Waste Pipe Blockage - Reoccuring

[jonwestuk]

Hi All,

My kitchen sink waste pipe keep blocking and I would like some advice on the best way to resolve the issue. The pipe run is about 1.5m behind the kitchen units. Whatever numpty installed it, didn't leave an adequate angle (1-2 degrees) for the water to run away and this seems to be causing waste to build up and get blocked.

I have tried several things with success to remove the blockage, but it keeps reoccurring:

• Plumbers acid - not that effective with this block to be fair.
• Rotating Auger type blockage remover - worked ok, but blockage reoccurred

I have raised the waste pipe as much as I dare to increase the angle of flow (probably have about 8 degree angle now), but as I cannot get behind the kitchen cupboards and I am apprehensive about going too far as I don't know how the pipe is connected to the copper waste pipe (which goes down to the ground floor) and I don't want to risk breaking it.

Replacing the pipe isnt really an option until I redo the kitchen, and I am desperate for some advice on how to resolve this problem longer term.

If you have advice I would really appreciate it.

Jon

 

[TheVictorian]

What is it blocking with? I'd try to change habits and put less fat and waste food down there in the first place. A simple strainer over the pub hole might resolve this.

 

[jonwestuk]

No idea what it is blocking with, we have a strainer on the sink hole to catch the big stuff, but it is still blocking after about 1 month. I wonder whether there is a lip of debris down the pipe somewhere where food is gradually building up on over time. I am hoping that repeated flushes of acid might help remove what is down there. I might also try slowly pooring boiling water down after the acid has sat there for a bit to see if that helps melt anything that is stuck.

 

[jonwestuk]

So the acid has made it worse, where the water would slowly trickle, it now doesnt flow at all. I guess it is time to put the drain unblocker down there again.

I know how to use it, but are there any top tips of what to do once the water is running away again. It seems to me that the unblocker just punches a small hole through the blockage. Is there anyway to clear the rest of the pipe thereafter?

 

[ree]

Stop putting acid or any other dangerous chemicals down your waste - they could future injure yourself or any plumber who innocently opens up a pipe.

Dont use hot water either. The solution is a mechanical solution not a chemical solution.


As above have asked, do you put any grease or food down the waste?

Do you have a D/W or garbage disposal attached to the waste/trap?

You need to find the cause of any plumbing problem. So far you dont know what or where the difficulty is.

You've mentioned a "copper pipe waste pipe" going down to the "ground floor". Copper wastes are unusual in the UK - and i presume that you live in a flat?

If you cannot see where or how your waste connects to this copper pipe then you will possibly cause a leak by lifting & moving the waste about.

Does the waste/cu pipe finally discharge into a gulley or go underground into a manhole?

 

[jonwestuk]

Stop putting acid or any other dangerous chemicals down your waste - they could future injure yourself or any plumber who innocently opens up a pipe.

Dont use hot water either. The solution is a mechanical solution not a chemical solution.


As above have asked, do you put any grease or food down the waste?

Do you have a D/W or garbage disposal attached to the waste/trap?

You need to find the cause of any plumbing problem. So far you dont know what or where the difficulty is.

You've mentioned a "copper pipe waste pipe" going down to the "ground floor". Copper wastes are unusual in the UK - and i presume that you live in a flat?

If you cannot see where or how your waste connects to this copper pipe then you will possibly cause a leak by lifting & moving the waste about.

Does the waste/cu pipe finally discharge into a gulley or go underground into a manhole?

Hi,

Thanks for your response. I will of course stop using chemicals or hot water and will warn any workmen who attend my property.

I live in a terraced 3 story townhouse. The main waste pipe is made of copper and runs through a services section of the house and goes from the top floor bathroom directly down, through the kitchen to the ground floor bathroom. I have recently gutted and reinstalled the upstairs bathroom and saw the very large copper pipe that I hooked my toilet, sink and bath to. I can also see it on the ground floor. Thus far, the top floor bathroom wastes all run freely with no slowing or noticeable hindrance / blockage. This leaves me to believe that the main copper waste is not obstructed.

In the kitchen the sink is about 1.5 meters from the copper waste, and my assumption is that there is a straight run of 40mm plastic pipe running to the cupboard under the sink. It terminates in a a series of 90 degree glued bends which go to the u bend of the single sink without waste disposal. I cant see anything special or abnormal about this arrangement. We are not in the habit of putting grease or fat down the sink, we like to save those sorts of things for soup and gravy, but there probably are the odd bits of food waste that is normally found when washing up plates etc. There may also be a bit of blended baby food, but most of that gets put into our food waste bin.

I have just tried using a flexible rod unblocker which rotates and it has not made any difference at all even though I managed to get the rod a good distance down the main length of pipe. In fact the block now seems to be completely sealed as the u trap (which is new and completely unobstructed) will not allow water to flow through it owing to air being trapped down the pipe.

