Easiest way to get gully grate cover off?

kuepper

Heard water dripping in my cellar and discovered the gully outside is stopped up and the water was overflowing and percolating down into the cellar (the gap between the wall and the gully needs repointing).  When I tried to get the grid cover off it wouldn't budge and the corrosion seems to have welded it to the surround. Is there a simple thing to try to get the cover off? All I can think of is trying a hammer and chisel. photo attached.

greyteam1959

Try tapping fairly hard all around the cover with a hammer.
Not too hard or you may shatter the grid.

Robin9

If you can get the plastic shoe off the down pipe first it may help

stuart45

Tapping an old screw driver gently into the edges all the way round will usually work. 

Section62

kuepper said:

When I tried to get the grid cover off it wouldn't budge and the corrosion seems to have welded it to the surround. Is there a simple thing to try to get the cover off? All I can think of is trying a hammer and chisel.

Is the surround metal (cast iron)?  If so it is probably unlikely the grate will come out without splitting the surround (it isn't well supported).  It may be worth cutting your losses and get a replacement uPVC grate and surround.

Bendy_House

Worth trying to clear out the rust-welded gap first, and as said above, an old medium flat-bladed screwdriver is often the most convenient tool; thin, but not too much so.

Go at it layer by layer, scraping it around that gap, and using a hammer to gently 'chisel' it along and down another layer. Use a brush or hoover to clear the rusty debris as it's created. 

If you have an angle-grinder, use it to put a crisp edge on the screwdriver if it's old and 'rounded', NOT sharp like a chisel, but crisp-square-edged like a new 'driver. And to slim it down if needed so it can go right down into the gap.

Steady - taptaptaptaptaptaptap - suck - taptaptap

There's a very good chance you'll get there. 

Martin_the_Unjust

Section62 said:

kuepper said:

When I tried to get the grid cover off it wouldn't budge and the corrosion seems to have welded it to the surround. Is there a simple thing to try to get the cover off? All I can think of is trying a hammer and chisel.

Is the surround metal (cast iron)?  If so it is probably unlikely the grate will come out without splitting the surround (it isn't well supported).  It may be worth cutting your losses and get a replacement uPVC grate and surround.

This ^ is what I would do.

Bendy_House

Yikes, a lot more work, surely? Mind you, if kuepper is going to be repointing that area in any case, then to bed in a new cover wouldn't be as big a job as it could be for most folk. Still likely to involve unpleasant grinding and chiselling a wider channel to accommodate, tho'. 

Still, surely worth trying to remove the existing, cleaning it all up, and then, um, coating it in summat to prevent further corrosion... Grease?! (After being painted).

Bendy_House

With the chiselling-screwdriver technique, it's often better if you insert the s-d straight down, even leaning backwards slightly, and then tapping it sideways along the groove, hitting it just above grate level - slide the wee hammer along the surface; this'll lift the removed rust, and not drive it further down. Keep removing all loosened stuff, and best done when dry.

GDB2222

If you just need a bit more leverage, you can use the corner of a garden spade in the slots of the cover. That’s worked for me, but my cover was not rusted in as badly.

Section62

Bendy_House said:

Yikes, a lot more work, surely? Mind you, if kuepper is going to be repointing that area in any case, then to bed in a new cover wouldn't be as big a job as it could be for most folk. Still likely to involve unpleasant grinding and chiselling a wider channel to accommodate, tho'. 

The bedding is cracked and missing in places, so needs to be redone properly to overcome the problem of leakage into the cellar.  In my experience, levering the grate where you have metal/metal and poor bedding is more likely to pull the whole lot out of(/with) the bedding.

So you may as well aim to do that to start with, as to do this particular job properly the whole of the grate/frame/bedding needs to be removed to see what is below, then put it all back together in a leak-free condition.  Carefully removing the bedding to free the frame also avoids some of the risk of it failing and lumps of bedding going down the drain into that unpleasant-looking water.

I don't think any grinding and chiselling is going to be needed - it appears the drain below is probably saltglaze, although it isn't clear from the picture whether it is a hopper or just a plain spigot.  Either should be more than large enough to accommodate a 110mm uPVC fitting - which can be bedded in well to keep the water in the drain and not the cellar.

Alternatively, if reusing the metal grate/frame is desirable, then working on it after it has been removed will be a lot easier and safer.   I wouldn't put an angle grinder anywhere near it in-situ - the risk of disc fracture or kickback is too great (no pun) because of the limited access where it is.