Drain outside blocked

whatamess_2 · 19 June 2006 at 9:07PM

My kitchen sink drain blocks on a reqular basis, must be the way it runs.
My tip would be (which works for my drain) use a mop as a plunger. I now keep a mop head for that specific purpose.
Messy

Wig · 19 June 2006 at 9:40PM

Btw a dirty drain (kitchen drain) should not go to a soakaway ever if it does you need to get if fixed.

If it joins to the main sewer as it should, then it should run towards an inspection cover. If not just check the inspection covers that you do have anyway to give you an idea of the direction of the pipes, and while you have them off flush the loo and pour water down various drains to see if the water comes through.

Then all you can do is prod with the rods until your rod goes through the blockage, move it back and forth to free it up a bit, keep flushing the loos to help the muck go along the drain, (we're assuming the kitchen drain joins the main sewer). Then finally use the disc on the end of the rod, and flush the drain with a bucket or 2 of water.

JayZ_Em · 21 December 2008 at 3:54AM

Van1971 wrote: »

I believe your house needs to be built before 1937 to determine who's responsible for the drains.

Mine was built approx 1938 :rolleyes: I called the Council to find out the exact year and was told they don't keep a record of when houses were built, only of when they were sold over the years.

My parents live in a Victorian house and they managed to get drawings of the building from the local archives of the Borough Council or County's Library archive department. The dates are shown on the drawings.

If a soak-away is blocked anyone know if using a pressure washer with a dedicated hose for drains actually helps or instead creates a big mess at the drain 'hole' - which has to be pumped away, or scooped into buckets.

Ice_2 · 21 December 2008 at 4:28AM

bicarbonate of soda and vinegar.
when mixed these two react into a cleaning foam.
use last thing at night.
on blocked sinks 2 scoops of bicarb and 1 cup of vinegar.
use larger amounts for larger area's.
doesn't matter if its normal 20p a bottle brown malt vinegar or the white/clear 60p a bottle white vinegar.

tealady · 21 December 2008 at 9:29AM

Hi It would be worth ringing your local Councils Environmental heath office for advice and to see if they will unblock it free of charge.
However you really need to find out if it is a drain or a sewer and how old your house is.
Basically the waste pipes that leave your house are your responsibility until they join with someone elses. These are drains.
When they join with someone elses then it is a sewer.
For houses built before Oct 1937 the sewers are the responsibility of your water company.
For houses built after that date the responsibility for a blockage or break rests with whoever is upstream.
If you look on the website https://www.birmingham.gov.uk there is a diagram which explains it more clearly.
HTH

angelavdavis · 21 December 2008 at 2:10PM

mr1974 wrote: »

When you say fat should go in the bin, what kind of fat are we talking about? What about cooking oil?
Thanks
mr1974

I pour my used cooking oil into an old plastic bottle, put the cap on and dispose of it in the bin that way. You can also take it to the tip - they usually have an oil recycling scheme in operation.

Head-Out-Of-Sand · 29 April 2009 at 4:43PM

Just found this thread, thank goodness...I'd tried kettle and plunger-mop to no avail, now have a load of new ideas to try (not particularly looking forward to having my arm down what is a very stinky drain, but more so than I was looking forward to paying Dynorod £3,000,000 to do it for me!)

Next stop...bin bags!! Wish me luck..._pale_

evilgoose · 6 February 2010 at 11:31PM

We have an old pop bottle and used cooking oil goes in there, not the drain.
Any fat from meat etc we put aside in a dish with breadcrumbs etc to make fat cake to feed the birds. Very little solid waste goes down the drain - it'l just block it up.

Last summer, my next door neighbour had the 'power' drain cleaners in, I checked my inspection chamber a few days later and it was blocked almost to the top with earth, gravel and quite large stones. I suspect that it had been 'pushed' back up the system to my drain as I see no other way stones as big as tennis balls could have ended up down there!
I started out with a shovel then spent a long time on my stomach with a long pair of rubber gloves cleaning the drain. In the end I had two sacks of muck out of there, I borrowed a friends rods to clean back to the main sewer. It wasn't pleasant, but saved a fortune.

sarahowen · 9 June 2010 at 7:58PM

Hi

Was hoping for some tips also - the pipes for our kitchen sink lead outside to a covered drain, similar to one an earlier poster mentioned. I'm presuming it's fat that's congealed there; it looks like slightly grey scrambled eggs?

I can't lift the drain cover off to get to the underneath - should I just keep tipping hot water down there and hope for the best? Also, should I try and tip water into the drain itself or down the kitchen sink? Oddly, that sink is fine, although the bath isn't draining very well. Have tried bleach, soda crystals and hot water so far and am wishing I was slightly better with stuff around the home...

Any help would be greatly appreciated

sarahowen · 9 June 2010 at 8:32PM

Basically, any water I am tipping down there is just not draining away. I have to keep bailing it out. Have no idea what has suddenly happened as all was fine this morning. We moved some plants that had grown up around it - am beginning to think it was all a big mistake...

Drain outside blocked

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