So please, what should I do now? I am guessing I need a dyno-rod type company to come and completely clean the pipe out with specialist tools?

 

[Nige F]

Hi All,

• Rotating Auger type blockage remover - worked ok, but blockage reoccurred

Jon

Was this an electric powered one ?

 

[ree]

You dont need a Dyna-Rod type company, neither does anyone else - unless you wish to invite con artists into your home.

I dont get how you can see the "series of 90 degree glued bends" connecting to the copper waste but you dont have access to that 1.5m of pipe?

Judging by what you said why not eliminate the present waste from sink trap to copper connection and replace with a more straightforward arrangement.

If necessary: Its pretty simple to remove the back of a unit, & in some cases, the unit itself can be unfastened & pulled out.

 

[ree]

jonwestuk,

in your opening post you said that you would "really appreciate advice". You have a pretty funny way of showing appreciation - ignoring your respondents and disappearing from your own thread.

 

[jonwestuk]

Sorry about that - got caught up at work. The series of 90 degree bends were put in just to navigate the u bend back to the waste pipe ie the u bend is higher than the waste so there is a 90 degree bend down and a 90 degree bend back across to the wall and a 90 degree bend turning right down the wall. I think that is fairly normal from everything I have seen in properties that I have lived in. The only other option would be a flexi, which is less usual.

I was putting the mechanical drain unblocker directly into the pipe going down the wall. To no avail. I tried many many times to get it to work.

Eventually I gave up as the Mrs was shouting at me and wanted the kitchen back. Having relented and called a local unblocking company they arrived very quickly, took 5 minutes to resolve the issue and then took 10 minutes to take £115 off of me!

This was the kit he used. Very similar to my manual one - so maybe I should have persevered?

http://www.tradecounterdirect.com/d...feed-drain-cleaning-machine-kit_240-volt.html

Thanks all for your help, shame it didn't quite work this time.

 

[Hugh Jaleak]

Its not unknown to spend hours plugging away at a blocked waste or drain, only to give up and come back better armed to find it has cleared itself.... Your question re. Persevering is somewhat of a how long is a piece of string? Main thing is its sorted and the Mrs is happy.

Copper wastes were used quite commonly in the 1950's I believe, there's certainly still a lot remaining in use. Copper stack pipes though are somewhat more rare, cast iron or asbestos cement was usually the material of choice here. Regardless of that, copper wastes were often smaller than todays standards, e.g. sinks and baths had a 1.25" waste, instead of the 1.5" used today. It's quite possible if your sink is using a 1.5" (40mm) waste, it reduces just before the stack where new meets old, hence your pinch point.

 

[foxhole]

You probably have grease blocking, this will reoccur unless you regularly put boiling soapy water down to keep it clear.Good habit to get in is throwing remains of boiled water from kettle whenever you make a brew.Not only keeps sink clear but extends the life of the kettle reducing scale build up.

 

[Nige F]

FWIW I would say grease/tile grout from when the kitchen was done - as to the copper stack/branch, it's probably smoother than a lot of plastic wastes going into cast iron stacks. Did it @ college, opening the branch and bronze welding the wastes in

 

[ree]

OP,

You are £115 lighter with possibilities that the same thing might happen again (ref. your first post). For £110 a plumber might have cleared the blockage and re-arranged/replaced the pipework. For £115 you've attended the result not the cause.

FWIW: i was trained not to use hot water on grease blockages because
1. possibility:the grease might liquidise and flow only to cool and coagulate in a cooler spot.
2. possibility: you have now introduced a dangerous element to possibly unstable pipes.

 

[jonwestuk]

OP,

You are £115 lighter with possibilities that the same thing might happen again (ref. your first post). For £110 a plumber might have cleared the blockage and re-arranged/replaced the pipework. For £115 you've attended the result not the cause.

FWIW: i was trained not to use hot water on grease blockages because
1. possibility:the grease might liquidise and flow only to cool and coagulate in a cooler spot.
2. possibility: you have now introduced a dangerous element to possibly unstable pipes.

Thanks for the info. I don't think that there is anything more a proper plumber could have done to be honest. There is no way of getting to the stack without completely taking apart the kitchen, which I plan to do in a few years anyway. If you read my original posts, I have increased the angle of the 1.5m waste pipe as it was fairly flat previously. I figure that when I originally cleared the blockage it wasn't all gone. The water was not running as fast as it does now. I therefore think that the original blockage allowed more gunk to build up. I am hoping that now the original block is fully gone, and the flow of water will be faster, this fix will last until I can replumb the kitchen in a couple of years.

£115 is a lot of money for what he did, but with a 6 month old baby, there is only so long you can go without a sink so I am not unhappy.