HELP PLZ...Drain blocked by tile adhesive

mart.vader

southcoastrgi said : "i really don't think you understand the OP's prob either that or you don't understand the products you have linked too, which ever it is any of these will be a complete waste of time & money"

From OP's user-name she is a female. Without wishing to sound sexist, from my experience with women, the chances of her possibly breaking through concrete, then, digging down through 18" of muck to the gully, and rodding the gully as other posters suggested, I assume to be vanishingly small. Though, as I said, at least she's prepared to get her hands dirty.

OP said:
"Well what I managed to get out was very soft just like the stuff I put in"
and
"Near to this there is a drain about 6 inches wide with a plastic grid on it and this is the one that is blocked,"

OP has bought drain rods, but they haven't helped - If the gully is too tight to use drain -rods, the next cheapest thing to try is a drain snake. I have used them several times on my gully which regularly blocks with leaves, and sounds similar to the OP's one.

Is it cheaper to phone Dyno-Rod? as Keystone said, they're expensive.

Is it easier to hire a concrete breaker, and spend an hour or two digging down to the gully and rod it? The OP can decide.

WaxiesDargle

Norman_Castle wrote: »

Ask your water company what you should and shouldn't use drains for.

clearly the OP came on here for helpful advise...not for snidey little comments like yours....you are a bundle of laughs

Rovver125

The adhesive in the gully pot was bound to have been soft as it will be sat in water. It maybe that the other side of the swan neck is also full of adhesive, although the OP has said she could feel the bend, if she can feel the bend she should be able to feel if there is anymore adhesive on the downstream side of the swan neck. Sorry mart.vader but I have to agree with southcoastrgi on those drain snakes being in most cases a waste of time and money. For leaves or any very soft blockages, they may help punch a hole through, but on a hardened blockage nothing even comes close to a high pressure water jet!

As you have quite rightly said though, the next move is the OP's choice and we can only advise as we see fit.

Couldn't agree more with WaxiesDargle aswell. Comments like Norman Castle made are completely unneccessary. The OP has acknowledged that she's made a silly mistake and has come on here looking for helpful advice. That sort of response just shows the mentality of some people on this forum.

southcoastrgi

B33fy wrote: »

What would YOU do?

like KS said it has prob set like concrete & again like KS said high powered jetting may break it up enough to move & remove it but if that doesn't work then it's a digging & replacement job.

mart.vader wrote: »

southcoastrgi said : "i really don't think you understand the OP's prob either that or you don't understand the products you have linked too, which ever it is any of these will be a complete waste of time & money"

From OP's user-name she is a female. Without wishing to sound sexist, from my experience with women, the chances of her possibly breaking through concrete, then, digging down through 18" of muck to the gully, and rodding the gully as other posters suggested, I assume to be vanishingly small. Though, as I said, at least she's prepared to get her hands dirty.

OP said:
"Well what I managed to get out was very soft just like the stuff I put in"
and
"Near to this there is a drain about 6 inches wide with a plastic grid on it and this is the one that is blocked,"

OP has bought drain rods, but they haven't helped - If the gully is too tight to use drain -rods, the next cheapest thing to try is a drain snake. I have used them several times on my gully which regularly blocks with leaves, and sounds similar to the OP's one.

Is it cheaper to phone Dyno-Rod? as Keystone said, they're expensive.

Is it easier to hire a concrete breaker, and spend an hour or two digging down to the gully and rod it? The OP can decide.

it's not the getting hands dirty i was commenting on, you posted three links to products that are designed to be used on 32 or 40mm waste pipework, the OP's prob is with a 4 inch pipe & or gully therefore those products are worse than useless

zita

Yes I am a female :eek:!!!

I am unable to post pictures as after spending over an hour looking for my camera my teenager kindly informed me that she might have lost it on a scouts trip last weekend (my life just gets better :mad:)

I have a reasonable powerful get washer, does anyone know if I can remove the lance and get some flexible part to get down the drain and try jetting it?

