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Freeholder causing distress by inaction re drain blockage

2

Comments

  • MikeJXE
    MikeJXE Posts: 3,862 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Third Anniversary Name Dropper
    Why do you say you can't do it yourself ? You can get instructions on here 

  • diystarter7
    diystarter7 Posts: 5,202 Forumite
    1,000 Posts First Anniversary Name Dropper
    Hi OP

    Its not the 'freeholder' but the LL

    Anyways, contact environmental health  -  a mate of mine years ago living in EoT house had a shared drain with the fools next door - next doors crap went throught thegarden  and had a manhole on their drive

    Next door was putting nappies down the drain and it blocked on my mates drive area before getting to main sewer - in that instance environmental health sent someone around and ceared FoC - this was years ago in a london borough - i guess they all charge now but give them a call as its the best way forward imo.

    For the present forget the DiY and wasting your money

    Thanks



  • As mentioned, your contract is with the LL not the freeholder. So

    a) keep pressing the LL by the easiest method possible (email/text etc but also write to the LL formally at the address provided 'for serving notices'.

    Your letter should recap the date he problem started, date you first reported it, and dates of each reminder you sent. It should describe the problem and emphasis the health hazard. It  should also state that you are contacting Environmental Health, and point out that if EH conclude the property is uninhabitable either due to inability to use your toilet or because of the waste in the bath, the LL will need tore-house you till the problem is sorted.


    b) contact EH at the council and insist on a site visit/inspection.
  • Another option is to block the plug hole it is coming up through, say with a plunger or something very heavy on the plug.
  • Jon1969
    Jon1969 Posts: 12 Forumite
    10 Posts
    edited 9 February 2023 at 10:19AM
    Yes pretty clear it is in the main stack. I'd hate to spend any money myself on chemicals due to the freeholder being a something.  That rod sounds good though. If it were my responsibility, i would give that a go. I heard someone hitting the pipes below yesterday for a few minutes (its an empty unit below where the pipes come down openly)  hopefully was his bodge the builder.
  • https://www.homebargains.co.uk/products/30041-equip-9-metre-draining-rod-set.aspx

    That might go round shallow bends but certainly not a Ubend beneath a bath. You'd need an access point into the downpipe, and as OP is on the 1st (?) floor he'd also need a ladder outside (even assuming there IS an appropriate access point lower than roof height).

    A plumbers snake/drain coil might work.....

    https://www.screwfix.com/p/drain-coil-7-6m/186xg

    But be warned. Cause any additional damage, or if the snake breaks off and further blocks the downpipe, and the OP will be responsible.....


  • Jon1969
    Jon1969 Posts: 12 Forumite
    10 Posts
    edited 24 January at 5:59PM
    Another option is to block the plug hole it is coming up through, say with a plunger or something very heavy on the plug.
    I thought of this and tried just putting plug in and put a 10 kg weight on top...it still seeped through the space around the plug,

    With a proper seal, would the water then just rise up to affect the next door's ''inlets''. Or worse, could it cause pressure and damage/burst the pipes ?  
    I will keep pressure on with emails, as i have done so since it began. 
  • Jon1969
    Jon1969 Posts: 12 Forumite
    10 Posts
    edited 9 February 2023 at 3:28PM
    https://www.homebargains.co.uk/products/30041-equip-9-metre-draining-rod-set.aspx

    That might go round shallow bends but certainly not a Ubend beneath a bath. You'd need an access point into the downpipe, and as OP is on the 1st (?) floor he'd also need a ladder outside (even assuming there IS an appropriate access point lower than roof height).

    A plumbers snake/drain coil might work.....

    https://www.screwfix.com/p/drain-coil-7-6m/186xg

    But be warned. Cause any additional damage, or if the snake breaks off and further blocks the downpipe, and the OP will be responsible.....


    I am quite sure the blockage is at the drain outside 100 feet away, i can see its damp around the edge too.  The stack pipe goes through the first floor into an empty unit room, external next to the wall (i can see them through the glass door of the unit), going underneath that floor to outside drain on a forecourt.
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