UPDATED (2) What's going on with my drains?

aliasojo

Been in this place for 6 months. Bath was always slow draining from day one, pulled loads of yucky hair out of plughole and it seemed a bit better but still not great.

No problems with toilets although I occasionally thought I got a bit of a smell from the downstairs loo. No-one else seemed to smell it.

Last few weeks have thrown up problems. When the downstairs loo was flushed, there would be a gurgle and a spurt of water coming up into the handwash basin next to it. This went on for a few days then one day the water rose to the rim of the toilet itself as well as into the basin next to it, before slowly subsiding. I initially thought one of the kids had blocked the toilet with baby wipes, but I'm not sure that was the case now.

We got it cleared by pouring down hot water and plunging but every 2nd or 3rd time the toilet is flushed now (even when the toilet hasn't been used and we're just flushing clean water to test it), it will back up to the rim and into the basin again. It does always slowly subside, it doesn't ever stay 'blocked'. There is a lot of gurgling going on whilst it subsides.

BIL trained as a plumber years ago (but didn't actually work as one - career change) and he seemed to think the issue wasn't a blocked toilet but might have been a cracked/partially collapsed drain OR maybe the drains just can't cope with the amount of use they are getting now? The other thing is that a new family have moved in nearby and we think their drain might be linked to this place too. (The house was empty previously). Might that be relevent?

It's an old detached house with cast iron soil pipes and we can't find a manhole/drain cover anywhere outside so we can't even try to inspect anything.

Any thoughts?

ormus

first thing is to inspect the manhole.
has the house been extended? the inspection chamber may have been covered over.
or maybe its in your neighbours garden if you have shared drains.

aliasojo

No, it's not been extended.

I read an article on the internet (typically can't find it now) that said older houses with cast iron pipes didn't always have manholes and the soil pipes and drains would have been reached by going on the roof and rodding down.

I'm wondering how usual that was and if that's what we can't find a manhole. BIL came to the house and had a look round too, didn't find anything.

Might have to approach neighbour but their house is diagonally across from us so not sure how feasible the shared drains thought actually is.

jimbo_the_jetset

Do you own the house?

If so you should have a copy of the sewer connections from the searches that your solicitor did on your behalf. This will tell you where the manholes are and what the pipes are constructed from and diameter.

If you don't own maybe ask a neighbour?

ormus

its true that some old houses didnt have a manhole but they are very rare.
as is two detached houses sharing a drain.

maybe your manhole is buried underneath the garden somewhere?

otherwise id be considering replacing the soil pipes with plastic so i could install rodding points.
plastic pipe is dirt cheap.

Ben84

Old manhole covers can get buried over many years, just a couple of inches of soil is enough to grow grass and make them invisible. It happened at our old house, so I would keep hunting. Maybe a garden fork would help find it as you can stick it a few inches in to the ground and see what you find without digging up everything.

ormus

ps
one like this access pipe.

aliasojo

Don't own the house, it's rented. (For various reasons I would prefer to look into this myself first before approaching LL.)

The garden is big. _pale_ Even taking into account the areas where a drain would be unlikely to be, it's still a fair bit to cover. Good idea about forking though.

aliasojo

Just for argument's sake, if we do actually manage to find a manhole, what am I looking for? The drains can't be blocked otherwise the toilet wouldn't drain away at all so if there is anything wrong with the drain between the manhole and the loo, (as in a cracked or partially collapsed area) I'm not going to be able to see that?

jimbo_the_jetset

aliasojo wrote: »

Just for argument's sake, if we do actually manage to find a manhole, what am I looking for? The drains can't be blocked otherwise the toilet wouldn't drain away at all so if there is anything wrong with the drain between the manhole and the loo, (as in a cracked or partially collapsed area) I'm not going to be able to see that?

If you find the manhole, then flush the toilet, perhaps with some tissue paper down it. If only water trickles through then a blockage is likely. If water and tissue come flying through then all appears ok.

If you find a big blockage at the manhole where your house meets the street run, again problem found.

jhe

we borrowed a metal detector to locate a manhole cover.