Roots Blocking Drains

I recently inspected the rain water drain, and found that I had roots growing from the inspection chamber up into the pipe, partially blocking the drain.

I tried to clear these by hand, but was unable to drag them out.

Is there any product that I can put into the drain in order to kill and clear these roots or does it require specialist tools to solve / clear this problem.

Any assistance is gratefully received.

Micky2 said:

I recently inspected the rain water drain, and found that I had roots growing from the inspection chamber up into the pipe, partially blocking the drain.

I tried to clear these by hand, but was unable to drag them out.

Is there any product that I can put into the drain in order to kill and clear these roots or does it require specialist tools to solve / clear this problem.

Any assistance is gratefully received.

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First of all you want to determine if it is your own drains that are blocked and not the responisbilty of the sewerage undertaker.

If it is your responsibility speak to the environmental Health within the local council, they maybe able to provide some assistance.

The sewerage undertakers usually use a CCTV with a root cutter device on it. So, if you don't get anywhere with the Environmental Health, then speak to you drainage company, like Dynorod, Drain Docter ect...

Help that helps a little.

Just to add a comment.

Avoid dynorod and specialist drain persons unless desperate, they charge silly money just to look.

A builder or handyman would be my first choice.

A blowtorch would be my first port of call

Dynorod aren't as bad as they were - ask them!

If you can stopper the bottom end of the drain and pour suphuric acid drain cleaner in from the top, like a bucketful, and leave it for as long as poss, it weakens the roots so they're easier to rod out.

Careful though - nasty stuff.

dextrous said:

A blowtorch would be my first port of call

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There could be explosive gases down them thar drains!!!!!!!

ChrisR said:

Dynorod aren't as bad as they were - ask them!

Careful though - nasty stuff.

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They are or were owned by British Gas so obviously they are much better now (?).

Many people use a power jetter which cuts through the roots. But the problem just repeats itself every few weeks.

If you can dig down to expose the drain then you could encase it with concrete to most easily solve the problem.

Tony

im pretty sure they still are owned by BG

First BG do not own Dyno-Rod. They own the name, which is all it is and ever has been. All Dyno-Rods are franchises.

Second DONOT use sulphuric acid, any chemicals or a blow torch, you'll pollute the environment or worse do yourself serious harm.

Right if the drain is less than ten metres or so in length you could buy or hire a set of rods and rip the roots out using a 'worm' attachment. A worm is a double spiral hook that fits on the end of a drain rod.

Fit the worm on the end and introduce it into the drain adding more rods if necessary until you feel resistance. Now turn the rods clockwise only using a set of mole grips firmly clamped to the rods. Be careful as they are likely to try and spring back and break your wrist. Now pull with the rods still twisted to extract the root.

This is a long and heavy job but it should remove them. You will pull lumps of mass root out and eventually you should pull enough of the root out to physically grab the root and remove it.

The problem you have is that if there are roots in one of your drains there are sure to be roots in others. Generally you are responsible for your own drains up to and including the connection to the water authority main sewer and also you usually have shared responsibility if your drains connect to other properties on your property, also right up to and including the connection to the main sewer (There are exceptions to these rules). I would lift any manholes/inspection chambers on your property and visually inspect them from above. It may be you need to contact your buildings insurance regarding a cctv survey to determine the extent of the root damage to your system. Your drains could need high pressure water jetting to remove the roots and lining to stop them getting back in through open/displaced joints etc.

I think that after paying £57M that British Gas would say that they own Dynorod. That the individual services are staffed by Franchisees makes no difference to the ownership.

Here is some of the detail:_

"""Jim Zockoll, the former Pan Am pilot who founded Dyno-Rod in his spare time 41 years ago, finally sold the drain cleaning business to British Gas yesterday, little over a month after pulling the plug on a management buy-in.

Centrica, the utility that owns British Gas, paid £57.6m in cash for the business compared with the earlier offer of £57.5m, and an additional £3m in fees.

Mr Zockoll, who owns 85pc, will make £49m and his former airline colleagues who put money into the start-up will share the rest. Centrica said the acquisition would help develop its British Gas home service division.

