Outside drains not draining

dendof

My outside drains are not draining. This includes the kitchen sink outside, washing machine in utilty, and toilet/bath.
So if any of these are used, the drain outside overflows. Also water seeps up through the plastic manholes located a few feet away.
Is there anything I can do myself eg try sewer rods, before I need to contact someone?
There is also a large steel manhole cover in front garden, I guess I could check in this if I had right tools to open.
I first noticed it when dishwasher switched off as it was not draining but I guess this is just caused by the general drains not draining problem.

ronn

A flat head screwdriver or a spade will open the man hole cover and have a look there,

dendof

Manholes looked to need a key to unlock 4 corners but will check again later.

So have opened them and water aber 3/4 way up. Nothing obvious blocking but I hadn;t time to throw on the marigolds and have a root!
Is that my best bet to do next?

monseiur

There's obviously a blockage down the line, open the next manhole (if there's one) if not get yourself a good set of sewer rods - just remember to keep turning rods clockwise all the time ! Use rods first without a plunger on top to suss out where and what's causing the blockage. If there's a second manhole down the line and the blockage is between the two work the rods the other direction. Enjoy !

BredaD

Sympathy galore. Happened me a few weeks ago. I got "drain doctor" to sort it out. Very efficient and solved the problem which was completely my own fault! I'd flushed disposable bathroom wipes down the toilet and they clogged up everything. Horrific mess! I wouldn't have been able to fix it myself! Cost about €180. Hope it's sorted soon.

DublinDilbert

How old is the house? Probably the first u bend blocked, which should be under the plastic cover that is over flowing.

Probably a mixture of fat and washing powder, sitting in the u bend. Some hardware stores sell a long scooper to scoop this out, anything would work really, even something to disturb it. Always the black sack on your arm option :-)

dendof

So just to update this, got drain rods (cheap set in Argos €17 vs Woodies €52!). Put on plunger bit, marigolds, and got to work.
With a bit of graft, eventually figured out where blockage was. Managed to free it and was quite satisfying to see all the waste drain away! Plus the expense I saved without having to get a callout!