Blocked drain - Pros or Karcher pressure washer attachment?
Discussion
Drain is blocked (noticed it after spotting a slow flush on the downstairs loo) - Checked the manhole on the drive and the water is backed up. Tried rodding it myself but didnt do anything. Problem seems to be the kids flushing wetwipes which have just built up. The drain has a very straight run from our house, far more than my 10m rods will go but at a gentle drop so the wetwipes just build up without causing a giant block as such...and make the water back up.
Is it worth getting the 15m karcher drain thingy? Or should i get the pros in with something much longer?
Also - how do drains work....how long is it the size of the little pipe in the drive before it drops into a much bigger mains pipe.....how many houses normally?
Is it worth getting the 15m karcher drain thingy? Or should i get the pros in with something much longer?
Also - how do drains work....how long is it the size of the little pipe in the drive before it drops into a much bigger mains pipe.....how many houses normally?
Probably best to get a pro in.
Background - there was always a funny smell at the back of the house which turned out to be a blocked drainage pipe that started to seep underground at a joint that caused damp at the back of the house...
To cut a longs story short we called a local drainage company that came out same day and all fixed for £130. The high pressure jets they use are somewhat more powerfull that my jet wash for the car etc... They also have a huge knowledge on tap.
The big names in drain unblocking were giving much bigger quotes over the phone just to turn up.
Background - there was always a funny smell at the back of the house which turned out to be a blocked drainage pipe that started to seep underground at a joint that caused damp at the back of the house...
To cut a longs story short we called a local drainage company that came out same day and all fixed for £130. The high pressure jets they use are somewhat more powerfull that my jet wash for the car etc... They also have a huge knowledge on tap.
The big names in drain unblocking were giving much bigger quotes over the phone just to turn up.
I regularly use the Karcher attachment on our drains as since the previous owner added an extension, soap and fat builds up and slows the flow down to a trickle.
The attachment and a £100 karcher will shift this cruddy lot and that's much harder than than wetwipes I would imagine, it takes a few pulls backwards to pull all the hardened fat and soap down the drain but it does ot in about fifteen to twenty minutes.
We'd have spent in excess of three thousand pounds paying pros had we gone that route!
The attachment and a £100 karcher will shift this cruddy lot and that's much harder than than wetwipes I would imagine, it takes a few pulls backwards to pull all the hardened fat and soap down the drain but it does ot in about fifteen to twenty minutes.
We'd have spent in excess of three thousand pounds paying pros had we gone that route!
Sleepers said:
Probably best to get a pro in.
Background - there was always a funny smell at the back of the house which turned out to be a blocked drainage pipe that started to seep underground at a joint that caused damp at the back of the house...
To cut a longs story short we called a local drainage company that came out same day and all fixed for £130. The high pressure jets they use are somewhat more powerfull that my jet wash for the car etc... They also have a huge knowledge on tap.
The big names in drain unblocking were giving much bigger quotes over the phone just to turn up.
+1 good advice there, i would avoid the big firms go for a local firm.Background - there was always a funny smell at the back of the house which turned out to be a blocked drainage pipe that started to seep underground at a joint that caused damp at the back of the house...
To cut a longs story short we called a local drainage company that came out same day and all fixed for £130. The high pressure jets they use are somewhat more powerfull that my jet wash for the car etc... They also have a huge knowledge on tap.
The big names in drain unblocking were giving much bigger quotes over the phone just to turn up.
The drain could be blocked anywhere in the run. Phone your local water board and tell them you have excrement backing up through the drain. It is more than likely their responsibility and they'll send a team down to clear it plus any waste that has overflowed.
We had the same problem last month and my neighbour got the local cowboy drain cleaner who made it far worse and ended up flooding my garden with s
t. I phoned Thames water and they were down within a few hours to sort it. If it's not their drain they will charge but with Thames water they said it would be £70 which I didn't think was unreasonable. I'm not sure if the new regs are in force yet but most drains will become the water authorities responsibility which will help in your case. Pipes are 110mm iirc.
We had the same problem last month and my neighbour got the local cowboy drain cleaner who made it far worse and ended up flooding my garden with s
t. I phoned Thames water and they were down within a few hours to sort it. If it's not their drain they will charge but with Thames water they said it would be £70 which I didn't think was unreasonable. I'm not sure if the new regs are in force yet but most drains will become the water authorities responsibility which will help in your case. Pipes are 110mm iirc.Edited by jagracer on Sunday 28th August 21:02
If the water is backing up in the manhole then the problem could be further down the run. Try lifting the next manhole, which is likely to be in the road and weigh a hell of a lot! If you can lift it and its also full then its the problem of the local waste water company. If its not full you'll be able to rod or hose from this end which might be easier, however don't stand in the manhole as when it clears you'll get wet!