Falling that I'm prepared to start digging it might take me a couple of weeks but I'm sure eventually I will get there...just have to remove the entire timber decking first...oh dear!

Oh and I filled the drain again with water and its draining slowly, not that makes much difference I suppose.

keystone

Have you poured water down your neighbouyrs equival;ent draisn. If they flow you haven't blocked them (unless they have blocked them with something else)

Otherwise:

1. I do not think your powerwasher is sufficiently powerful.
2. No I don't think you can replace the lance with an alternative head and even if you could I doubt you'll get it through the bottle trap.
3. I suspect that even a proper drain jetter won't go through the trap but it might and theres only one way to find out.

If it works it works. If it doesn't you are digging. If you don't want to try the jetter then you are digging.

I don't think you should do it yourself. Get someone in to it.

Cheers

mart.vader

zita wrote: »

Yes I am a female :eek:!!!

I am unable to post pictures as after spending over an hour looking for my camera my teenager kindly informed me that she might have lost it on a scouts trip last weekend (my life just gets better :mad:)

I have a reasonable powerful get washer, does anyone know if I can remove the lance and get some flexible part to get down the drain and try jetting it?

Falling that I'm prepared to start digging it might take me a couple of weeks but I'm sure eventually I will get there...just have to remove the entire timber decking first...oh dear!

Oh and I filled the drain again with water and its draining slowly, not that makes much difference I suppose.

I may be accused of posting irrelevant links, but here's another one:

http://www.sewerjetgazette.net/how-to-unclog-a-sewer-drain-with-your-pressure-washer/

premkit

you have to remove the water and try and perceiver with a long screwdriver/ any implement to brake the adhesive up in bits. i have done this several times, ( not pouring adhesive down ) getting the issue rectified, every time the only thing that worked was digging it up little by little. just not to heavy handed.

Rovver125

Ref: Post by Keystone

1. I do not think your powerwasher is sufficiently powerful. Agreed.

2. No I don't think you can replace the lance with an alternative head and even if you could I doubt you'll get it through the bottle trap. There are jetting attachments available for pressure washers as mart.vader has posted below, but as you say, getting it through the trap and it having enough power to pull itself through and cut out a hardened deposit is very unlikely.

3. I suspect that even a proper drain jetter won't go through the trap but it might and theres only one way to find out. I work in the trade and as I said in a previous post, it's highly unlikely a standard half inch domestic jetting hose will go through the trap (sometimes possible, mostly impossible!), but a quarter inch mini-bore hose will. We use these on a regular basis to clear blocked gullies with no downstream access and they are standard kit on all our jetting vans. However, jetting hardened deposits with water will always have mixed results dependant on the type of deposit and the length of time it has sat in the pipe work. Backjetting from a gully also means you hold the majority of the jetting water behind the jet, creating a washing machine effect. High pressure water jets always work more efficiently when jetting upstream towards a blockage so the jet has maximum cutting efficiency.

I don't think you should do it yourself. Get someone in to it. Agreed. Ring a few different local companies, explain the problem and get an estimate. Most drainage firms charge either by the half hour or hour and an hour is unlikely to cost you more then £100 and will give you the best possible chance of getting a result. Buying different attachments for pressure washers etc just means you are spending more and more cash that would be wiser spent on a professional with the right equipment for the job! Also, a professional maybe able to locate downstream access or find something that you could not to enable a solution. A reputable firm should have operatives with the skills and knowledge to help you and as I've said before, if they can't solve it there and then, they should be able to advise you of your options!

Rovver125

premkit wrote: »

you have to remove the water and try and perceiver with a long screwdriver/ any implement to brake the adhesive up in bits. i have done this several times, ( not pouring adhesive down ) getting the issue rectified, every time the only thing that worked was digging it up little by little. just not to heavy handed.

The OP stated that she had removed as much as she could from the trap and could feel a bend at the bottom of the gully. This would suggest she has cleared the trap as far as is possible and the blockage is on the downstream side of the trap, hence inaccessible by hand!