Before using any chemicals do read this link!
http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/UK...in-From-Shelves/Article/201007115659011?f=rss
http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/UK...in-From-Shelves/Article/201007115659011?f=rss
DIY drain unblocking warning!
- Thread starter Agile
- Start date
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COSHH data sheet, Risk Asessment and Method Statement required before commencing work with this one ! it seems that the chemical was a little potent to be in Joe Public's hands!! 
I had to clear the drains at one of the African Embassy's some years back all the drains and traps full of fat and ****.
Poured some one shot down the kitchen waste matey decides he wants to see what's happening and sticks his head over the sink He didn't much care for what I said to him
Poured some one shot down the kitchen waste matey decides he wants to see what's happening and sticks his head over the sink
He didn't much care for what I said to him Whenever I do anything even the slightest bit risky I ask customers to stand 3m back.
It always amuses me just how quickly they step back.
Another time a customer was complaining because I had put the stopcock above floor level in exactly the same position I had described to him before I started.
As he complained my blowlamp was burning a hole in his jeans!
Surprisingly he did not complain about the hole in his jeans.
It always amuses me just how quickly they step back.
Another time a customer was complaining because I had put the stopcock above floor level in exactly the same position I had described to him before I started.
As he complained my blowlamp was burning a hole in his jeans!
Surprisingly he did not complain about the hole in his jeans.
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Clearly this old dear had put something else in the drain which reacted with the caustic soda.
She then told lies. But perhaps her memory had failed.
Whatever warnings yo put on a can no one will read them. The problem is thta when we want to buy caustic soda we find that we cannot because its been banned because old ladies abuse it.
Tony
She then told lies. But perhaps her memory had failed.
Whatever warnings yo put on a can no one will read them. The problem is thta when we want to buy caustic soda we find that we cannot because its been banned because old ladies abuse it.
Tony
Having worked as a plumber with a drainage company for 10 years, I can honestly say that using chemicals to unblock drains should only ever be an absolute last resort if there is poor access to the pipework.
The amount of times I've been called to blocked sinks and asked if they've used any chemicals to try and unblock the sink and been told absolutely not, then felt my skin burning while removing the blockages is infuriating.
Not only should these chemicals not be available to the general public, 9 times out of 10, they do nothing anyway.
The only time we (me and the other lads) ever really had any success with even one shot was in wall mounted urinals on marble backs with no access to the pipework whatsoever without removing the urinals and pulling the marble away which wasn't an option. TO get the one shot to work we had to use a jet plumb or pressure canister to blast the water out of the u-bend before adding the one shot which took about 4 shots (ironically enough) to restore any kind of flow.
I've been called out to hundreds of blockages caused by hardened caustic soda which has resulted in new pipework being fitted (costing more than it would have just to unblock it in the first place) if I couldn't smash the solid material out of the pipework. It just shouldn't be encouraged.
The amount of times I've been called to blocked sinks and asked if they've used any chemicals to try and unblock the sink and been told absolutely not, then felt my skin burning while removing the blockages is infuriating.
Not only should these chemicals not be available to the general public, 9 times out of 10, they do nothing anyway.
The only time we (me and the other lads) ever really had any success with even one shot was in wall mounted urinals on marble backs with no access to the pipework whatsoever without removing the urinals and pulling the marble away which wasn't an option. TO get the one shot to work we had to use a jet plumb or pressure canister to blast the water out of the u-bend before adding the one shot which took about 4 shots (ironically enough) to restore any kind of flow.
I've been called out to hundreds of blockages caused by hardened caustic soda which has resulted in new pipework being fitted (costing more than it would have just to unblock it in the first place) if I couldn't smash the solid material out of the pipework. It just shouldn't be encouraged.
Couldn't agree more - got called out last week to a customer who had poured caustic soda down their shower trap to try and clear it... unfortunately this was linked into the Saniflow....... = expensive repair bill!
Much cheaper to just call out a plumber and clear the blockage in the first place
Much cheaper to just call out a plumber and clear the blockage in the first place
True enough, how many hours before you get to the last resort? how much fat and **** do you cut through before you get there.
I suppose sometimes it depends on how much money you want out of the job
Urinals KFC Leicester Square you couldn't get a pee down them, the cutter wouldn't touch them. Job had to be re-piped at night turned into a nice little earner that one.
Thanks Tony you have uploaded a good thread!
