good height (practice outside to get a good "aim")

"firefox" wrote in message
ups.com...
My soil stack is indoors and boxed in by plasterboard.After a blockage
in the toilet ,which was cleared with plunger,the blockage is now
lodged in the stack.
Outside we have rodded as far as we can go so assume the clog is in the
vertical part still - downstairs sinks drain away fine.
I cannot get onto the roof to rod down the stack so I wonder if I
remove the plasterboard , would there be an access panel in a cast iron
stack?
If not any ideas how I can dissolve this blockage? I think its due to a
cleaning wipe which I doubt will break down.

take an ordinary (old) type mop, pour some water into the wc pan and use the
mop like a plunger - works 99% of the time.

I have fed a wire spring thing,into the stack via the basin waste pipe,
it has gone down a fair way and hit nothing as far as I can tell.With
the kitchen sink draining ok into the same stack about 8 ft below ,I
cant understand why I havent hit the blockage with my 15ft wire.
I can flush away liquids and it drains slow ( 5 mins for water to go
down) with lots of gurgling from bath plughole.

firefox wrote:
I have fed a wire spring thing,into the stack via the basin waste pipe,
it has gone down a fair way and hit nothing as far as I can tell.With
the kitchen sink draining ok into the same stack about 8 ft below ,I
cant understand why I havent hit the blockage with my 15ft wire.
I can flush away liquids and it drains slow ( 5 mins for water to go
down) with lots of gurgling from bath plughole.

You get gurgling from the bath waste when you flush the WC? How
are the fittings plumbed to the stack? How do you know it's
cast iron, if it's boxed in?

firefox wrote:

I have fed a wire spring thing,into the stack via the basin waste pipe,
it has gone down a fair way and hit nothing as far as I can tell.With
the kitchen sink draining ok into the same stack about 8 ft below ,I
cant understand why I havent hit the blockage with my 15ft wire.
I can flush away liquids and it drains slow ( 5 mins for water to go
down) with lots of gurgling from bath plughole.

If liquid is draining slowly via the bog, how about pouring some seriously
strong chemicals down and leaving for a day and see if that breaks the
blockage down enough to dislodge?

Cheers

Tim

Plunging isnt working - well it seems to have shifted it further down
the pipe.I have now got some Plumbers one Shot to try.
I know its cast Iron because we had a panel off in the kitchen before.

On 12 May 2006 02:22:14 -0700, "firefox" wrote:

My soil stack is indoors and boxed in by plasterboard.After a blockage
in the toilet ,which was cleared with plunger,the blockage is now
lodged in the stack.
Outside we have rodded as far as we can go so assume the clog is in the
vertical part still - downstairs sinks drain away fine.
I cannot get onto the roof to rod down the stack so I wonder if I
remove the plasterboard , would there be an access panel in a cast iron
stack?
If not any ideas how I can dissolve this blockage? I think its due to a
cleaning wipe which I doubt will break down.

Go onto the roof and remove the dirt trap on top of the stack there
and rod down?

firefox wrote:
Plunging isnt working - well it seems to have shifted it further down
the pipe.I have now got some Plumbers one Shot to try.
I know its cast Iron because we had a panel off in the kitchen before.

That will just trickle past the obstruction and be wasted. Get
the bog off and investigate.

EricP wrote:
On 12 May 2006 02:22:14 -0700, "firefox" wrote:

My soil stack is indoors and boxed in by plasterboard.After a blockage
in the toilet ,which was cleared with plunger,the blockage is now
lodged in the stack.
Outside we have rodded as far as we can go so assume the clog is in the
vertical part still - downstairs sinks drain away fine.
I cannot get onto the roof to rod down the stack so I wonder if I
remove the plasterboard , would there be an access panel in a cast iron
stack?
If not any ideas how I can dissolve this blockage? I think its due to a
cleaning wipe which I doubt will break down.

Go onto the roof and remove the dirt trap on top of the stack there
and rod down?

Try caustic soda first, then sulphuric acid. Builders merchants will
supply., Sulphuric is not hugely good for cast iron so once its done its
work, flush away.


Ultimately you may HAVE to hit the roof.

If you can rod upwards, try a hose pipe pushed up and turned on full bore.

Or a rod with a twisty corkscrew on the end Either push the lot up out
of the vent, or drag it all downwards

If all else fails, remove bog and pull from that end

In message .com,
firefox writes
I have fed a wire spring thing,into the stack via the basin waste pipe,
it has gone down a fair way and hit nothing as far as I can tell.

Ahhm but it would be quite easy for something like that to posssibly
push past an obstruction in a large pipe without noticing really. IME
chemicals probably won't work here either.

I had blockage in an underground drain - a wodge of solid fat (from
previous owners) that has caused serve blockage, after trying various
things (drain rods wouldn't get to it, chemicals were a waste of time,
too the head end off the presssure washer and just used the pipe as a
jet) I got a karcher drain cleaning attachment (not sheap, but I have it
for the future) for a pressure washer - it is a flexible pipe, with
rear/outward facing jets one - pushed down the pipe it shifted things a
treat.

It was flexible enough to go round the underground corner/u bend/trap
arrnagement. Might be a possible solution

--
Chris French

Compared to the disturbance of pulling off the bog - though it pains me
to say it - it might be time for the professionals.

wrote:
Compared to the disturbance of pulling off the bog - though it pains me
to say it - it might be time for the professionals.

I've had good results with a hosepipe, with a spray attachment on the
end.
Of course, a pressure washer is 'better', but...
Only if you've got decent pressure water.
I haven't in fact used this method on a sewerage pipe, obvious cautions
apply.

Had to call the experts out - he was quite a long time trying to get it
clear.In the pipe was chunks of limescale , some of them huge.
Getting up on roof would be very difficlut due to conservatory in the
way, but I did think of it.
Thanks for all your suggestions.

Chris Bacon wrote:
firefox wrote:
Plunging isnt working - well it seems to have shifted it further down
the pipe.I have now got some Plumbers one Shot to try.
I know its cast Iron because we had a panel off in the kitchen
before.

That will just trickle past the obstruction and be wasted. Get
the bog off and investigate.

Often easier said than done. They tend to use brass screws on WC's and they
can be a bugger to undo without fubering the slot. Last one I did I had to
drill them out & remove stubs with mole grips.


--
Dave
The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257

firefox wrote:
Had to call the experts out - he was quite a long time trying to get it
clear.In the pipe was chunks of limescale , some of them huge.
Getting up on roof would be very difficlut due to conservatory in the
way, but I did think of it.
Thanks for all your suggestions.

Told you to use sulphuric acid didn't I? :-)

Gets rid of limescale fast that does.