Mr Zockoll grounded the management buy-in after broker Seymour Pierce failed to drum up sufficient investor interest and had to restructure the deal to raise the £57.5m that Mr Zockoll was demanding. The broker met all Mr Zockoll's terms a week after the initial deadline.

However, sources claimed that Centrica's first approach was made before the buy-in attempt was scrapped. Mr Zockoll is believed to have told the buy-in team that a supposedly higher offer had been made before pulling out.

It also emerged yesterday that British Gas, Dyno-Rod's largest customer - accounting for about a quarter of revenues - was negotiating a new two-year contract at the time, which might have influenced the fundraising. The contract expired in December. Mr Smith rejected the suggestion: "The contract was influential but it was a side issue. There was no gun being placed to our head by British Gas."

A Centrica spokesman added: "We had no desire to exit the contract. We were renegotiating, but it was just a matter of commercial terms."

Yesterday's deal will come as a blow to Kevin Mahoney, the architect of the buy-in and a former home services director at British Gas, whom he introduced to Dyno-Rod.

Centrica has about 7.2m home service contracts, offering gas and electricity customers everything from electrical care to plumbing and home security. It hopes to expand the division with Dyno-Rod's 160 franchises, which also provide locks, plumbing and pest control.

Separately, Centrica completed its disposal of the AA, the road services group, yesterday and said it would increase its planned 23p special dividend from the deal to 25p, returning an extra £60m to shareholders. Centrica shares rose 1 to 252p."""

Pan Am went bust about 25 years ago !

Tony

Yes BG own the Dyno-Rod name, they control who has licenses to operate as Dyno-Rod, paint their vans bright 'fluorescent red', audit and see that all Dyno-Rods operate to a certain standard etc. They collect license fees from individual, and I quote "Independent Licensed Operators". The person who calls to unblock your w/c however is either a franchisee or an employee of a franchisee they do not work for BG or Dyno-Rod.

The firms and individuals who operate as Dyno-Rod continue to work for private account holders (as apposed to 'key account' holders) and private individual house holders and businesses completely seperate from BG.

This breeds confusion, particularly with householders who often believe that the person who calls from Dyno-Rod works for BG or Dyno-Rod which is not the case. I think the people who operate as 'Dyno-Rod' and own their own business would resent the idea of being nothing more than 'staff'.

dynomot said:

I think the people who operate as 'Dyno-Rod' and own their own business would resent the idea of being nothing more than 'staff'.

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I am not sure that all franchisees would necessarily resent that idea.

There can be some advantages in pretending to be "just a staff" to distance themselves from any responsibility for the high charges to the customer.

Isn't that franchise based on a percentage of turnover rather that just a fixed annual fee?

Tony

Isn't that franchise based on a percentage of turnover rather that just a fixed annual fee?

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Yes.

You are wrong however that the Franchisees as whole don't resent the idea of being staff. Under Mr.Zockoll's regime they were pretty much allowed to do what they wanted hence the bad/expensive reputation of Dyno-Rod in some places. When BG came in they changed the management of the franchising system making people who had mostly control of their own business' adhere to a new structure that has caused much friction and continues to do so.

I do not get the impression that Dynorod has a bad reputation now. I would have said that they are viewed as professional, competent and charge accordingly but not at seriously rip off prices.

I assume from your comment that the operators have to abide by a fixed chargling regime laid down by the franchisor but would like to charge customers more? ( As some might say to rip them off! )

Originally I think it started in the US. Did BG buy the worldwide business or only the UK side?

Tony

Agile said:

I do not get the impression that Dynorod has a bad reputation now. I would have said that they are viewed as professional, competent and charge accordingly but not at seriously rip off prices.

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Yes, I would agree here.

I assume from your comment that the operators have to abide by a fixed chargling regime laid down by the franchisor but would like to charge customers more? ( As some might say to rip them off! )

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No, it's not totally fixed but is a national charging guideline meant to be adhered to in general. As such it is too expensive.

Originally I think it started in the US. Did BG buy the worldwide business or only the UK side?

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Dyno-Rod operates in the UK and Republic of Ireland only. BG bought the whole concern.