Toilet and Shower Blocked

B

BountyHunter

Registered User
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Hi Everyone,

I was having a shower last night and it was draining very slow, I decided to flush the toilet (not sure what I expected to happen to be honest) and the toilet water started to come up from the shower outlet. I reckon the downpipe is blocked, does anybody know if there's an easy way to unblock the downpipe? Or is this a job for a plumber?
Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

BountyHunter.
 
Re: Toilet and Shower Blocked!

We had the same problem on Christmas Day with all 3 toilet outlets blocked - the drain outside had a blockage.

We have manhole covers outside each bathroom (they're all linked) and lifted these until we found the one that was blocked.

We cleared out as much 'stuff' as we could by hand - lovely job just before your Christmas lunch - and then stuck the pressure washer down the drain and were lucky enough to be able to clear it.

The next step would have been to get drain rods from a neighbour - I think you can buy them from DIY stores also - and shove them down the drain.

After that we would have had to call for help ....
 
Re: Toilet and Shower Blocked!

Thanks for that Delgirl,

The manhole is clear, its definatley in the downpipe. Will I have to remove the toilet to use the drainrods? What I mean is will I be able to get drainrods down the toilet, around the sharp bends in the bottom of the toilet?

Thanks
 
Re: Toilet and Shower Blocked!

Why not try one of those Mr Muscle products that unblocks drains. It might do the trick.
 
If the drain cover is near the downpipe outlet you could try shoving a garden hose up the downpipe as whatever is blocking it would probably be easily dislodged ( usual culprit would be those toilet blocks which hang down into the toilet bowl edge) The hose should be stiff enough to go up the downpipe but flexible enough to go round bends etc and wont get jammed. It should be a simple operation without need for plumber intervention! If you can`t go upwards you could go down through the toilet with the hose, slightly more difficult because of the U bend at the toilet bowl.
 
It should be possible to rod back up the vertical soil waste stack from the nearest manhole as the bend at base of stack is meant to be a
24in radius type...A plumber will only use rods that are in good condition.

It is always possible that tighter bend was used. A plumber will not persist if rod doesn´t go easily round bend. Hopefully blockage is at bend at base of stack.
Tapping vertical stack and comparing sound to next doors may help to see if stack is full.

There may be an external access door on the external branch that will enable rodding back towards pan
If stack is external?

Removing pan? Pans are often tiled around and grouted firmly in position these days.

Aplumber can also use a worm and other simple gizmos to extract obstructions from beyond a pan these days. see relevant pic on plumbing page on plumbersdiary.com an advice site that I confess to being connected with.
 
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Thanks for the advise!

I've tried drain cleaner, no joy. I got a pipe cleaner from B&Q, its like a spring type thing which can go around bends, its approx 15foot long. I put this down the toilet and couldnt feel any blockage.
The soil pipe in internal by the way...
The only thing I did notice which I'm not sure is correct was that where the soil pipe comes out of the wall and into the drain, I noticed a smaller 2 inch white pipe in the middle. I'm sorry I'm not more descriptive but I'm not very good at this kinda thing. Should the smaller white pipe be there?
 
First thing plumber ould do is use 4in rubber plunger on rod to plunge in pan being carefull not to hit pan with brass nut.
Even plumber will get surprise if water starts shooting upshower waste as he expects blockage to be at back of pan and not beyond any other connections.

If stack is full he should be able to rod back towards and up stack from manhole. Sounds like job for the experts.
 
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