Blocked pipe... at our wits end

Eldi_Dos

@sarahTT
                 From what you describe sounds like that section of pipe has silted up over the years, gradually restricting the flow.

WIAWSNB

sarahTT said:

It's hard to take a good photo as it's 2m long and only 7/8 inches height difference.

And yes the pipe runs below three units till it reaches that bigger pipe. As to rerunning the pipe... it looks as if that would mean to dismantle almost the whole row of units (but I'm no expert). We live in that house for two decades now and never had that sort of problem before, so I'm hopeful that if it's really cleared fully (one way or another) we'll be fine for another 15 or 20 years... we can always hope

Yes, if it worked until now, there's no reason why it shouldn't continue to do so once cleaned.

The photos would be just of the undersink arrangement, and then where it joins the larger pipe. 

I don't anticipate any units would need removing, but a proper 'cure' would likely require pipe-sized holes drilling in each side towards the back!

But, well done, and since you can remove that 2m pipe for thorough cleaning, you should be good to go. Just don't pour cooked oil/grease down there, and fully use the 'strainer' in your waste plug - should be good for a decade! :-)

sarahTT

Eldi_Dos said:

@sarahTT
                 From what you describe sounds like that section of pipe has silted up over the years, gradually restricting the flow.

Yes, that's what we think as well. I think our previous attempts with the snake have just stirred the mess and *some* bits came out... but after a week or two it's all again back at the lowest point in the pipe and the thing is again almost blocked.

As I said, will report once we have a chance to get the snake in

@WIAWSNB We'll have some unrelated plumbing stuff to do next spring and we'll ask the guy what he thinks. If the cost is reasonable we might go for it. And if not, fingers crossed!

Gotta say, we knew before that the standard the house was built to (in 1992) was crap (though probably still better than what we've seen with a couple of friends and their new builds).

Again thanks all!