Another drain query - long story

Anniebell

Hi all,

Have searched the forum to see if anyone posted anything similar but couldn't find anything. Apologies if this has already been asked.

Bit of background, living in a standard three-bed semi-detached for 6 years now & the drain in our back garden has been blocked at least 7 times in this period, the last two times being two weeks ago & in December. The house is about 12-3 years old. Normally the blockages don't happen so close together. The first couple of times it was blocked we called the Water & Drainage Dept. of SDCC who came out & unblocked the drain by accessing it in our back garden, no charge, no problem. After the fourth time the guy suggested if it happened again we'd need to organise to get a camera down to see if there was something down there causing the blockage. We were told the equipment for this was being used in Belfast at the time but would be back in Dublin & they'd be in touch to organise a suitable day & time to come out.

Fast forward to about 18 months ago, drain blocked again, we called SDCC who said oh no we don't deal with that, if the drain in the street is clear you need to call out one of the drain companies to clear it. First we'd heard of it so we mentioned about the camera they'd suggested last time. Oh no we don't do that anymore either but the drain companies all do it for a fee so ring around. We rang a company to come out & clear it & they did which was fine. Last December drain got blocked again, guy who came out to unblock it mentioned that the bend in the drain was very narrow (don’t know technical term – sorry!) & it would be possible to fit a new part to widen the bend thus lessening the chances of a blockage again. As a few people mentioned, baby wipes / face wipes were found, we never flush anything that’s not toilet paper given the problems we’ve had for years. We called into the next-door neighbours & told them the story and asked that they not flush baby / face wipes & had a long chat with them about the whole saga. They gave us half the cost of the call-out fee which was very generous of them.

We had another blockage again a few weeks ago & I’ve now had enough so where do we go from here? The guy who came out again mentioned getting the camera put down but this costs a lot of money which is thin on the ground at the moment. Another thing that’s bothering us hugely is the fact that when the drain is unblocked it’s leaving a lot of sewage/water in the garden. At the moment our garden is just stones but we want to get it sorted as we have a three-year old daughter who doesn’t understand why she can’t go out the back and play. God only knows how unsanitary it is, even though we’ve bleached the area where the drain is. If we get the garden sorted & it blocks again we’ll destroy it & we don’t want that.

Does anyone know, if we get the camera done or if we get the drainpipe widened, can we claim this on the house insurance or what? The Council basically don’t want anything to do with the situation so we’re stuck as to where to go from here as we’re at the end of our rope with the blockages and at €120 a pop to get it cleared.

Thanks for reading and apologies for the length. Any advice at all would be greatly appreciated.

Anniebell

tipperary

Hi there.

am I right in deducing that your neighbours drain flows through your property and is blocking your drains? I presume the guy was talking about fitting a long radius bend. This basically means the bend is not as tight, and stuff should flow down a bit easier. The effectiveness of fittting one of these will depend on the quality of the other drains (will wipes then go all the way to the council drain or will they just get snagged somewhere else?).

If doing anything I would suggest building a chamber at the location of the bend. This would make access much easier and should allow any future blockages to be cleared with sewer rods.

Anniebell

Hi Tipperary,

Thanks for your reply. As far as we know, yes, our next-door neighbours' drain flows into ours & then from ours out to the main drain in the road. The long radius bend sounds like what he was talking about alright, he never mentioned what it was called.

To be honest, if the main drain blocks, it's the SDCC's responsibility to clear it & it wouldn't cost us anything. It's so frustrating to think we're forking out to clear a problem that shouldn't be there in the first place. Why should we pay to get the bend altered, do you get me? This is why I was wondering where to go from here in terms of getting SDCC involved again or going through house insurance or what. As you can tell my head is melted thinking about it!

How much does one of the chamber things cost to get put in would you know? We're fed up paying out but if it would solve things then we might just suck it up!!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!! Sorry!

tipperary wrote: »

Hi there.

am I right in deducing that your neighbours drain flows through your property and is blocking your drains? I presume the guy was talking about fitting a long radius bend. This basically means the bend is not as tight, and stuff should flow down a bit easier. The effectiveness of fittting one of these will depend on the quality of the other drains (will wipes then go all the way to the council drain or will they just get snagged somewhere else?).

If doing anything I would suggest building a chamber at the location of the bend. This would make access much easier and should allow any future blockages to be cleared with sewer rods.

antoinolachtnai

I don't see how you could have a claim on your insurance. There was no 'event'. It is something that preexisted in the building.

Can't see SDCC getting involved, unless the situation becomes quite extreme, and you fail to keep the drain clear. If that happens, and your neighbours complain, SDCC can issue you an order requiring you to fix it. If you don't fix it, they will potentially fix it, and then send you and your neighbour the bill for the cost.

So the best way forward is for you and your neighbour to work together and split the costs of doing the repair.

It is really hard to say how much putting in the bend and the chamber would cost. It's mostly a matter of labour and access to the site. If it is under soil rather than concrete, and you could dig it out yourself, it might cost as little as a few hundred. You should certainly do it before you do any big landscaping.

If you get some rods, you might be able to clear it out yourself when it blocks.

You and your neighbour should certainly get a survey done.

CBYR1983

Are you a long distance from the main drain? In my estate people have had similar issues but they are furthest from the main drain. The line is clear further down, so hard to identify location of their blockage. Strangely enough, they did a lot of renovation work around the time the problems started. Are you happy no extensions, etc. are contributing? Age of house would suggest not though. That's rotten luck.

Anniebell

Hi all,
Just thought I'd post an update on my situation & see if anyone has had anything similar, although I'd imagine not!

Got a CCTV done of the drain which lasted all of 10 seconds as about 5 inches from the drain in the driveway there is a blockage and a crack in the pipe due to the "Earthing" rod which is coming down from the house and was pushed straight through the pipe running from the main drain in the road through to our back garden. Obviously we need to get this sorted ASAP as it's dangerous so at the moment we're getting a quote done up for us & house insurance won't cover anything as it's a pre-existing condition!

Is there any point trying to get in touch with the builders of these houses?! The house is 12-13 years old at this stage so who knows if they're still in business!

The saga continues! Thanks again for all your advice, the CCTV camera didn't even get as far as the bend in the drain so who knows what else is going on after the rod is sorted!!

antoinolachtnai

Great to hear you have found out what is wrong. It's just one of those things, there's probably nothing else wrong with your drains.

I wouldn't waste too much time looking for the builder. He is under no legal obligation to fix it. Just get a few contractors to give you quotes. It's a good time to get a contractor.

Also, your neighbours who feed into the drain are probably obliged to pitch in.

It really doesn't seem that bad to me. You know what is wrong, and it sounds like it is at a reasonably accessible spot.

Be sure to speak to an electrician about re-siting the earth rod.