Hello, household wizards:
This is a longish tome, so I hope that you will have the patience to read through. It will be kept as short as the full story will permit...
After being in the same house for thirty-two years, during the last four years, our outside drain (the one that the kitchen sink and the bath, discharges into, as well as the soil pipe, lower down the chain of waste than these) has been blocked five times. Each time, I have needed to fork out what, to a pensioner, are colossal sums of money to have it cleared (except for the last two times, by a pressure hose). There has never been any trouble with the loo. It has never thrown back, and always flushes well.
I believe that we are careful about keeping grease from going into the sink to enter the drain. We do not use washing powder — only a non-fatty solution — and the bits of food, from plates, that are washed down the sink, are fairly minimal. Yet, the drain keeps backing up.
Less than a fortnight ago, it blocked again and this time, I was lucky, in that, instead of a pressure hose, this firm used a drain-plunger on a five-foot rod, and this gave me the first indication that perhaps I could solve my own blockage problems (it would not have been possible for me to buy a pressure hose, and besides, I have heard that it is risky to use these, as they can damage the drain). I ordered a professional quality drain plunger (up to now, it has not arrived). Today, within ten days of being cleared, it was blocked again! Luckily, it was within the 14-day guarantee period, so the same firm plunged it again, and now it flows freely (for how long, I don’t know, seeing that ten days ago, it was cleared, and also flowed freely).
I expect that, by the time a further blockage occurs, I shall be in possession of my drain plunger. However, if past history is anything to go by, this kind of thing may keep on happening (if it blocked so soon after being cleared, it can soon block again, since I cannot see, or gain any access to, anything beyond the first bend of the gully. (And there are two bends to the gully, before it discharges into the main pipe, aren’t there?)
I would love either to be a millionaire, and be able to afford to call out professional drain-cleaners,, to hire engineers to really sort this problem, or otherwise, to have x-ray eyes, so as to find out what could cause such early blockages. However, even if I did have x-ray eyes, I would be unable to do anything about the cause of the blockages — I have tried, and it is a cold, wet, dirty job. Also, my arms neither will go round the two bends, nor are they long enough, even if they could bend like that. At 82, I feel that I am past this, anyway.
I have seen advertised flexible drain-rod sets that will go into a drain for about thirty feet or more. There is even a wheel attachment, which facilitates the negotiation, by the first rod, of the bends in the pipe. However, what could this do? (see below)
Against this background information, my questions are as follows:
1) What could cause such an early blockage as we have experienced so soon after the drain being cleared (I mean, given that we are so careful with grease and bits)?
2) If, as I suspect, the cause of these blockages is a “collar” of grease/fat that may have built up after the first bend in the gully drain (i.e. at the top of the trap, where it would naturally gather, being on top of the water in the trap), and that never fully is cleared by plunger-pressure, and therefore quickly thickens and collects new waste (and finally, blocks the pipe at this point), what on earth can be done, to shift it completely?? I have tried using caustic soda, but later learned that this makes grease harder to shift, as it turns it into something like soap. So, caustic soda is out.
3) Given that I may be able to obtain a set of drain-rods with a wheel attachment, what could the first rod (the one with the wheel attachment) do, to clear an obstruction of any kind — that is, apart from punching a small hole in it, perhaps? Why are these wheel attachments sold, if all they do is make it easy for a rod only to get round a bend?
If someone could consider all the information given above, and my questions, I should be very grateful for answers and advice.
I ought to add that our neighbour, who has been in the adjoining semi for sixty years, has NEVER had a drain blockage. So she tells me!
This is a longish tome, so I hope that you will have the patience to read through. It will be kept as short as the full story will permit...
After being in the same house for thirty-two years, during the last four years, our outside drain (the one that the kitchen sink and the bath, discharges into, as well as the soil pipe, lower down the chain of waste than these) has been blocked five times. Each time, I have needed to fork out what, to a pensioner, are colossal sums of money to have it cleared (except for the last two times, by a pressure hose). There has never been any trouble with the loo. It has never thrown back, and always flushes well.
I believe that we are careful about keeping grease from going into the sink to enter the drain. We do not use washing powder — only a non-fatty solution — and the bits of food, from plates, that are washed down the sink, are fairly minimal. Yet, the drain keeps backing up.
Less than a fortnight ago, it blocked again and this time, I was lucky, in that, instead of a pressure hose, this firm used a drain-plunger on a five-foot rod, and this gave me the first indication that perhaps I could solve my own blockage problems (it would not have been possible for me to buy a pressure hose, and besides, I have heard that it is risky to use these, as they can damage the drain). I ordered a professional quality drain plunger (up to now, it has not arrived). Today, within ten days of being cleared, it was blocked again! Luckily, it was within the 14-day guarantee period, so the same firm plunged it again, and now it flows freely (for how long, I don’t know, seeing that ten days ago, it was cleared, and also flowed freely).
I expect that, by the time a further blockage occurs, I shall be in possession of my drain plunger. However, if past history is anything to go by, this kind of thing may keep on happening (if it blocked so soon after being cleared, it can soon block again, since I cannot see, or gain any access to, anything beyond the first bend of the gully. (And there are two bends to the gully, before it discharges into the main pipe, aren’t there?)
I would love either to be a millionaire, and be able to afford to call out professional drain-cleaners,, to hire engineers to really sort this problem, or otherwise, to have x-ray eyes, so as to find out what could cause such early blockages. However, even if I did have x-ray eyes, I would be unable to do anything about the cause of the blockages — I have tried, and it is a cold, wet, dirty job. Also, my arms neither will go round the two bends, nor are they long enough, even if they could bend like that. At 82, I feel that I am past this, anyway.
I have seen advertised flexible drain-rod sets that will go into a drain for about thirty feet or more. There is even a wheel attachment, which facilitates the negotiation, by the first rod, of the bends in the pipe. However, what could this do? (see below)
Against this background information, my questions are as follows:
1) What could cause such an early blockage as we have experienced so soon after the drain being cleared (I mean, given that we are so careful with grease and bits)?
2) If, as I suspect, the cause of these blockages is a “collar” of grease/fat that may have built up after the first bend in the gully drain (i.e. at the top of the trap, where it would naturally gather, being on top of the water in the trap), and that never fully is cleared by plunger-pressure, and therefore quickly thickens and collects new waste (and finally, blocks the pipe at this point), what on earth can be done, to shift it completely?? I have tried using caustic soda, but later learned that this makes grease harder to shift, as it turns it into something like soap. So, caustic soda is out.
3) Given that I may be able to obtain a set of drain-rods with a wheel attachment, what could the first rod (the one with the wheel attachment) do, to clear an obstruction of any kind — that is, apart from punching a small hole in it, perhaps? Why are these wheel attachments sold, if all they do is make it easy for a rod only to get round a bend?
If someone could consider all the information given above, and my questions, I should be very grateful for answers and advice.
I ought to add that our neighbour, who has been in the adjoining semi for sixty years, has NEVER had a drain blockage. So she tells me!