What we find is that they all say 'No I didn't pour anything down the drain/sink/basin'. Thank god I have a good sense of smell, I then asked them what about bleach? The reply is 'Oh yeah I forgot about that'
Drain acid and bleach don't mix well.
As some of the threads above say. It's normally cheaper to call out the professionals when things start to go wrong, not when you have tried all else.!!!!!!!
Andy
What we find is that they all say 'No I didn't pour anything down the drain/sink/basin'. Thank god I have a good sense of smell, I then asked them what about bleach? The reply is 'Oh yeah I forgot about that'
Drain acid and bleach don't mix well.
As some of the threads above say. It's normally cheaper to call out the professionals when things start to go wrong, not when you have tried all else.!!!!!!!
Andy
I thought this stuff was sulphuric acid? The correct dose is two cups, but a good journalist never let facts get in the way of a story
I love the "if it's going to explode, I want a really close view" attitude to life ...
[quote="
Drain acid and bleach don't mix well.
As some of the threads above say. It's normally cheaper to call out the professionals when things start to go wrong, not when you have tried all else.!!!!!!!
Andy[/quote]
A plumber that I used to work with had to be admitted to hospital with breathing problems after it accidentally mixed with bleach that was already in the sink.
Ambulance was called he was put on oxygen the lot.
Always take EXTREME CARE when using these products even the professionals are occasionally caught out!
Drain acid and bleach don't mix well.
As some of the threads above say. It's normally cheaper to call out the professionals when things start to go wrong, not when you have tried all else.!!!!!!!
Andy[/quote]
A plumber that I used to work with had to be admitted to hospital with breathing problems after it accidentally mixed with bleach that was already in the sink.
Ambulance was called he was put on oxygen the lot.
Always take EXTREME CARE when using these products even the professionals are occasionally caught out!
Chance would have been a fine thing. We weren't really given the pleasure of being able to stretch jobs out to make more money. Our boss was intent on taking on as many jobs as they possibly could throughout the day, so we ended up spending our lives trying to be in and out otherwise we ended up working from 6am till well into the wee hours of the next morning and were forced back out again at 6am otherwise the jobs would just pile up and we'd end up destroyed.
Hence I don't work for them anymore.
And yes, the majority of the chemicals available are based around sulphuric acid.
As far as fat and sh*t are concerned I pretty much never used it for them anyway. We always either used High Pressure Water or an Electro-Mechanical wire to clear them.
And yeah I can just about imagine what the urinal pipework is like in the fast food joints around central London. We would have insisted that they get the pipework cleaned on more frequent basis coz it only goes hard when left too long. Uric acid is generally easier to clean and remove when it's in the disgusting snotty stage rather than when it's left to solidify. Otherwise like you said, we would have just spanked them with the cost of removing and replacing the pipework for new (and again we didn't make anything from materials as drain rats, unlike the boss of course. So not really in our interest to waste the time other than having done a good job).
Hence I don't work for them anymore.
And yes, the majority of the chemicals available are based around sulphuric acid.
As far as fat and sh*t are concerned I pretty much never used it for them anyway. We always either used High Pressure Water or an Electro-Mechanical wire to clear them.
And yeah I can just about imagine what the urinal pipework is like in the fast food joints around central London. We would have insisted that they get the pipework cleaned on more frequent basis coz it only goes hard when left too long. Uric acid is generally easier to clean and remove when it's in the disgusting snotty stage rather than when it's left to solidify. Otherwise like you said, we would have just spanked them with the cost of removing and replacing the pipework for new (and again we didn't make anything from materials as drain rats, unlike the boss of course. So not really in our interest to waste the time other than having done a good job).
Just to reinforce the previous post too, some clever f****r who had used my van while I was on leave once hadn't screwed the lid on the one shot properly, so when I shook the bottle before using it, I ended up with it all over my sweater.
What I can only call divine intervention resulted in it splashing up to my collar and no further, so fortunately I didn't get any in my eyes or face, but within seconds after removing my sweater, the front was just a big snotty mess.
Needless to say, nobody owned up to having used my van while I was away and the boss couldn't give a toss.
So yeah, we get caught out too.
What I can only call divine intervention resulted in it splashing up to my collar and no further, so fortunately I didn't get any in my eyes or face, but within seconds after removing my sweater, the front was just a big snotty mess.
Needless to say, nobody owned up to having used my van while I was away and the boss couldn't give a toss.
So yeah, we get caught out too.
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