Constant blocked drain issues

[Popp]

Hi all,

I'm hoping someone might be able provide some clarity. Our house has had ongoing issues with blocked drains. We are getting people out to the house regularly (at least once a month) to clear blockages. And that doesn't include the amount of times I have to plunge the sink myself (probably every other day). I feel like work people are coming out, clearing the initial block but aren't dealing with the route cause of the problem. I have to admit the current drain layouts are terrible. I've got trades people booked for this week to completely re plumb the upstairs toilet as currently there are 5 bends to the pipe work before it exits the property. Who knows what they were thinking when they plumbed everything in. But i wouldn't say that's the biggest issue. For me the biggest problem lays in the kitchen. The drain absolutely stinks and even when not in use we can hear it gurgling away. So we get someone to come out and they suction out the waste water that has backed up into the u bend. Then they leave. 5 minutes later we turn the taps back on and its blocked again. Rinse and repeat over and over. They clear the blockage but aren't dealing with the route cause of the problem. So I tried to take matters into my own hands and this is when I've come across multiple issues. First, the man hole cover lays directly under the boundary fence. And second the waste pipes don't actually come out of the building as you might expect, the pipes go straight down under the house and into the drains. So it's not like I can even check anything.
I feel like the main issue is people flushing wipes. I don't want to point the finger but one of our neighbours (a group of 5 terraced houses) on the end are a disabled couple who have carers regularly at the property and I feel like they're probably flushing wipes. All our neighbours (row of 5) have the same drain problems. I know the disabled couple often get the council out to jet wash the drain.
So basically I want some advice on what I need to do. Is it normal for the drains to go directly under the house without coming out the side of the house before entering the drain?
Long story short I'm tired of having people come out to just fix the initial block and never dealing with the route cause of the issues. Can anyone provide some advice on what I should do going forward? I mean the drains just stink and its not hygienic at all and I'm a bit fed up of just being fobbed off all the time. We are very very careful with what does down our drains, to the point that I'm pretty OCD about it so I'm frustrated to say the least and I just need some advice on how I can properly tackle this issue.

Thanks in advance to anyone who might be able to provide me with some direction going forward

 

[blup]

Shared drains (sewers) are the responsibility of the water company so worth asking them to jet them. Drain smells in the kitchen suggest the waste trap isn't working, that might be backflow from blocked sewers or a problem with the wastes pipes.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

The drain absolutely stinks and even when not in use we can hear it gurgling away. So we get someone to come out and they suction out the waste water that has backed up into the u bend. Then they leave. 5 minutes later we turn the taps back on and its blocked again. Rinse and repeat over and over. They clear the blockage but aren't dealing with the route cause of the problem.

That reads as if the venting, is not working, if it is sucking water from the trap. Have you an open ended pipe, finishing above eaves level, or maybe an AAV (automatic air vent) which isn't working as it should?

You need to lift that cover under the fence, and investigate what's happening there. Any shared drains are usually the responsibility of the water authority, that you pay your water bill to.

 

[opps]

As above- you are not responsible for troubleshooting shared sewers.

I live in a series of terraced houses. I was once responsible for causing a partial obstruction- my bad. When we got out first puppy, we used to wipe up any accidents with kitchen paper and flush them down the loo. I didn't realise at the time that kitchen paper doesn't break down.

Fortunately, I was able to lift the manhole cover in our garden and pour down some OneShot to dissolve the paper.

 

[CBW]

I read that as someone comes out, uses a wet vac to clear the sink and that’s it. It might not be clearing the actual trap (u-bend). Your trap could be blocked/partially blocked. I’ve seen wastes go straight down and exit via a back-inlet gulley - smells could be if that isn’t sealed. The only mention of drains seems to be your neighbours property, no mention of your actual main sewer line/manhole being blocked.

 

[Popp]

Thanks everyone for the replies.

I know the shared drains aren't our responsibility, and the water company have been out multiple times. Probably every couple of months to the jet the drains by starting up the end of the block of 5. It seems OK for a few days then the blockages return.

Other than taking the fence down to access the man hole there is absolutely no way for us to check any of the drains/pipes because they don't come out of the house, instead they go direct from the kitchen sink underneath the house. So when the kitchen sink is blocked they come out and suction all the gunk stuck in the u bend (because it just backs up again and again) they then declare the problem solved. Then 5 minutes after they leave the sink is blocked again. It can't even keep up with the flow out of the tap.

All in all its a nightmare and seriously unpleasant. Is it normal for all pipes to go directly under the house? In all other properties I've lived in the kitchen sink pipes usually come out the outside wall before going down into the sewers so I genuinely don't really understand why they have plumbed these houses the way that they have

 

[Popp]

Basically the water company say its not them, the plumbers tell me it's not us. So I'm going round and round in circles with everyone telling me it's someone else's fault.

If they come out and suction out my kitchen sink and it just keeps getting blocked as soon as they leave in my option it is a main sewer problem. But the water company dispute that so I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place as each blame the other.

 

[CBW]

If they come out and suction out my kitchen sink and it just keeps getting blocked as soon as they leave in my option it is a main sewer problem.

Wrong. If they just suck water out if the sink, can you tell me how that clears a blockage for 1 and for 2 how do you think the main sewer is blocked from that basis? If the trap has narrowed from grease buildup or whatever, then sucking water out will do naff all. If the whole line is clear between the sink drain - eg if a back inlet gulley and the main sewer is blocked, then this would indicate a blocked sewer and wouldn't take long for your sink to back up again.

 

[foxhole]

I suspect the main interceptor is blocked, likely the one under the fence ( fence or wall over drain covers should be bridged to allow lifting.)The gurgling is because the end of the kitchen waste pipe is under water due to blockage. When they jet it they are simple washing it out over the overflow in the interceptor while the main drain exit remains blocked, (had this in my last home , end of terrace in a run of four.)

 

[foxhole]

The problem will remain until the drain is accessed.

 

[blup]

Basically the water company say its not them, the plumbers tell me it's not us. So I'm going round and round in circles with everyone telling me it's someone else's fault.

If they come out and suction out my kitchen sink and it just keeps getting blocked as soon as they leave in my option it is a main sewer problem. But the water company dispute that so I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place as each blame the other.

Get a report from an independent company, and show the results to the water company. As said, they are not addressing the fundamental problem, or rather even bothering to identify it.

 

[HERTS P&D]

First thing to do is access the manhole, lift the cover, then work from there.

Pictures looking into the manhole would also help.

Andy

 

[Hugh Jaleak]

If all parties are passing the buck, speak to Environmental health at the Local Council, see if they can kick any backsides.

Unfortunately, there is little we can do to help going from a description of the issue,. it needs someone on site to investigate properly, and that means tracing the drain runs and CCTV surveying anything that looks like it may be an issue.

 

[YorkshireMidge]

Whilst wipes can be a problem (even "flushable" ones), there is probably something else causing the issue if it's that frequent. One easy check is to see if there is a toilet soil stack near to the kitchen - because if there is, they may well join together on your property OR may go separate routes into that nearby inspection chamber. Either way, if the loo isn't backing up but the sink is, the problem may be much closer to you than you think, which would also expain why it re-appears so quickly. As others have said, lift the lid on that inspection chamber, and if you don't draw any conclusions from that, it might be worth you biting the bullet and getting a drainage company in to do a camera check of your drains as @Hugh Jaleak has suggested.

A bit of personal experience if it helps............

As you say, kitchen wastes normally go out the wall, and into a gulley trap, and then into the sewer. i.e. you have two water traps that stop foul air from the sewer getting into the home, and that also makes it easier to diagnose problems.

For example, we have a waste disposal and I would occasionally find what I can best describe as a huge vomit slick all over our patio c/w diced carrots. I even saw pigeons tucking in to complete the realistic picture. It transpired that although our waste disposal is one of those big American things and quite happily eats eggs/egg shells and they were flowing freely through the trap under the sink due to the power/flow from this thing, they were collecting in the gulley trap outside where the flow was much reduced and causing the blockage and overflow onto the patio. A blast with a jet washer was enough to shift it, and a check down the nearby inspection chamber showed all the tiny egg shell fragments when the blockage eventually cleared. Needless to say, we're now more careful what we feed it!

I've not personally come across a kitchen going direct into a (concrete?) floor, but our downstairs loo basin does that (there is adapter in the floor which takes it from plastic waste to sewer pipe dimensions). We had a problem in that vicinity a few years back and you can read the sad and sorry saga here.

Mysterious soil pipe blockage

Have a bit of a strange soil pipe blockage issue affecting our upstairs en-suite bathroom and wondered if anyone had any ideas. The initial symptom was the en-suite shower tray drain intermittently backing up. i.e. one minute it would be fine, the next minute you're in a paddling pool! This...

www.diynot.com

In summary, the en suite loo went into the same inspection chamber as the downstairs loo and the basin, but the duct to the en-suite had actually collapsed under the concrete floor in our hall. The inspection chamber end of the duct was completely bone dry which had me wondering what on earth was going on as I'd cut an inspection point into the bottom of the soil stack and found nothing there either. The conclusion was that water was soaking away into the earth. The guys I got in to do the initial camera mapping inspection found the problem that had been driving me mad for days, in just a few minutes once they had set up all their gear, and I think it cost me about £200 and they were happy to show and share the camera footage with me. Thankfully, our house insurance covered the rectification work and the inspection.

 

[dilalio]

CCTV surveying anything that looks like it may be an issue.

This ^^^