Blocked drain

trailingspouse

Our kitchen waste drains into a drain which seems to be permanently blocked - but not quite, as it never overflows. The water sits above the level of the grating, about 4 inches below the level of the driveway. It never drains away. It smells.

OH and I spent yesterday morning clearing it. We scooped out most of the water and associated gunge (4 buckets), to the point where we could see the direction of the outflow. We removed a LOT of plaster residue from the outflow (we had a lot of work done on the house a couple of years ago - I guess our plasterers used our outside tap to clean their gear). We thought that would fix it, but after a day's normal use the water level is back to where it has always been.

But what I don't understand is why it fills up so far but no further? And is there anything we can do to shift the blockage further along (short of digging up the drive)?

Mr.Generous

modern drains have a water trap, level will always remain the same like the U bend in your toilet. If you can run a tap and the level doesn't change - its not blocked!

SailorSam

Drain brushes aren't expensive. You can get them with a little cut that perhaps you could pull any gunge towards you.

trailingspouse

Mr Generous - I thought it might be something like that - but surely it would have been designed so that the water level was lower than the grating? Also, I suspect the drains are the same age as the house - Edwardian.

SailorSam - where would I get them from? B&Q? or should I just go online?

Franz_Ferdinand

http://www.toolstation.com/shop/p37178?table=no

ian103

http://www.screwfix.com/p/nilfisk-compact-c-110-4-5-pcd-x-tra-110bar-pressure-washer-1-4kw-230v/6001jOr try a drainage jetter attachment on a pressure washer

trailingspouse

Many thanks - that's a fun weekend coming up!

Zola.

Sometimes I see that the little drain in our drive way is a bit higher than normal, so I will occasionally will pour a large full bucket of water down it a couple of times, which seems to work very well, flies down the drain and the level becomes shallower. Maybe try that and see

trailingspouse

Latest on the drain saga - we'd spent the day clearing it out, and then we were disappointed because it re-filled back up to the old level. But we were away for a couple of days (so no water being used), and when I looked at it just after we got back, it's drained completely!!! Yay!!

Maybe it still takes longer to drain than it should, but it is in fact draining away. Result!

phil24_7

Pour some hot water and caustic soda down the drain and see if that helps.

bluesnake

If you empty the drain and use a wet vac to really empty it, then get one like this link below, but you need one with led lights, and you can inspect up to 10 meters for about £15 (laptop not included )
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2-5-7-10-M-USB-Waterproof-Endoscope-Borescope-Snake-Inspection-Video-Camera-inUK-/261888541727?var=&hash=item3cf9c6041f:m:m6i4nHOcWWLg1RtdRrpkiig

possibly better for 15m, but at x3 the price http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-iXium-Drain-Camera-USB-Waterproof-LED-Snake-Inspection-Endoscope-5M-10M-15M-/311350732937?var=&hash=item487df32889:m:mlUbYji21vmHix0_jedv_QQ