Dunno if my semi is unusual, but it shares the drains with next door, and
I have the privilege of it running back to front under my house. And next
door had a blockage. So the drains man wanted to lift the cover in my back
garden.

He sorted things ok and it seems the problem was 'wet' botty wipes used
for the baby. Tesco ones, made of cloth it says, and apparently don't
dissolve as quickly as paper - if at all. He removed a carrier bag full...

No warning on the packaging.

--
*Do infants enjoy infancy as much as adults enjoy adultery?

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
Dunno if my semi is unusual, but it shares the drains with next door, and
I have the privilege of it running back to front under my house. And next
door had a blockage. So the drains man wanted to lift the cover in my back
garden.

He sorted things ok and it seems the problem was 'wet' botty wipes used
for the baby. Tesco ones, made of cloth it says, and apparently don't
dissolve as quickly as paper - if at all. He removed a carrier bag full...

No warning on the packaging.

I think the problem was actually something in the drain that these things
caught on!
You may have roots in your drains :-(

Sparks...

Sparks wrote:

I think the problem was actually something in the drain that these things
caught on!
You may have roots in your drains :-(

Or a broken pipe. Normal effluent will soak away in well drained soil.
How come the rods didn't push it all through? A blocked drain in good
condtion would have had a fair bit of pressure behind it by the time a
carrier bag's worth of baby wipes had been used.

I remember a plumber telling me about the time his firm did a test on
the sewers in an office by fitting rubber bungs in all the loos. When
they went up to the third or fourth floor and flushed them, or whatever
it is plumbers do, all the bungs on the bottom floor went down the
swannie.

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote:
Dunno if my semi is unusual, but it shares the drains with next door, and
I have the privilege of it running back to front under my house. And next
door had a blockage. So the drains man wanted to lift the cover in my back
garden.

He sorted things ok and it seems the problem was 'wet' botty wipes used
for the baby. Tesco ones, made of cloth it says, and apparently don't
dissolve as quickly as paper - if at all. He removed a carrier bag full...

No warning on the packaging.

--
*Do infants enjoy infancy as much as adults enjoy adultery?

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

The shared drains issue is quite common with older properties. The drain
from my 1900 semi runs from the back of my house to the back of the
adjoining semi, from where it runs to the front of my neighbour's house. So,
apart from 2 to 3 metres under my neighbours front drive, then to the
pavement and road, the drains are all under the two properties. I have had
one blockage so far, but a garden hosepipe and toilet plunger on the drain
opening fixed that. It took several hours but Dyno-Rod at around £200 just
wasn't an option.

In article om,
Weatherlawyer wrote:
I think the problem was actually something in the drain that these
things caught on! You may have roots in your drains :-(

Or a broken pipe. Normal effluent will soak away in well drained soil.
How come the rods didn't push it all through? A blocked drain in good
condtion would have had a fair bit of pressure behind it by the time a
carrier bag's worth of baby wipes had been used.

I didn't actually see how he removed the blockage - but it suggests he
didn't just rod then through. They have had a new bathroom installed in a
different location so perhaps there is a tortuous route involved. The
actual underground drains are relatively new (maybe 30 years old) and look
to be in good condition. No trees close to the drains.

--
*How about "never"? Is "never" good for you?

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

"Phil Anthropist" wrote in message
...
"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote:
Dunno if my semi is unusual, but it shares the drains with next door,
and
I have the privilege of it running back to front under my house. And
next
door had a blockage. So the drains man wanted to lift the cover in my
back
garden.

He sorted things ok and it seems the problem was 'wet' botty wipes used
for the baby. Tesco ones, made of cloth it says, and apparently don't
dissolve as quickly as paper - if at all. He removed a carrier bag
full...

No warning on the packaging.

--
*Do infants enjoy infancy as much as adults enjoy adultery?

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

The shared drains issue is quite common with older properties. The drain
from my 1900 semi runs from the back of my house to the back of the
adjoining semi, from where it runs to the front of my neighbour's house.
So,
apart from 2 to 3 metres under my neighbours front drive, then to the
pavement and road, the drains are all under the two properties. I have had
one blockage so far, but a garden hosepipe and toilet plunger on the drain
opening fixed that. It took several hours but Dyno-Rod at around £200 just
wasn't an option.

A set of drain rods has saved me a lot of money over the years. About ten
years ago we had a blockage that costs something like £130 to sort out (he
couldn't fix it within the 45mins, so there were extra costs) and repeated
warnings about tree roots and the need for camera inspections. Every now and
again we might get a blockage (further down the line from our house) and my
£15 drain rods sort it out in no time.

