Drains blocked - but no drain cover to lift to sort it

[koalabear]

Good morning folks.

This follows on from my question the other week, as we have a blockage somewhere in the drains, mostly affecting the downstairs loo, which bubbles and fills up if we drain the bath, and doesn't flush properly itself (fills up and slowly drains). Our house is the end one of four that share a drain down to the mains. Next door has a drain cover in the back garden, but we do not - at least not one I can see for all the decking, lawn and bamboo plant put in by the previous owners.

I had the drain blokes out yesterday. He plunged it for ages to no avail, and removed the durgo to get his rods down there, also to no avail. Apparently the pipes all drain under the house and he says there SHOULD be a drain cover in the back garden, in line with next doors' drain cover.

I have two queries for you experts out there -

1. I'm looking for a drain cover in my garden. Should it be in line with my neighbours, or will it be off line? Is there any way of pinpointing where it'll be, or is it random so I need to start pulling decking up and digging holes in the lawn?
2. If I don't find the drain cover, drain-man's plan is to return on Monday and jet the pipes from inside the house, from the downstairs wc. He says he's 95% certain this'll sort it. Does that sound right?

Thanks, once again, for your advice.

 

[swidders]

Its always possible, and not uncommon, that your drainage shares your neighbours and meets in "their" drain. Mine does, and every house on the street has a shared inspection cover.

He should know this.

 

[swidders]

and, he should have checked. Sounds like he's stretching the job out to fleece you a bit further

 

[koalabear]

Oh no, that's not good news.

I did suggest yesterday he look in neighbour's drain, but they were done for the afternoon and talking about this jet thing on Monday.

What should I ask him to do when he returns? Is there any way I can do this myself, if I venture in next doors drain? Bear in mind I am a complete amateur, I don't even know how to lift the cover.

Thanks again guys and gals.

 

[swidders]

Ask your neighbours for permission!!

Lift the cover - don't know what type it is so don't know if anything needs unscrewing but will neede prising open.

Get someone to flush the loo in your house, and see if this water runs through the inspection pit (it may take a while - depending on how long the run is).

If it does, then, again, depending on the distances, you could try rodding from here - http://www.screwfix.com/prods/14843...ink-Drain-Clearance/Bailey-Drain-Rod-10Pc-Set

If not, then you'll need to keep on searching - could be under anything!!
There must be one somewhere and when you find it, then as above.

Jet + time = £££££

 

[koalabear]

In their defence, the gormless woman next door had told me last week that she didn't have a drain cover either, so to my knowledge the only access was FOUR doors away, and that's what he was going by, right up until the point (when they were leaving) that the gormless woman came out and announced that she DOES have a cover after all. Stupid woman huh?

 

[swidders]

Four doors away, so 2 doors, so joint inspection pit

 

[koalabear]

Ok, so he didn't know this yesterday and did what he could from inside the house.....

So on Monday do I suggest he goes in her garden first thing and try that first? IF that doesn't work, is jetting from inside the house a possible solution?

Thanks so much for your help mate.

 

[swidders]

Well, personally I'd try lifting the cover, but then again, I would!

Jetting from inside may be the only other way, although I'd be worried about where all the backflow water will go!!

 

[scooby_snacks]

If you have a manhole cover it will usually be near the base of the soil stack. A lot of people do tend to cover them up with decking, tarcmac or even extensions. It might well be there somewhere. Generally the drain pipes are straight runs between manhole inspection chambers but bends are permitted if they are slow radius bends. The next doors waste pipe work format maybe be similar to yours and might give you a clue with finding your inspection chamber. If you have a hidden manhole beneath tarmac/concrete/gravel and there is a snow or frost you may find that there is a peculiarly rectangular patch that defrosts first..!

Jetting is your best course of action, because it sounds as though you have a partial blockage, whether a foreign object or fibrous root infestation jetting will clear it. It is always best to jet 'upstream' (from your neighbours manhole if unable to locate yours) because if you are to jet 'downstream' the water may back up from the blockage and over flow from your point of access. Not ideal if it is inside your property.

If you have an external soil stack it maybe possible to detach a section of the 110mm pipe and jet down stream from there, any water backing up will remain outside providing it is lower than the pan height of your downstairs toilet. Alternatively you can cut into the soil stack (again at a point lower than the toilet pan) and then fit a rubber collar when finished. I would certainly explore these possibilities before jetting inside as the jetting hoses can be quite grim and would envolve trailing them through the house. Good luck hope it helps

 

[Agile]

In their defence, the gormless woman next door had told me last week that she didn't have a drain cover

Stupid woman huh?

Never believe a gormless woman.

Once I asked this woman if there was any gas pipe or valve in her kitchen cupboards which were jam packed with rubbish. She was adamant!

Her husband , a solicitor, then had to dig up their front garden to expose the gas pipes which were fine!

I then decided to follow the gas pipes in their kitchen and found hidden behind two years of Sainsbury's plastic bags, a nice gas valve clearly labelled "gas valve".

That stupidity on her behalf cost them another £64 for my return visit and a few hours of her husbands time. As a solicitor at £300 per hour perhaps £1000 ?

The kitchen cupboard gas valve had been accidentally mostly closed !

Tony