Hi,

If I can describe this. Mother's house (again!). Outside drain has
two "inlets". The outside drain is now inside a small extension and
covered with a very heavy inspection cover. I managed to lever up, but
not completely free, the inspection cover. I saw one of the old drains
was over-flowing. This explains why her sink took a long time to drain
as the outlet from the sink pipe is below the level of the water in
drain 1. Drain 1 overflows into drain2 which explains why she didn't
get a flood. I tried pressure hosing drain 1 but this has had no
impact. I'm going to get the cover lifted and pump out the water and
rod it. Can I hire a suitable pump to get the excess water from drain
1 into drain 2? What's the likelyhood of mysuccessful unblocking or
should I just call in a pro with the right equipment? (ooh, err
matron)

Clive

In article .com,
Clive says...
Hi,

If I can describe this. Mother's house (again!). Outside drain has
two "inlets". The outside drain is now inside a small extension and
covered with a very heavy inspection cover. I managed to lever up, but
not completely free, the inspection cover. I saw one of the old drains
was over-flowing. This explains why her sink took a long time to drain
as the outlet from the sink pipe is below the level of the water in
drain 1. Drain 1 overflows into drain2 which explains why she didn't
get a flood. I tried pressure hosing drain 1 but this has had no
impact. I'm going to get the cover lifted and pump out the water and
rod it. Can I hire a suitable pump to get the excess water from drain
1 into drain 2? What's the likelyhood of mysuccessful unblocking or
should I just call in a pro with the right equipment? (ooh, err
matron)

Clive



Try some caustic soda first. It is darn good at unblocking drains,
depending on what is causing the blockage. If that fails, then get in an
expert. A tub of caustic soda will cost a lot less than a pro.
--
David in Normandy.
(The free MicroPlanet Gravity newsreader is great for eliminating
rubbish and cross-posts)

On Oct 6, 4:10 pm, David in Normandy wrote:
In article .com,
Clive says...





Hi,

If I can describe this. Mother's house (again!). Outside drain has
two "inlets". The outside drain is now inside a small extension and
covered with a very heavy inspection cover. I managed to lever up, but
not completely free, the inspection cover. I saw one of the old drains
was over-flowing. This explains why her sink took a long time to drain
as the outlet from the sink pipe is below the level of the water in
drain 1. Drain 1 overflows into drain2 which explains why she didn't
get a flood. I tried pressure hosing drain 1 but this has had no
impact. I'm going to get the cover lifted and pump out the water and
rod it. Can I hire a suitable pump to get the excess water from drain
1 into drain 2? What's the likelyhood of mysuccessful unblocking or
should I just call in a pro with the right equipment? (ooh, err
matron)

Clive

Try some caustic soda first. It is darn good at unblocking drains,
depending on what is causing the blockage. If that fails, then get in an
expert. A tub of caustic soda will cost a lot less than a pro.
--
David in Normandy.
(The free MicroPlanet Gravity newsreader is great for eliminating
rubbish and cross-posts)- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

If you know the layout of the pipes you might well be able to rod it
without removing the water first. Just aim for where you know the
pipe is.

Robert

"Clive" wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi,

If I can describe this. Mother's house (again!). Outside drain has
two "inlets". The outside drain is now inside a small extension and
covered with a very heavy inspection cover. I managed to lever up, but
not completely free, the inspection cover. I saw one of the old drains
was over-flowing. This explains why her sink took a long time to drain
as the outlet from the sink pipe is below the level of the water in
drain 1. Drain 1 overflows into drain2 which explains why she didn't
get a flood. I tried pressure hosing drain 1 but this has had no
impact. I'm going to get the cover lifted and pump out the water and
rod it.

You don't want the water out of it to rod it. In fact it's essential you
have water in there for it to work. Buy set of drain rods from any DIY
place. Attach the standard 4 inch diameter rubber disc. Feed that down the
drain, adding rods as required until you reach the blockage. Add another rod
or two for good measure - you'll see why in a minute.

Pull back the tackle as sharply and as far as you can in one arm movement
and then abruptly release letting the rods slide through your hands as the
water carries the tackle back towards the blockage. What you are doing here
is using the large mass of water you've displaced all the way back up the
pipe as a piston which will smash the blockage out of the way as it hits
into it. You don't of course want to let go of the tackle or have the whole
lot slide out of your hands and into the drain or you'll have an even bigger
mess to fix. Hence the couple of spare rods on the back end to grab onto.

Only if this fails to work after a few attempts will you need to resort to
anything more drastic. You can try firkling about with the corkscrew type
tool but if the piston method didn't shift it then neither will this.
Cheapest way is to phone the local water company or council who will have a
fixed price (50 quid or so) to stick a high pressure hose down there. NEVER
EVER EVER call one of those dynorod type outfits who will screw you for
hundreds of pounds. If the house was built before about 1930 the water
company should do it for free.
--
Dave Baker - Puma Race Engines

Dave Baker wrote:
"Clive" wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi,

If I can describe this. Mother's house (again!). Outside drain has
two "inlets". The outside drain is now inside a small extension and
covered with a very heavy inspection cover. I managed to lever up,
but not completely free, the inspection cover. I saw one of the old
drains was over-flowing. This explains why her sink took a long time
to drain as the outlet from the sink pipe is below the level of the
water in drain 1. Drain 1 overflows into drain2 which explains why
she didn't get a flood. I tried pressure hosing drain 1 but this has
had no impact. I'm going to get the cover lifted and pump out the
water and rod it.

