Blocked drains

T

tosullivan

Registered User
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after the last few heavy downpours, I noticed my back garden is water logged due to the water coming from the downpipes from my roof pouring out into the garden. The drains that they are supposed to drain into seem blocked and can't handle the volume.

Is there anything I can do DIY to try free them up rather than have to pay a company to come out and have a look?
 
Have you opened the manhole to see if there is a block in there? Otherwise it might just be a build up of leaves etc and that should clear easily enough with a bit of stirring. If it is the manhole you can buy drain rods to try and push through the block, otherwise it's one of the companies.
 
what do you mean by manhole?

its just one of the holes to the side of the house that takes away the rain water from the roof area from the downpipe. They have a plastic black grate cover about 100mmx100mm covering them

I haven't looked in but after the rain yesterday and it stopped, it took a long time for the water level to go down....
 
It wouldn't (although might be) a manhole, look for the A.J., small black lid about a foot square, lift that & fire a few rods down. It might even be next doors line blocking up.
 
We have same problem. With all the rain the shore thing is full of water and not able to take any more gushing out of the downpipes. We removed lots of rotted leaves, etc. but its still blocked solid. We were looking at rods in Woodies yesterday, about 50 euro I think. Are they easy enough for the amateur like moi to use or should we call in someone?
 
€50 for rods? your being robbed. Should be about 20 quid with a few euro for the head section.
 
ok, I got a loan of a drain cleaning kit from someone that attaches to my pressure washer....gonna give it a go and see how far I get
 
to be honest, it could just be the construction of the junction between the downpipe and the gully.... do the downpipes have 'shoe' pieces and are they directed into the centre of the gully.... sometimes these are built wrong and are off centre... obviously if they are, then the water is not directed into the centre fo the gully and will flow over the side of the gully

some of the rain we have been having recently has been very heavy... the downpipes, gullies and storm line are only designed to take a certain loading, and may be overloaded during these flash storms.... i think the standard may be a 1 in 30 years storm at (possibly) 13mm per second...
 
where does the rain water actually go when it goes into the drain? I was told today that this water is channelled under the ground in piping and drained off into your back garden?
 
it depends on your development... some developments drain to a public strom water sewer (optimal) which eventually drain to an outfall like a stream or river or lake or sea...... or the other is to simply drain the strom water on your site to soakaways in your site.....

have any of your neighbours done work in their gardens and unearthed a large hole filled with rocks???
 
sydthebeat said:
have any of your neighbours done work in their gardens and unearthed a large hole filled with rocks???
Click to expand...
don't think so

there are builders in next door some some work who know the estate very well and did an extension for me a few yrs ago....

I'll ask them if they know the set up
 
I used the device that I connected to my pressure washer but looks like there is that much gunk down there, it is too slushy to shift with water pressure

looks like rubber glove time...any other suggestions?
 
same thing happened to me a few weeks ago. rubber gloves to remove most of the sludge im afraid and then a plunger for a final rinse.........Drains are clear and working now.
 
Exactly the same thing happened to me. It just a case of getting rubber gloves and reaching in to unblock the gunk. Should only take a couple of minutes but it is nasty work. I'd recommend investing in heavy duty gloves that extend to your shoulder - you can get them in Woodies.


My drains are running grand now - i'm just glad i didnt shell out for an expensive drain cleaning company
 
was thinking of getting the black plastic bag up to the shoulder and then the rubber gloves to the elbow on top of that

i'm cringing now at the thought of it
 
and when you do get it cleared flush it out with a bucket of water every couple of weeks.......
 
We had something similiar and borrowed rods and cleared as much as we could this way along with using the glove trick. Awful but worked short term. When the blockage came back we called in our local county council as it was more extreme, who put a camera down the drain (FOC) and they figured out the gas pipe was running through the drain and so the gas board had to dig out the road and fix this for us - FOC too. However, we still have some blockage which is due to rain but nothing near what we had originally.
 
Can anyone recommend a company (dublin 6 area) to clear a blocked cast iron downpipe? Not sure if a guttering company would cover this as the bottom of the pipe goes into a lump of concrete and then presumably the shore.

Any suggestions appreciated!
Circle
 
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