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:


I didn't actually see how he removed the blockage - but it suggests he
didn't just rod then through. They have had a new bathroom installed in a
different location so perhaps there is a tortuous route involved. The
actual underground drains are relatively new (maybe 30 years old) and look
to be in good condition. No trees close to the drains.

--

My 20 year old house has shared drains with the neighbours. A friend's
new-build house does too. They had a blockage and that was baby wipes
too. The drain guy just pulled them out with his hands (I guess with
gloves on.)
I guess maybe with the number of diverters and traps there are plenty
of places for these things to accumulate.

Phil Anthropist wrote:
The shared drains issue is quite common with older properties. The drain
from my 1900 semi runs from the back of my house to the back of the
adjoining semi, from where it runs to the front of my neighbour's house. So,
apart from 2 to 3 metres under my neighbours front drive, then to the
pavement and road, the drains are all under the two properties. I have had
one blockage so far, but a garden hosepipe and toilet plunger on the drain
opening fixed that. It took several hours but Dyno-Rod at around £200 just
wasn't an option.

If it is a shared drain for a house built before 1937, it is a public
sewer from the point where the waste from more than one house joins the
pipe, and it is the sewer company's responsibility to maintain it.
They also have to sort out blockages etc within 4 hours or so, I
believe. No doubt they are grateful to you for doing their smelly
unpleasant work for them, though.

wrote:

If it is a shared drain for a house built before 1937, it is a public
sewer from the point where the waste from more than one house joins the
pipe, and it is the sewer company's responsibility to maintain it.
They also have to sort out blockages etc within 4 hours or so, I
believe. No doubt they are grateful to you for doing their smelly
unpleasant work for them, though.

That is my understanding too, but I only found out AFTER the blockage.
Still, the satisfaction when all that ****e suddenly went WHOOSH was
definitely worth it. That's the second drain I have unblocked. So the score
so far is me 2, Dyno-Rod 0.

In article .com,
wrote:
If it is a shared drain for a house built before 1937, it is a public
sewer from the point where the waste from more than one house joins the
pipe, and it is the sewer company's responsibility to maintain it.

That's interesting as they join up in my back garden - then run out to the
street *under* my house - through the cellar. Wonder when this came in as
I was told the previous owner had paid a lot to have them replaced.

They also have to sort out blockages etc within 4 hours or so, I
believe. No doubt they are grateful to you for doing their smelly
unpleasant work for them, though.

In 'my' case, the blockage was before they became common.

--
*There are two sides to every divorce: Yours and **** head's*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article .com,
wrote:

If it is a shared drain for a house built before 1937, it is a public
sewer from the point where the waste from more than one house joins the
pipe, and it is the sewer company's responsibility to maintain it.


That's interesting as they join up in my back garden - then run out to the
street *under* my house - through the cellar. Wonder when this came in as
I was told the previous owner had paid a lot to have them replaced.



We had the same issue, our house was built in 1936, with shared drains,
our's being the last house before it enters the main sewer. Initially
the water company denied all knowledge so I had to fork out £200 to get
the drains cleared by dyno-rod (Bank holiday weekend, Sunday evening
call-out, ouch!!). With the power of Google and a letter to the water
company I got my £200 reimbursed and a letter confirming their
responsibility. I've had to call them out twice since, all hassle free!! :-)

Phil Anthropist wrote:
wrote:
it is the sewer company's responsibility to maintain it.

That is my understanding too, but I only found out AFTER the blockage.

Good to see you keeping it quiet then!

Still, the satisfaction when all that ****e suddenly went WHOOSH was
definitely worth it. That's the second drain I have unblocked. So the score
so far is me 2, Dyno-Rod 0.

Sounds like maybe you missed your vocation?

Gavin wrote:
We had the same issue, our house was built in 1936, with shared drains,
our's being the last house before it enters the main sewer. Initially
the water company denied all knowledge so I had to fork out £200 to get
the drains cleared by dyno-rod (Bank holiday weekend, Sunday evening
call-out, ouch!!). With the power of Google and a letter to the water
company I got my £200 reimbursed and a letter confirming their
responsibility. I've had to call them out twice since, all hassle free!! :-)

If it had been built in 1937, after automatic adoption of drains by the
water companies was ended, you would still not have had to pay the
£200 all by yourself - the responsibilty is shared with all houses
upstream of the blockage if it is a private sewer.