Blocked sewer drain

New Home

I've tried to unblock it myself using the rods (both with the plunger and the worm screw attachments. I've used 15 rods so far, pushing from the side of the house towards the front and the road, but it's still not shifting.

I live in a housing estate. My house is the last (or the first) of a block, it's downhill and the side of it is facing a road and the front of other houses. It possible that the sewer is going the other way, i.e. instead of going towards the road at the front of the house it's flowing to the side road? How would I find out? Also, would it make any sense to continue trying to unblock it with the remaining rods, or should I just give up and call in the experts?

How much (approximately) would it cost? Would anyone be able to recommend a company in Connacht?

Thanks.

K.Flyer

Do you have a manhole at the front of the house?

New Home

Not at the front, but there's two, maybe three? at the side. The nearest to the front seems to be the one for the water coming from the gutter, it's completely clear. Let's say it's shaped roughly like a cross - from the wall of the house, the "arm" going to the left is blocked off by something that feels like a plastic lid.
The other three arms are completely empty and clean.

The middle one manhole is the one I've been working from.

I think there's a third one near the back of the house (unless I'm getting mixed up with my old house...), but if it's there I haven't checked yet (stupid of me, TBH).

New Home

I checked. There are three manholes on the footpath. The first one near the front of the house is in line with the drain from the gutters. The second is the one directly opposite the large waste water pipe from the bathroom, and the last one is at the back corner of the house, but there are no exposed/external drains on that corner. It's lashing out, so I really don't feel like lifting manholes right now.

is_that_so

New Home wrote: »

I've tried to unblock it myself using the rods (both with the plunger and the worm screw attachments. I've used 15 rods so far, pushing from the side of the house towards the front and the road, but it's still not shifting.

I live in a housing estate. My house is the last (or the first) of a block, it's downhill and the side of it is facing a road and the front of other houses. It possible that the sewer is going the other way, i.e. instead of going towards the road at the front of the house it's flowing to the side road? How would I find out? Also, would it make any sense to continue trying to unblock it with the remaining rods, or should I just give up and call in the experts?

How much (approximately) would it cost? Would anyone be able to recommend a company in Connacht?

Thanks.

Can't help you on local people but we've had a guy do it for €80-€120 range. You can probably find someone to do it today but more expensive at weekends I reckon. Pumping would cost more. I'd also contact the council and see what they say. We've also had it all pumped out by them at no charge. BTW did a quick search for Galway and got Dynorod in the results.

New Home

Thanks is_that_so, at least that gives me an idea as to what to expect. I didn't know if I was looking at €50 or €350 or €500.

is_that_so

New Home wrote: »

Thanks is_that_so, at least that gives me an idea as to what to expect. I didn't know if I was looking at €50 or €350 or €500.

If it's an estate you may not be responsible so council might be worth a call. See if they have an emergency number. I'd be surprised if it's the higher two prices but until someone looks you won't know for certain. I'd still budget to €200, if the council won't do it, just in case.

Cheshire Cat

Don't know where you are exactly in Connacht, but we used am/pm drain cleaning (Galway);before and were happy with their work. As far as I remember we paid €80.

Doctors room ghost

Is the toilet backed up.
Is it a septic tank or a mains sewer.
If it’s a mains sewer in an estate it’s not your responsibility to unblock it unless it’s definitely on your property at the house end but if you’ve used 15 rods it’s not on your side surely.
Who looks after yere sewers

The Mulk

Ring Irish Water straight away, tell them your sewer is blocked out on the main road. Let them know that there is raw sewage coming up. Ask for the reference and for a call back as soon as the plan is in place.
I did this last year and was very happy with their response. They contacted Kildare CC for me and have kept a log of all the responses from the council and the jetting company

New Home

Doctors room ghost wrote: »

Is the toilet backed up.
Is it a septic tank or a mains sewer.
If it’s a mains sewer in an estate it’s not your responsibility to unblock it unless it’s definitely on your property at the house end but if you’ve used 15 rods it’s not on your side surely.
Who looks after yere sewers

See, if I used 15 rods but in the wrong direction they wouldn't have made a difference. I'm renting. It's not a septic tank. The toilet isn't backed up, but the downstairs one gurgles when water flows from the sinks and from the other toilets. I could call the landlord and let him sort it, but I figured I'd exhaust every other possibility first. And if I learn how to do it I don't need to rely on others to do it for me if I'm stuck and it's my own house.

The Mulk wrote: »

Ring Irish Water straight away, tell them your sewer is blocked out on the main road. Let them know that there is raw sewage coming up. Ask for the reference and for a call back as soon as the plan is in place.
I did this last year and was very happy with their response. They contacted Kildare CC for me and have kept a log of all the responses from the council and the jetting company

I looked at Irish Water's website, they say they only look after blockages on the road, and I don't honestly know where the blockage is.

