FIL passed way in January and I have been dealing with all the financial affairs for MIL.
He had a British Gas Homecare agreement that cost £850 pa.
Covered boiler service and call outs for heating electrics plumbing drains etc.
I remember last year him refusing to let me change a smoke alarm battery as he was covered for that!
So at renewal I explained to MIL her boiler was 2 years old, the guy who services mine will do it and lives local for any call outs. My cousin is a spark. So we’re didn’t renew.
Guess who’s is going down to MIL on Sat armed with pressure washer, overalls and drain clearing hoses….. blocked drain outside her kitchen window…..
I genuinely enjoy helping people but the older I get, the more I realise in doing so, you then just take the problem monkey and it’s now mine to solve.
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Maye you're problem will be easily solved - hope so - but if it isn't it might be worth checking if there is any cover on house insurance for "emergencies". I used them a bit back for a toilet blockage (in the drains) and while they were actually pretty hopeless they did come out quickly.
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>> Guess who’s is going down to MIL on Sat armed with pressure washer, overalls and
>> drain clearing hoses….. blocked drain outside her kitchen window…..
If what you are describing is a blocked gully, it may be quite simple to clear.
Roll your sleeves up.
Wear gloves if you want, but they will become sodden immediately.
Put your hand down in through the gully grating, see if you can reach round or into the bend at the bottom, it may well be blocked with something disgusting, try to pull it out, if you can, it may well be job done.
If it is not a gully with a grating, go to plan B.
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when i had similar, i bought some rubber gauntlets from local DIY store, which went almost to my armpits, and a rubber nose clip which you use for swimming.
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I have the gauntlets already as have had to do my dads drain a couple of times but the access for his is a lot shallower than this one. His also had obvious inspection points down his driveway which you could see the blockage clearing and flowing.
MILs. is much deeper it would appear and holding enough water that I can’t see where the branch off is. And definitely too deep for me to lie down and reach arm down with the hose to point in right direction.
Think I might need to make a contraption with a long thin bit of wood to find the branch and guide the hose in. Once in it will hopefully do its work of clearing.
Of course sometimes you are better clearing from the other end but there are two inspection grates in the driveway, will need to see which one is for this branch.
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Right, its on to Amazon, get yourself a set of drain cleaning rods for under 30 quid*, use those. If required tape your pressure washer nozzle to the end of the rods, and poke it down.
* you can spend 150 - 200 quid at screwfix for those, but the 30 quid ones are adequate for occasional light use, NEVER NEVER turn the rods anti clockwise, they unscrew and fall off in the drain.
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I have the Aldi drain clearing hose thing that usually works at my dads so that’s the starting point!!
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Be prepared to deal with a lump of congealed fat.
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HG drain unblocker
£5.00 approximately At Tesco
Pour some into kitchen sink drain.
Have a cup of tea & a Chocolate Biscuit
After 30 mins or so turn on the hot tap for a few minutes.
If it is still slow to drain away - try another dose of HG drain cleaner
A 2nd cup of tea and another biscuit.
Cheap, no effort, no dirty clothes etc etc and comparatively quick.
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The kitchen sink is draining fine. The outlet goes into the drain outside and the drain fills up and then pours over the driveway.
I looked after Zero’s comment and this seems a decent buy to have as back up in my man shed full of stuff that may never be used. Can’t get it till Sunday even on prime so will try hose first.
amzn.eu/d/1oWcFtd
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If your gullies are anything like mine, I wish you luck getting those round the bends.
Pressure washer with a drain clearing attachment (preferably with a forward facing jet, not just rearward) might just get round, but would probably need "arm down" assistance.
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>> Be prepared to deal with a lump of congealed fat.
My money is on a wet wipe.
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Na don’t think so. MIL lives on her own now and don’t think she uses such things.
The only thing that feeds this drain is kitchen sink, washing machine, and downpipe from roof.
Unless of course the blockage is further upstream at the pavement.
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I've used the HG products with success indoors but I don't think it would work outside.
This stuff gets some good reviews:
www.screwfix.com/p/scrubb-drain-shot-high-strength-drain-unblocker-1ltr/192yw?ref=SFAppShare
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I have a 25’ long drain running under the concrete floor to an inspection manhole in the integral garage. It has minimal fall and blocks every couple of years. I have cheap Screwfix rods and a drain jet for my Karcher. It usually clears after a couple of hours of work, what comes out are satisfying substantial lumps of hardish “soapy fat”. I suspect it’s mainly washing machine scum reacting with our hard water and fat traces even though we are careful not to get fat in the drain.
It did defeat me once when the final blockage seemed to lie quite near the sink but in a bit of pipe my kit wouldn’t quite reach. A drain company cleared it with a drain cleaning spring-type wire. My own DIY tool would clear it. They also did a free video of the drain back from the manhole to the kitchen and I could see that my own clearing efforts (up to the remaining blockage) had been successful.
I’ve never had any success with drain cleaning solutions. I even tried a test putting bits of the recovered lumps in jars of solutions and none had any effect whatsoever. No doubt it depends on the chemical make up of the lumps and the solutions.
Last edited by: martin aston on Fri 7 Nov 25 at 13:49
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Sod’s Law - smokie
