stupid question about unblocking drains in a high rise flat

[Vladimir1720]

Hi all,

Hope you had a nice Christmas

I do apologise for asking a stupid question that must have been covered before, but hopefully the title would have put you off clicking if you're not interested.

Basically the drains in my bathroom appear to be blocked to an extent, it takes hours to drain off a full bath.

What puzzles me is that behind the sink there are a couple of small 15mm pipes running off which I thought were there to catch any overflow, but they seem to be doing the bulk of carrying off the water, because when I run the tap, whether hot or cold, one of these pipes is the one that gets hot/cold.

Also - whenever I run the sink, if I run it enough, it starts backing up into the bath. If the bath has water in it, the moment I run the sink, bubbles start coming up through the bath water straight away.

The strange thing is, it has its good days and its bad days. Just before Christmas I chucked half a bottle of OneShot (sulphuric acid stuff) down the sink and bath and that sorted things out a treat, it was almost acting like a normal drain. This carried on for about 3 days before we went away for Christmas.

When we came back - it's back to its old tricks, the water doesn't drain at all, so if you're having a shower you're at least ankle deep in water by the time you've finished.

I chucked the remaining half the bottle of oneshot down the drains in the morning (yesterday) and this didn't affect it at all, it's as blocked as it's always been.

When I try to plunge it, my efforts don't seem to make a difference at all. It all amounts to air coming out of the overflows. When I place my thumb over the overflow this helps somewhat in terms that it feels like I'm shifting something, but again, the drain remains blocked.

Sorry for the rambling, but I really would appreciate any suggestions.

Cheers

Vlad

 

[HERTS P&D]

What floor are you on?

You have a blocked manhole or soil stack.

Andy

 

[Burnerman]

I can't follow about the 15mm pipes behind the sink (these would normally be the hot and cold supply - but basically the sink and bath share the same plastic drain, and the blockage is after these appliances.
You may get assistance from a wet vacuum cleaner, but usually in flats the drains have rodding points (hopefully!)
John

 

[Vladimir1720]

What floor are you on?

You have a blocked manhole or soil stack.

Andy

I am on the second floor from the ground, I suppose you'd call it first floor this is floor 2 of 3, by the way, so it isn't really "high rise" as such, it just isn't in a common type of house, basically.

Blocked manhole or soil stack - that interesting.

We are leaseholders in an ex council property. We pay them a rather large service charge. Do you think it would be feasible for me to call them up and say that it's most likely the problem with the plumbing beyond the flat and they need to come and sort it out?

OR would this fall as being a problem in my property and I need to pay a plumber?

Cheers

Vlad

 

[Vladimir1720]

I can't follow about the 15mm pipes behind the sink (these would normally be the hot and cold supply - but basically the sink and bath share the same plastic drain, and the blockage is after these appliances.
You may get assistance from a wet vacuum cleaner, but usually in flats the drains have rodding points (hopefully!)
John

Sounds like I'm being stupid and mistaking the hot and cold supply for the overflow drainage.

How certain is it that the blockage is after these appliances? I suppose it's pretty certain, because the sink backs up into the bath, but is putting a litre of sulphuric acid down the drain with no success indicative of the problem being outside?

Would I be able to do something with one of those wiry thingies that Leylands sell? I've been able to unblock drains in the past in previous properties but I think those blockages were minor - a load of hair came out and the drain was as clean as a whistle.

On this occasion the amount of hair in the drains is very limited, because it's only my wife and I that live here and she showers at the gym a lot, as opposed to when we were sharing the house with 5 long-haired females.

 

[Burnerman]

The blockage is definitely after the bath drain......if it wasn't the sink contents wouldn't appear. After that its anybody's guess - the pipes leading to outside could well be full right down to the man hole. Any drain clearing wire might reach the problem (often occurring on a bend) but there again it may not!
See if there's any access behind the bath panel?
John