Yes, the old classic.
It rained heavily here last night for about half an hour, so heavy that the inspection chamber serving the surface water drains backed up to a depth of about six inches. Ah, thought I, time to use me new drain rods, the ones I bought as an indulgence and which hitherto I'd only ever used to unnecessarily poke and prod perfectly good drains.
I fitted the plunger, connected two further rods and off we popped into the pipe. Hit something about a rod and a half in, and started pushing. No movement, so I pulled the rods out...only to find to my horror that the plunger was no longer attached. I know that the rods should be turned clockwise both on entry and on withdrawal, so I've absolutely no idea how that happened. Maybe it wasn't screwed on properly, but it wasn't much consolation to learn whilst browsing the internet for solutions later that evening that you can buy rods with lockable connections.
Anyhow, this morning, once it was a decent enough hour not to disturb the neighbours by chucking manhole covers about, I ascertained by means of a mirror and a torch that the plunger was stuck in the position in which it had been inserted, so decided to try to screw a rod back into the thread and pull it out. No matter how hard I tried, and whatever angles I succeeded in achieving, there was no success. So I reluctantly got my spade out and started digging. Two hours later and well over a metre down, I found that the pipe wasn't only blocked by my plunger but also a solid mass of roots; so in a way, there was a silver lining to my predicament.
I purchased two flexi adaptors from Screwfix, and using them to insert a length of plastic pipe between the cut ends of the clayware, reinstated working drainage. AND I got my plunger back. The thread was full of cack, which may have been the reason why I couldn't reattach a drain rod and simply pull it out without having to dig instead.
Backfilling tomorrow morning, so here's hoping it stays dry!
It rained heavily here last night for about half an hour, so heavy that the inspection chamber serving the surface water drains backed up to a depth of about six inches. Ah, thought I, time to use me new drain rods, the ones I bought as an indulgence and which hitherto I'd only ever used to unnecessarily poke and prod perfectly good drains.
I fitted the plunger, connected two further rods and off we popped into the pipe. Hit something about a rod and a half in, and started pushing. No movement, so I pulled the rods out...only to find to my horror that the plunger was no longer attached. I know that the rods should be turned clockwise both on entry and on withdrawal, so I've absolutely no idea how that happened. Maybe it wasn't screwed on properly, but it wasn't much consolation to learn whilst browsing the internet for solutions later that evening that you can buy rods with lockable connections.
Anyhow, this morning, once it was a decent enough hour not to disturb the neighbours by chucking manhole covers about, I ascertained by means of a mirror and a torch that the plunger was stuck in the position in which it had been inserted, so decided to try to screw a rod back into the thread and pull it out. No matter how hard I tried, and whatever angles I succeeded in achieving, there was no success. So I reluctantly got my spade out and started digging. Two hours later and well over a metre down, I found that the pipe wasn't only blocked by my plunger but also a solid mass of roots; so in a way, there was a silver lining to my predicament.
I purchased two flexi adaptors from Screwfix, and using them to insert a length of plastic pipe between the cut ends of the clayware, reinstated working drainage. AND I got my plunger back. The thread was full of cack, which may have been the reason why I couldn't reattach a drain rod and simply pull it out without having to dig instead.
Backfilling tomorrow morning, so here's hoping it stays dry!
