Problem Fixed: Domestic drainage problem. DIY, Plumber or Drainage Company?

Head_The_Ball · 14 December 2017 at 3:57PM

Thanks everyone. I have found the problem.

I opened the drain cover in front of the house and found a football sized lump of soggy tissues. That must have moved down a pipe into the inspection chamber since I last looked.

I have removed it and everything is now flowing as it should.

Thanks again for taking the time to read and advise.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

I seek help and advice with a water drainage problem.

Our house is a modern 13 year old two story detached house.

We have an upstairs bathroom (bath, toilet and basin) at the centre rear, an en-suite (bath, shower, toilet and basin) in the middle of the right hand side, a downstairs toilet with toilet and basin in the centre of the house, a kitchen at the front right and a utility in the middle of the right hand side below the ensuite.

We have lived here for 6 years.

We think all the drainage runs to one drain that we can access via a cover near the front right of the house and in front of the kitchen window.

We have an occasional but repeating problem with poor drainage, mainly from the bathroom but occasionally from the shower and toilet in the en suite.

When flushed, the bathroom toilet will rapidly fill to about 6 inches from the rim and then empty in a series of spurts, usually accompanied by water spitting up a few inches from the bath plughole. The downstairs toilet will sometimes but not always be affected with the water level rising an inch or so.

Occasionally the toilet and the shower will also drain very slowly. Some time ago I used 'Melt', an acidic drain cleaner, in the shower waste and the shower has drained properly ever since.

This has happened a few times and I have resolved the problem by filling the bathroom bath with water and then emptying it, using a plunger at the same time and also flushing the toilet. This usually clears the drain pipes and we don't have another problem for maybe 6 or 9 months.

However it is happening again so I would like to find a permanent solution.

What steps can I take myself to find out where the problem is? I have a 2 metre flexible waste pipe unblocker but that doesn't seem to find any blockages from the bathroom waste pipes.

I don't have any drain rods and I would prefer to get Dyno Rod or similar in if necessary than buy or hire some.

I think whatever is causing the problem is some distance away from and below the bathroom but I can't be certain.

What suggestions and advice do you have. I am happy to attempt easy and straightforward stuff before getting someone in.

Could I try feeding a garden hose up the drain and turning it on?

Could I try feeding a long empty hose down the U bend? Is that risky if it gets stuck?

If nothing I do fixes the problem, do I call a plumber or someone like Dyno Rod?

Thanks

smudger1946 · 14 December 2017 at 4:10PM

Put the problem to the local water board, they helped us.
Good luck.

bris · 14 December 2017 at 4:37PM

Fatbergs? Hard to shift, build up over years then problems start. You can poke holes in them to let water drain through but its only a matter of time before they close again.

It's easy to rinse the plates under the tap, hot water takes it so far before it cools and sets solid again.

Be mindful about what your rinsing away under that tap, a little here and there becomes a problem eventually.

EssexExile · 14 December 2017 at 5:19PM

Surely if an upstairs loo is filling up when flushed then the problem is close to that? If there was no blockage near there then the flushed "stuff" would just go into the soil pipe.

Head_The_Ball · 14 December 2017 at 5:30PM

smudger1946 wrote: »

Put the problem to the local water board, they helped us.
Good luck.

Thanks.

Was your problem on your property? Mine is and I thought I was responsible for everything up to the point my drain meets the public drain.

Did they charge?

Head_The_Ball · 14 December 2017 at 5:33PM

EssexExile wrote: »

Surely if an upstairs loo is filling up when flushed then the problem is close to that? If there was no blockage near there then the flushed "stuff" would just go into the soil pipe.

That is what I thought too but the problem also affects the downstairs toilet which is currently not flushing properly. Like the bathroom toilet the bowl now fills to about 6 inches from the rim before slowly draining.

Perhaps we have more than one partial blockage.

Head_The_Ball · 14 December 2017 at 5:35PM

bris wrote: »

Fatbergs? Hard to shift, build up over years then problems start. You can poke holes in them to let water drain through but its only a matter of time before they close again.

It's easy to rinse the plates under the tap, hot water takes it so far before it cools and sets solid again.

Be mindful about what your rinsing away under that tap, a little here and there becomes a problem eventually.

Possible although we are quite disciplined about not putting fat and grease down the kitchen sink. Also the kitchen drain is very close to the public drain running across our frontage. It runs to an outside grated drain and then presumably a few feet underground to the public drain.

We don't know what the previous owners did prior to our purchase but we were here about 3 or 4 years before we had these problems.

Fortunately the problems are currently manageable as the toilets don't overflow and all the water eventually drains away.

We are concerned that, if it gets worse, we may have overflow flooding from the toilet bowls which will not be pleasant.

blackshirtuk · 14 December 2017 at 6:03PM

Have you opend the drain cover near the "front right of the house" ?

tonyh66 · 14 December 2017 at 6:05PM

baby wipes? nappies? sanitary towels? bottom wipes? are you flushing any of these.

Head_The_Ball · 14 December 2017 at 6:17PM

blackshirtuk wrote: »

Have you opend the drain cover near the "front right of the house" ?

Yes and it all looks normal.

Tomorrow I plan to open it again and ask my wife to flush the toilets and drain the baths etc and see what is happening.

Head_The_Ball · 14 December 2017 at 6:19PM

tonyh66 wrote: »

baby wipes? nappies? sanitary towels? bottom wipes? are you flushing any of these.

No.

We don't have children and we don't flush anything bar normal toilet paper.

There are just the two of us.

Problem Fixed: Domestic drainage problem. DIY, Plumber or Drainage Company?

Comments

Categories

Get our FREE Weekly email full of deals & guides - and it’s spam-free