Have you tried going up from the downstream manhole?
Chances are if it's serving more than one property it may be a public sewer anyway, and if it's not it will become one as of October 1st.
If you're going to use the karcher system, try getting at it from downstream. It may be easier to dislodge, and will come flowing down so keep an eye out and get out ofthe way when it's flowing! A metre or so of head from the upstream chamber could get quite a flow going!
Chances are if it's serving more than one property it may be a public sewer anyway, and if it's not it will become one as of October 1st.
If you're going to use the karcher system, try getting at it from downstream. It may be easier to dislodge, and will come flowing down so keep an eye out and get out ofthe way when it's flowing! A metre or so of head from the upstream chamber could get quite a flow going!
Tiggsy said:
Also - how do drains work....how long is it the size of the little pipe in the drive before it drops into a much bigger mains pipe.....how many houses normally?
In most houses the property drain goes straight to the public sewer in the middle of the road, but there's no fixed rule, its whatever the builder did. Sometimes they pick up a couple of houses, and there was a nasty fashion in the 60s and early 70s for running them right down the gardens and and only dropping into the public at the end (to avoid having to get them adopted).If your house is 1936 or earlier (public health act) and the drain serves more than one property (eg if you're neighbours drain joins it) then its owned by the Water Company. This will be the case for any age of property from October link
Any length of drain serving just your property is your problem, and I'd look for drainage services on yell and find someone local. Dynorod type services are notorious for charging for work that didn't really need doing.
otherman said:
If your house is 1936 or earlier (public health act) and the drain serves more than one property (eg if you're neighbours drain joins it) then its owned by the Water Company.
Ah, that's why the water company asked the age of my house and immediately said it's their drain, it runs into a communal drain through our back gardens, through a block of flats at the end of the road and into a main sewer a couple of hundred metres away. 
otherman said:
In most houses the property drain goes straight to the public sewer in the middle of the road, but there's no fixed rule, its whatever the builder did. Sometimes they pick up a couple of houses, and there was a nasty fashion in the 60s and early 70s for running them right down the gardens and and only dropping into the public at the end (to avoid having to get them adopted).
If your house is 1936 or earlier (public health act) and the drain serves more than one property (eg if you're neighbours drain joins it) then its owned by the Water Company. This will be the case for any age of property from October link
Any length of drain serving just your property is your problem, and I'd look for drainage services on yell and find someone local. Dynorod type services are notorious for charging for work that didn't really need doing.
I may hang in there till Oct 1st!If your house is 1936 or earlier (public health act) and the drain serves more than one property (eg if you're neighbours drain joins it) then its owned by the Water Company. This will be the case for any age of property from October link
Any length of drain serving just your property is your problem, and I'd look for drainage services on yell and find someone local. Dynorod type services are notorious for charging for work that didn't really need doing.
The drain on my drive is a T - so it has the inlet from my house and water flows to it from neigbour 1 and then it flows off to neighbour 2 - so it seems from oct 1st I only have to worry about the T to my house (just a few m's worth)
Tiggsy said:
I may hang in there till Oct 1st!
The drain on my drive is a T - so it has the inlet from my house and water flows to it from neigbour 1 and then it flows off to neighbour 2 - so it seems from oct 1st I only have to worry about the T to my house (just a few m's worth)
That sounds like it's the water authorities responsibility now.The drain on my drive is a T - so it has the inlet from my house and water flows to it from neigbour 1 and then it flows off to neighbour 2 - so it seems from oct 1st I only have to worry about the T to my house (just a few m's worth)
It's probably not the water companies responsibility yet, unless the manhole in his drive is actually on the pavement, or verge.
What the OP should be doing is going to the neighbours to left their manhole to see if that is also blocked, mind you if its blocked I am not sure how he knows it is a "T". The problem wont wait until it becomes the water companies responsibility in October as by then his w/c pan will be overflowing!
However it should be simple to solve by opening the manholes until he gets beyond the blockage.
What the OP should be doing is going to the neighbours to left their manhole to see if that is also blocked, mind you if its blocked I am not sure how he knows it is a "T". The problem wont wait until it becomes the water companies responsibility in October as by then his w/c pan will be overflowing!
However it should be simple to solve by opening the manholes until he gets beyond the blockage.
Gassing Station | Homes, Gardens and DIY | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff