Blocked Drain

[mylittlehouse]

Hello All
I appear to have a blocked drain on my victorian terrace.
outside in the drain there is a brown sludge but not smelly so dont think that it is toilet waste.
what should i do?
Its draining and not overflowing.
Do i call the council or a private company to clear it
the manhole is in the housing association next door so i look in there to see if its blocked from there first?
My future plan is to replace the current clay waste pipes with all new plastics when i get around to it.

Thanks all, god i hope it does not rain.

 

[mylittlehouse]

i cannot find my inspection drain anywhere
i have look in all of the neighbors but they all seem to have their own

 

[Hugh Jaleak]

Possible manhole cover has been buried or you simply dont have a manhole on your property. If the water is draining away then its not (totally) blocked. Hosepipe and plenty of water to loosen up the 'sludge' you describe may be sufficient to clean it out.

 

[mylittlehouse]

Hi thank your your reply
Now I am armed with a little more info from the son in law of the guy who built this house in 1903.
The houses had water installed in the 1930's and people put in manholes if they wanted them.
This house never had one.
They did say that they dug down one meter out into the garden. From the outside loo to fix a blockage many years ago and put a cover on it with jubilee clips so I can uncover the outside toilet hole that was cemented in and then if it is still blocked I can dig up outside in the location when I will install a manhole for next time.
Thanks so much for your help.

 

[Hugh Jaleak]

History not my strongest subject, but the terrace in which I live was built in 1896, and I would think at that time they had an outside W.C. and a Belfast sink in the kitchen. Drains were a simple affair, a straight 6" diameter run right along the rear and a pair of 4" pipes going to each property, one for W.C. and other for kitchen sink waste pipe and rainwater from rear roof.

Alterations over time have led to some having upstairs bathrooms, and various drainage works on individual properties have resulted in manholes being built, (me being greedy needed 3! )

 

[mylittlehouse]

Yeah I have checked everyone else drain and they all are straight through in a line to the sewer located in the alley out the back.
Tomorrow will be a day of digging and locating where this blockage is.
Once I have dug the hole I may asleep build the manhole around it giving me a inspection chamber for the future.
Fun job for a cold Saturday

 

[mylittlehouse]

Well today I dug down to my waste pipe and it was empty turns out the outside toilet is not connected to the rest of the pipe that goes to next door.
After ripping up the decking I gave in and got a company in to flush it.
That was fun, he flushed the drains and nothing.
Turns out the railway put a u-bend on the pipe before it meets the inceptior???
There is a small inspection point about 20 meters away but it points the wrong way and 3 meters down.
Well it's unblocked now thank god and my wallet is lighter.
Thanks for the replies