Blocked sewage pipe.

anonymous12124

What I thought was a relative small issue is now becoming a massive one for me.

Details:

- Our home appears to have no manhole or rodding point. Neighbours (we live in a semi) say they didn't have one either but got it put in when extension was done 20 years ago.

- Rain water and domestic waste are going into the same outlet, I always thought they were different (maybe that's just me being stupid).

- Local plumber has come out twice and not been able to unlock. 

- First day he tried basic methods because it was late in the day. Pulled off downstairs toilet as well.

- Second day brough this machine with very long rod, it went almost the full 50 ft, but couldn't get through the blockage.

- Plumber says 2 options, either dig up somewhere on the straight long part of the pipe and prod that way with the rod with powerful bit or it's a cracked pipe.

- We;ve established the rough vicinity of the blockage/crack. I am responsible for it not severn trent.

Questions. 

1 - Would a cracked underground sewage pipe be covered by home insurance?

2 - Would a manhole be possible to end without huge excavation?

newatc

Why not get the water company to investigate, our water company will not charge if you requesting assistance for first time. They do restrict the free time to 30 minutes ( I think) but they should be able to tell you what needs to be done by then. You could ask them for a quotation for them to do it (assuming not fixed in 30 minutes)  but they may be expensive.

kev1744

i would second getting severn trent out. i had similar issue, they came out said issue may be my responsibility but as they were not one of the units that could take payment they would sort it for free.turns out they rarely actually take payment anyway.
even if they did charge you chances are its going to be about same as an independent doing it

anonymous12124

Thanks guys.

Called Severn Trent last night, they said they could get someone out within 7 days. I tried to convince them to send someone sooner but was unsuccessful.

7 days is a long time so I went ahread and booked some local drain unblocking experts who have very high feedback on google.

The smell is truly horrendous and it's getting to the point when my wife and kids almost vomited. So I'll see what these experts say. They're coming out soon so let's see.

Just to add, I'm keeping the Severn Trent callout in place just in case this other compare can;t fix the issue. I'll of course cancel if they do fix it.

anonymous12124

Update:

Expert plumbers also with the most powerful tools imageinable couldn't make a dent and the pipe they were using went on and on and on. Absolutely awful mess all over my back garden patio and inside near the utility.

So it turns out most of our road don't have a manhole or rodding eye. My neighbours (not joined) on the other side have a single concrete slab in their garden. Their builder says it's the manhole and serves 4 homes. If that is the case then Severn Trent have some explaining to do because they didn't tell me this and the manhole is not easily accessible.

I escalated with Severn Trent, have no other choice and they'll be coming out first thing tomorrow. I have ust spent an hour trying to clean up the most horrific mess possible with the knowledge tomorrow it could just end up coming back or worse.

One thing is for sure. Our flooring is getting ripped up and thrown away - when this issue is finally resolved. I'll have to leave the area untouched for a month hoping that fresh air may rid us of that smell.

martindow

anonymous12124 said:

Update:

Expert plumbers also with the most powerful tools imageinable couldn't make a dent and the pipe they were using went on and on and on. Absolutely awful mess all over my back garden patio and inside near the utility.

So it turns out most of our road don't have a manhole or rodding eye. My neighbours (not joined) on the other side have a single concrete slab in their garden. Their builder says it's the manhole and serves 4 homes. If that is the case then Severn Trent have some explaining to do because they didn't tell me this and the manhole is not easily accessible.

I escalated with Severn Trent, have no other choice and they'll be coming out first thing tomorrow. I have ust spent an hour trying to clean up the most horrific mess possible with the knowledge tomorrow it could just end up coming back or worse.

One thing is for sure. Our flooring is getting ripped up and thrown away - when this issue is finally resolved. I'll have to leave the area untouched for a month hoping that fresh air may rid us of that smell.

I hope that you sort it out soon.  I would think that the issue with inadequate manholes is the fault of the builder rather than the water company.  

It sounds as if you have a sewage system shared with your neighbours.  If this is the case won't the water company sort out the blockage free of charge?

anonymous12124

Update:

Issue was finally resolved by Severn Trent. According to their checks the blockage was at least 8 metres outside my boundary. From the drain they entered to the front edge of my house is approximately 16metres taking into account pipe bends. They used 28 metres of hose before they start to hit some blockage. 

The comment from the Severn Trent engineer was that the previous plumbers were not persistent enough. I wonder if it's because Severn Trent have more powerful tools available to them. It actually looked like the drain experts had a more powerful hose.

So a very harsh lesson learnt by me, even though people (not here of course) were telling me it was my issue - it wasn't.  They also said had I mentioned internal flooding they'd have come out within 4 hours. But I told them that wasn't the case until plumber 2 had visited.

Anyways lesson learnt - problem solved and now on to the horrendous job of cleaning up.

Eldi_Dos

Once you have done your initial clean it may be worth getting a bag or two of absorbent spill granules to place on floor and lift any moisture in flooring.