blocked pipe - who/what do i need?

Brie

ok so I know it's plumbing but is this a plumber's job?

Our kitchen sink gets plugged occasionally. We try to be very good about no grease down the drain but obviously there is inevitably some. Probably not helped by coffee grounds. We've not dropped any metal skewers down it but something is causing problems.

OH dumped a load of drain unblocker in when the sink was draining very slowly last night. This morning there was still some water in the sink. A lot of hefty work with a plunger helped the water drain. OH put another load of unblocker down and there was a fair bit of fizzing happening. After an hour or so he poured boiling water into the sink and again it was blocked. More plunger work and the sink drained.

At this point I spotted that the water that was draining away was overflowing outside on to the patio. Now as far as I know the water from the sink and dishwasher are the last things in a series that drain into this outside pipe. There's also a down pipe from the gutters that flow that way, then there's the washing machine, then the drains of various sorts from the washrooms/toilets/shower. The water overflowing is before the washing machine/washrooms.

So how does one get this sorted? Is it a job for a plumber? Or do we simply need some sort of drain rodding service?

And for any of this work being done will the water need to be turned off? This is tricky as there is no stopcock on the property. I think there is one at the meter that is in the middle of the road.

kipsterno1

First off do you have an access point / drain cover down stream from where you saw the water overflowing. If you can lift that to see if it's full / blocked that would be the starting point.

Brie

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82027751#Comment_82027751

that might be the one in the middle of the road where our meter is. or the open drain on the other road. Either way I'm not able to open either of them.

frankly I think that part of the problem is the amount of water trying to drain away around whatever the blockage is. Lots of rain plus 2 long showers has overwhelmed things. There is a drain in the road which is completely clogged with the seed pods from a huge tree in front of our neighbour's house so that doesn't help.

kipsterno1

I was hoping you or your neighbour had a drain cover on your property. If you did you could work along the flow iof the drain to see where there could be a blockage.

stuart45

Does the sink waste pipe go into a gully outside the kitchen?

mta999

To answer your question it seems like you don't need a plumber you need a drain person

Slinky

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82027768#Comment_82027768

The drains you describe in the road sound like surface water drains, not the sort of thing your home plumbing would/should be connected to.

Brie

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82027938#Comment_82027938

there's a pipe to the outside which can be removed and that is directed down into an open drain. So quite possible that stones, leaves, whatever can go down there as well.

and a possibly unrelated problem - our water butt is overflowing. it may be that it's not set up quite right or that the down pipe from the gutter is clogged lower down.

stuart45

If you've got a pipe running into an open gully, it sounds like there's a blockage in the trap under the sink, as well as a blockage in the gully.

Brie

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82028983#Comment_82028983

so best to get a plumber out first?? things are still draining but it is slow still. coffee grounds are now being added to the borders as supposedly good (i.e. bad) for slugs.

stuart45

I''d get the trap under the sink cleared, and the gully as well. It's quite easy to DIY normally.