You don't want the water out of it to rod it. In fact it's essential
you have water in there for it to work. Buy set of drain rods from
any DIY place. Attach the standard 4 inch diameter rubber disc. Feed
that down the drain, adding rods as required until you reach the
blockage. Add another rod or two for good measure - you'll see why in
a minute.
Pull back the tackle as sharply and as far as you can in one arm
movement and then abruptly release letting the rods slide through
your hands as the water carries the tackle back towards the blockage.
What you are doing here is using the large mass of water you've
displaced all the way back up the pipe as a piston which will smash
the blockage out of the way as it hits into it. You don't of course
want to let go of the tackle or have the whole lot slide out of your
hands and into the drain or you'll have an even bigger mess to fix.
Hence the couple of spare rods on the back end to grab onto.

If you can only access 'downstream' of the blockage, the rubber disc can
still work. Feed the rods as far as you can towards the blockage, then pull
fast & hard. This creates a sort of suction that can sometimes shift
things.

Always amazes me how efficient drain rods can be.

NEVER EVER EVER call one of those
dynorod type outfits who will screw you for hundreds of pounds.

Agreed - they should wear berets, masks, stripy jumpers & carry bags marked
'swag'.


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

The Medway Handyman wrote:

If you can only access 'downstream' of the blockage, the rubber disc can
still work. Feed the rods as far as you can towards the blockage, then pull
fast & hard. This creates a sort of suction that can sometimes shift
things.


I have had success from downstream with nothing more than a hose with a
decent nozzle on the end of it.


This nibbles away at the toilet paper and sanitary towels..and washes
them away as it does so...Just push it up the pipe flat out running,
till something starts t happen.

In the absence of any other tool, its a definite possibility.

The Natural Philosopher wrote:
The Medway Handyman wrote:

If you can only access 'downstream' of the blockage, the rubber disc
can still work. Feed the rods as far as you can towards the blockage,
then pull fast & hard. This creates a sort of suction that can
sometimes shift things.


I have had success from downstream with nothing more than a hose with a
decent nozzle on the end of it.


This nibbles away at the toilet paper and sanitary towels..and washes
them away as it does so...Just push it up the pipe flat out running,
till something starts t happen.

In the absence of any other tool, its a definite possibility.




Quite agree. It worked for me on one occasion where DynoRod (or their
equivalent) had given up. Took a while but, when I saw the first piece
of eggshell, I knew the nest had to disintegrate eventually.

Hi,

Thanks for the ideas. You know I never thought of calling the water
company. Nor thought of sticking a hose from the other end - that's a
possible from the cover out front.

I like the idea of fixing it myself but I can't get the cover in the
extension off completely. It's all "gunked up" around the edges. I
managed to lever up the cover, enough to squeeze the domestic power
hose inside and have a lock-see with the aid of a torch. I have tried
"freeing" the cover by getting old lengths of pine, pushing it along
the "free edges" then wacking the edge of the pine with a mighty big
mallet. The pine goes in but it just gets crushed and splintered by
the immovable cover. The stupid cover has 4 screws and no obvious way
to get some keys in to lift it. I'm thinking some special "jack"
mechanism that will span the cover and lift it by pressing on the
surrounding floor will be needed to gain access to the drain.


Thanks

Clive

Clive wrote:
Hi,

Thanks for the ideas. You know I never thought of calling the water
company.

Certainly call them if you're on a shared drain in a pre 1930 building.
They'll fix it for nothing, usually within a couple of hours

On Oct 7, 5:27 pm, Stuart Noble
wrote:
Clive wrote:
Hi,

Thanks for the ideas. You know I never thought of calling the water
company.

Certainly call them if you're on a shared drain in a pre 1930 building.
They'll fix it for nothing, usually within a couple of hours

Problem resolved.

The guy was round within 90 minutes. I helped him to lift the
inspection cover. He didn't have the right hooks with him. We levered
up one edge of the cover, he used the shaft of a big screwdriver as a
wedge, I stood on the "free" edge of the inspection cover and up
popped the stuck edge of the cover from the grip of the gunk.

He was able to clear the blockage in the "gully" by plunging it for,
ooh, one minute. Cost? £65

Do I feel done? No. I didn't know how to clear it and now I'll get the
hooks to lift the cover, flush it the drain a couple of times per year
with caustic soda and never neglect the humble plunger as a potential
fix for drain problems.

Clive

Aldi, right now. For 3 or 4 quid they sell an excellent "snake"
cleaner that's thin enough to go round my stupid right-angle bends,
yet stiff enough to do some good on blockages. A really useful gadget
at a good price.

They also sell a water-jet hosepipe unblocker that screws onto a tap
and use water pressure to do the work (about 7 quid). Looks wonderful
until you get it home and discover that none of the three beautifully
machined brass adapters have any hope of fitting a standard UK tap
thread. Useless! Probably great in Germany though.