A draining problem...........

[JDLDIY]

Spent most of the day trying to unblock 2 rainwater drains which are either side of my driveway, roughly in line with each other. One of them has a downpipe from the house and I think that excessive moss etc on the roof has caused the problem, there were no leaf guards installed to prevent it all entering the downpipe.

Thing is I've not ben very successful! There is no way of getting my rods in and I invested in a springy wire unblocker but that isn't doing it either. Anyone got any suggestions?

The previous owner had a porch built on with a flat roof. This doesn't join up with the existing guttering but has it's own downpipe which from what I can see just goes to a hole in the ground at the front of the house. If this is an attempt at a soakaway shouldn't it be fed by a pipe away from the house before entering a soakaway?

Cheers

JD

 

[brumylad]

Hi, I don't understand which pipes are blocked.

Are you talking about vertical rainwater pipe, if so are they of plastic or cast iron?

Or are you talking about clay or plastic underground drains ?

 

[JDLDIY]

It's the clay underground drains. One of them is a u-bend type drain with the only access through the circular hole in the ground once the grill is removed. The other also only has access in the same way, with the down pipe coming into it, but I can't find the exit pipe as yet! Very restricted access on that one, can hardly get my hand in.

Cheers

JD

 

[kevplumb]

so look for the inspection chamber

 

[Bahco]

Pour a very large bucket of water into it from as high as you can manage.
The pressure can work any blockages out. Keep repeating and you may get a result.
I do mine monthly so I don't have to pay the nasty drain man any more money

 

[JDLDIY]

so look for the inspection chamber

Believe me I have! There is no other way in to the gulley. Next door has a manhole in their drive which is in line with these drains and I have been down it getting a bit of exercise with me rods, but no blockage found, no advantage gained!
At this rate I can see myself going shopping for a pickaxe and so yet another small job turns into a nightmare!

 

[brumylad]

I had a drain blokage myself last month. It shifted after copious amounts of coastic soda poured through. You could also try sulphuric acid. Both these agents are available fromyour local friendly independant plumbing merchant.

However I have also experienced a block soak-away, this means getting that pick after all. Yes, a soak away should be at least I think 3m from the property.

 

[JDLDIY]

Yeah, the last time I tried to unblock anything with chemicals it didn't work as far as I remember. That'll be the last resort tomorrow. I was thinking of going out and buying a pressure washer, I could do with one anyway, but not sure if it would do the trick.

 

[barryo]

You shouldn't put caustic soda or acid down any drain. Apart from being bad for the environment it's also illegal. You could stand a high chance of being caught if water coy happen to have a monitor closely downstream of you (if, for example, your system connects with any industrial units locally). You'd be amazed how closely these companies monitor the drain water nowadays.

Pressure washer unlikely to be any good unless the blockage is very close to where you aim it, because the water drops to nil pressure very quickly after leaving the nozzle.

Sorry to be so negative. Good luck.

 

[JDLDIY]

Thanks for the advice barryo, what would you suggest then? I just bought some stuff from QB - I think it's drain magic but it is for clearing drains, so it should be acceptable shouldn't it?

 

[Bahco]

Use chemicals and leave for the reqd time then flush as I told you previously. Pressure should be effective

 

[brumylad]

"In many areas, rainwater and sewage waste is collected in the same drains. In others, rainwater collects in specially built drains that take it straight to a river. However, it’s impossible to tell the
difference from the surface, so never pour waste down street drains – just in case.

old engine oil, paint, chemicals and even used chip fat. Don’t put them down the drain –"

Severn trent

I'll email severn trent on this one.

 

[TexMex]

I recon your best chance of success is the rubber glove and rolled up sleve method. Just grit your teeth, plunge your hand down and scoop out all the cr*p.

 

[JDLDIY]

Looking at the history, which is that the moss has been building up on the roof for years (b4 my time here), I reckon that this blockage has made itself really solid.

I recon your best chance of success is the rubber glove and rolled up sleve method. Just grit your teeth, plunge your hand down and scoop out all the cr*p.

I think that any cr*p I can get hold of is the thin end of the wedge, so to speak. I've already done that and the drain still doesn't drain away.
brumylad:

"In many areas, rainwater and sewage waste is collected in the same drains. In others, rainwater collects in specially built drains that take it straight to a river. However, it’s impossible to tell the
difference from the surface, so never pour waste down street drains – just in case.

old engine oil, paint, chemicals and even used chip fat. Don’t put them down the drain –"

Severn trent

I'll email severn trent on this one.

Thanks for the input, this I take it is some advice straight from Severn Trent's mouth (not my governing water authority). In this case I'm really not sure whether the drains concerned go straight to the combined foul and rain water drain or maybe a soakaway,,,,,,,,,, How do I tell? I have been studying the house deed maps to see if I can tell, as far as I can see the drains are combined around here. In the case of one of the drains the fact that the drain has a u-bend indicates to me that it was designed to feed into a combined drain - does this make sense?

Use chemicals and leave for the reqd time then flush as I told you previously. Pressure should be effective

Tried flushing already from great height with no success (top of ladder!) Will be using chemicals (designed for drains) tomorrow - we'll see. Problem is that I think this blockage has probably built up for months.
Thanks all
JD

 

[jrh102]

ihad a blocked gulley drain what i did was to get a rubber glove and clean out all the sludge i could , then i got my garden hose pipe and shoved it up the bend as far as i could and then turned the cold water on as fast as it would flow after a short time this cleared my drain and saved me a bob or two . john