Advice wanted - plumbing

Thoie

I have quite a bad waste pipe blockage in an apartment. I live there alone, and can guarantee that nothing untoward has been thrown down the toilets. This happened before, about a year ago, and I paid for a plumber to sort it out. He said at the time that if it happened again they'd need to put a camera down and see if there was any physical obstruction left over from building.

So it's happened again, and I've been talking to the builders. We've come to an agreement that if I get plumbers out with camera etc, then if there's proof of something wrong on their side they'll pay for the camera and clearance (and presumably fix the root cause), but that if there's no proof, I'll pay.

The total cost of this is going to be over €600 which I just don't have at the moment (but can borrow from friends/family). I'm 99% positive that this is not my fault, but I'm wondering what kind of thing the camera would pick up - for example if there was a washer (rubber seal for joining pipes) misaligned, would a camera see that?

The plumber is booked to come out tomorrow afternoon (but I can cancel up to 9:30am tomorrow). It's time to put my money where my mouth is, but as I'll have to borrow the cash if I'm wrong, I'm a bit nervous

This blockage has to be cleared tomorrow but there are two options:
1. Camera and clearance - cost in excess of €600
2. Clearance only - cost a bit less than €200 - but no proof if there was any building debris, so I'd just have to pay it myself.

So, two questions:
Would you risk the camera option it if you were in my position?
Does anyone have experience of these cameras in a blocked up drain with dirty waste, and if so, how much can they actually "see"?

All advice and opinions welcome!

How Strange

The camera survey is money well spent because it will establish where the fault is.

The survey will be saved to a cd and any faults/problems will be clearly visible.

I'd consider it best practice to have this done if there was a recurring problem with a waste pipe.

Thoie

How Strange wrote: »

The camera survey is money well spent because it will establish where the fault is.

The survey will be saved to a cd and any faults/problems will be clearly visible.

I'd consider it best practice to have this done if there was a recurring problem with a waste pipe.

Thanks - given that there's a large amount of solid waste in the system, will the camera be able to see the edges of the pipes? Do they clear the system first, then put the camera down? They're talking about using a jet clear - if they use the jet clear, would that dislodge builders debris (eg a piece of wood or a screwdriver, for example) before the camera goes in?

Sorry for all the questions, but it's a lot of money for me at the moment!

How Strange

Thoie wrote: »

Thanks - given that there's a large amount of solid waste in the system, will the camera be able to see the edges of the pipes? Do they clear the system first, then put the camera down? They're talking about using a jet clear - if they use the jet clear, would that dislodge builders debris (eg a piece of wood or a screwdriver, for example) before the camera goes in?
Sorry for all the questions, but it's a lot of money for me at the moment!

Yes, they will clear the pipe first because the camera will go from one end of the pipe to the other so they may start at the manhole and work up towards your apartment.

They should most probably see what the problem is. The only time they didn't when I used a survey was when the builder got in there first and removed the rubble or whatever that was causing the blockage.

Avns1s

It could be that there is no "rubble" etc and the builder could still be responsible. For example, if the pipe has a section that rises instead of falls, then grease will collect and solidify in this spot and cause a blockage.

I don't know if the camera will pick up wrong levels in a case like this.

Best of luck with it anyway.

Thoie

Avns1s wrote: »

It could be that there is no "rubble" etc and the builder could still be responsible. For example, if the pipe has a section that rises instead of falls, then grease will collect and solidify in this spot and cause a blockage.

I don't know if the camera will pick up wrong levels in a case like this.

Best of luck with it anyway.

Good thought - I have a spirit level and can get at most of the pipes (though longer arms would be of benefit ) - I might spot check them where I can reach them. Anyone know if there's a set drop waste pipes should have - eg 5 degrees, or 10 degrees or whatever?

Thoie

Well, I can't find my big spirit level (think I lent it to someone), but I found a small one on a tape measure (which is only about 2 inches long). Placing this at various points along the pipe I find that some places have a good dip in the right direction, some points are totally level, and one point has a slight dip in the wrong direction. Is that small a spirit level any use in this situation, or do I need to take sections of about a foot or so?

sandybeach

My daughter had a problem with plumbing last year when she moved into apartment,after a lot of phone calls and plumbers coming and going over weeks,managed eventually to get builder back and discovered that plumber who did plumbing in first place in apartments had shoved the waste pipe from the kitchen right through the sewerage pipe from the toilet instead of just joining into it which meant that toilet paper etc. could not get through, quite a big and dirty job to fix it !!!!!d'ont know if builder sacked that plumber !!!! should have, hope it wasnt same plumber who did your apartment ...hope gets sorted for you.

Thoie

sandybeach wrote: »

My daughter had a problem with plumbing last year when she moved into apartment,after a lot of phone calls and plumbers coming and going over weeks,managed eventually to get builder back and discovered that plumber who did plumbing in first place in apartments had shoved the waste pipe from the kitchen right through the sewerage pipe from the toilet instead of just joining into it which meant that toilet paper etc. could not get through, quite a big and dirty job to fix it !!!!!d'ont know if builder sacked that plumber !!!! should have, hope it wasnt same plumber who did your apartment ...hope gets sorted for you.

God, that's horrendous. The original plumbers who did my place were cowboys, but even they weren't that bad!

The blockage has been cleared, and the plumber recommends a camera. I'm still dithering about this and think getting the builders to check the pipe levels first would be a cheaper start. My friend says that if the plumber recommends it he must have a good reason and I should go with that. I feel that he has a vested interest in suggesting it.

What do other people think? Am I being too cynical?