Blocked toilet help

[Jim]

Our downstairs toilet is suffering from a blockage, after a couple of flushes the water level in the bowl rises and takes about 20mins to drain away.

I've pulled the loo out and the U-bend is clear, so went on to shoving a flexible spring thing down the soil pipe which gets stuck after about a metre or so. My problem is that the soil pipe bends as it enters the conrete floor and disappears under the house, I also suspect another bend down there somewhere from the feel of the springy thing. The vertical stack at the back of the house (which I assume it joins to) has no access point and the only manhole cover I can find is at the furtherest corner from the WC and rods won't reach !

Is there anything I can do from the WC end to try and shift the blockage?

Thanks

Jim

[The Medway Handyman]

Try caustic soda - the DIY sheds all sell it. Follow the instuctions! May/may not work depending in the blockage, but cheap & easy to try.

[meow2222]

Hot caustic is much more effective, but be real careful with it, it spits and eats eyeballs, so proper eyewear always.

NT

[The Natural Philosopher]

Its time ewe hd another 'boiling hot caustic soda' thread, innit?

empty as much of the bowl as you can by pushing the water past the U bend, and tip in a whole shitload of caustic soda, followed by a kettle of boiling water.

Yes it fizzes and spits a bit..but the point is to get hot caustic TO the blockage.

When the level subsides add another kettle of hot water.

Repeat as necessary.

This GENERALLY clears MOST blockages that aren't totally mechanical.

[Seasoned drain unblocker]

I find that an empty 2 or 3 litre lemonade-type plastic bottle makes an excellent disposable toilet plunger. Cut the bottom off and hold the neck/screw cap, then with plenty of water in the bowl/pipe make vigorous repeated plunging movements until the blockage suddenly goes whoosh. This isn't a five minute job, I have known it take an hour or two. As always, confidence, courage, tenacity and persistence is the key to success. Nose peg, mask, goggles, wellies and gloves should be worn as appropriate. This assumes that the material causing the blockage is shiftable and is not related to a drain collapse.

[spamlet]

In my experience, caustic soda can be as difficult to dissolve once it sticks together, as any other pipe blocking agent. If your pipes are plastic, and you put it in dry, it might even make enough heat to melt them...

I have found a garden hose to be the most useful thing for unblocking pipes, as the fairly rigid sort can be both a jet blaster and a scraper if you shove it back and forth enough. Obviously, if you have crammed the pipe with undissolved caustic, you might want to avoid the splashes - or in this case, the sh**!

Using the hose like this also gives you the option of attaching to the hot water tap to help melt any grease that might 'accidentally' have been poured down the kitchen plughole by lazy washers up - or that awful 'env friendly' virtually insoluble washing powder that sets solid in any horizontal ish outlets from washing machines... (This latter, a much better option than digging up the kitchen floor I find...)

S

[Jim]

Thanks to everyone that responded, a combination of caustic soda, hot water and vigorous plunging seem to have done the trick !!

Have to say the empty drinks bottle is an incredibly effective plunger and most definitely my favourite tip picked up from this group :)

Thanks again

Jim

[Mary Fisher]

But you have to drink the stuff in it first :-(

Mary

[Jim]

Yes, but after 2 litres of scrumpy you don't care about the smell, the suspicious matter in the water, the fact that you've decorated the bathroom with brown polka dots etc :)

Jim

[Dave Fawthrop]

|!Thanks to everyone that responded, a combination of caustic soda, hot water |!and vigorous plunging seem to have done the trick !! |! |!Have to say the empty drinks bottle is an incredibly effective plunger and |!most definitely my favourite tip picked up from this group :)

Bit late now, but I have been out enjoying the good weather. I am surprised that no body suggested a Plumbers Plunger. IME an essential DIY tool.

[Owain]

I thought scrumpy came in reused glass pop bottles, wrapped in sacking ;-)

Owain

[The Natural Philosopher]

I think you probably mean washing soda. Caustic soda dissolves in a flash on the merest contact with water.It is also very hard for it to get above the boiling point of water, since it is the reaction with water that heats it. If the pipes will take boiling water they will take caustic.

It is clear you have never done this yourself, and don't have a clue.

[Clive Mitchell]

In message , Seasoned drain unblocker writes

NO! Don't you realise how dangerous this is?

Here's video footage of a sewer as someone uses a plunger made from a 2 litre bottle of Diamond White after they have drunk the contents.

[Lurch]

On Mon, 16 Apr 2007 00:39:12 GMT, Clive Mitchell mused:

[Stuart Noble]

He's right about it not dissolving quickly though. It will form a lump if you just dump it in water

[meow2222]

mine always dissolves in hot water very vigorously. I'll say no more

NT

[The Natural Philosopher]

I think its the case that people are talking about washing soda, not caustic.

[Stuart Noble]

I used to dissolve 25kgs of caustic at a time and I can assure you that, without reasonable agitation, the pellets will form a lump, which dissolves much more slowly. You're lucky if it hasn't solidified in storage before you start

[Steve Firth]

No, they are correct if you pour sodium hydroxide pearls into cold water without agitation they will clump together and form a mass that takes a long time to dissolve.

Try it for yourself.

[F]

When this happened to our downstairs toilet it was a blockage in the manhole outside that was causing it. You might want to locate the manhole and have a look inside: ours was 5 feet deep and full to the top. A gentle (splashing isn't an option!) prodding and stirring with a long pole shifted it with a quite satisfying slurp!