The Mulk

New Home wrote: »

See, if I used 15 rods but in the wrong direction they wouldn't have made a difference. I'm renting. It's not a septic tank. The toilet isn't backed up, but the downstairs one gurgles when water flows from the sinks and from the other toilets. I could call the landlord and let him sort it, but I figured I'd exhaust every other possibility first. And if I learn how to do it I don't need to rely on others to do it for me if I'm stuck and it's my own house.



I looked at Irish Water's website, they say they only look after blockages on the road, and I don't honestly know where the blockage is.

Tell them it's clear from your side and you tried everything and can't clear it. Mine was blocked from the manhole on the road up to my garden AJ. They jetted it from my garden, then the man hole to the next man hole. Council paid for the jetting services

New Home

I rang Irish Water (I tried the Council first just to see if they had a mapping of the drainage system, but the person I was supposed to speak with wasn't there), and like you said, Mulk, they were very helpful.

I have to say, though..... at times, the Cork accent of the chap I spoke to could have done with subtitles.

lucast2007us

Did they say they would sort it for you? I'm interested cos I think I will have to get the same done myself

New Home

They asked me if the estate was managed by the Council or by a private company (don't have a clue). They asked me lots of pertinent questions, and said they'd send someone out to investigate/take care of it within 24 hours. They also said that if the estate is not managed by the Council, they wouldn't be able to do anything about it, and that I'd have to contact whoever maintains the estate to get it looked at (they said the Council would be able to tell me). They also said that if the blockage was on private property they wouldn't be able to do anything about it either, and that in that case I'd have to contact a private company to get it done. But they said I should know more after they've looked at it. So, let's see what happens tomorrow.

lucast2007us

Thanks for that keep us posted

Up Donegal

Are you sure there's no blockage between the u-bend in the toilet(s) and the first manhole which should be just the other side of the wall from the toilet(s)? Try using a plunger in the toilets. I saw someone using a mop instead of a plunger to clear a blockage in the u-bend and it sorted it. As in your situation, there was gurgling in the one toilet when the other was flushed.

New Home

Up Donegal wrote: »

Are you sure there's no blockage between the u-bend in the toilet(s) and the first manhole which should be just the other side of the wall from the toilet(s)? Try using a plunger in the toilets. I saw someone using a mop instead of a plunger to clear a blockage in the u-bend and it sorted it. As in your situation, there was gurgling in the one toilet when the other was flushed.

I'm positive. The manhole is full, and so is the drain pipe. It's not the toilet, it's way more "downstream", but thanks for the suggestion.

the_pen_turner

try it with nothing on the end of the rods. get that through first then the auger then the plunger.

are you sure there are no more manholes between this one and the mains even after the blockage

New Home

1. First thing I did.
2. Yes, at least not within the bounds of the property.

Funnily enough, the house that faces the front lert corner of my house also had problems with blocked sewers at least four times in the past 15 years, so there's probably a "weak spot" in the middle of the road, or that's what I'm guessing anyway.

The Mulk

New Home wrote: »

1. First thing I did.
2. Yes, at least not within the bounds of the property.

Funnily enough, the house that faces the front lert corner of my house also had problems with blocked sewers at least four times in the past 15 years, so there's probably a "weak spot" in the middle of the road, or that's what I'm guessing anyway.

I found the council lads very knowledgeable when they came out, they advised me to ring back Irish Water and ask for a CCTV survey. (I'm still waiting on this!). There was a lot of stones in the pipe. They also repaired the manhole surrounds and replaced the manhole covers.
They were back out again as the jetting seemed to push the blockage further 'downstream' and there was a blockage on the main road.
Hopefully they have some cash left in the budget:pac:

New Home

Well, no sign of anything having happened today. The sewers haven't drained, I got no phone call from Irish Water and there was no note put through the letterbox. I don't even know if they've come out to take a look or not. The chap I spoke to yesterday said it usually takes 24 hours, but I'll call them again in the morning to see if they've an update for me.

lucast2007us

I got guys to come out to me I rang them at 10am they were here at 1pm job was done in under 30 mins and very reasonable. Pm me if u want the number

New Home

Thanks lucast, I'll give Irish Water another chance in the morning, if they can't or aren't going to sort it out, I'll give you a shout.

New Home

So, an update - I rang Irish Water again, yesterday morning. They said they could see on their system that the Council had sent someone out to inspect the drains but that the Council were also going to send some to clear the block, but didn't have any more details re: the location of the blockage. Since the 24 hours turnaround had lapsed, Irish Water told me they were going to lodge a complaint to speed things up. Last night I got home and the drains seemed much better - it was too dark to inspect the manhole, but I flushed the loo and got no gurgling sounds, I managed to do three loads of laundry and no overflowing water anywhere, so I'm very happy. I'll ring them again today to see if they found out where the blockage was, and if it was indeed in "my" property I'll ask them how much I owe them.

Oh, and by the way, I was told by Irish Water to contact my Local Council's Planning Office who would be able to email me the plans with the layout of the sewers.


Thanks for your help, everyone.