Caustic Soda?

[The Medway Handyman]

My daughter lives in a fairly new house which she shares with two (gay) blokes.

They have an en suite in their bedroom & she uses the adjacent bathroom - the WC's are more or less back to back - & both blocked (they have a downstairs cloakroom that is unaffected, discharges into a different place).

I've tried a drain snake thingy to no avail & rodding the drain using both a screw & the rubber plunger - cant reach any blockage with 8 x 1 m rods.

The bath, shower & wash basins are OK, so my guess is that the blockage is somewhere between the two WC's, probably at a bend or join.

I suggested they try caustic soda. One of the guys went to B&Q to be told they couldn't sell it anymore because it can be used to make bombs(?).

Search on B&Q's crap website doesn't show it, search only takes you to two overpriced drain cleaners, Wilkinsons list it but are out of stock, Homebase U/S - Focus do list it, but we don't have one nearby.

WTF is this 'can be used to make bombs' about?

I'm sure I bought some in B&Q a short while ago.

[NOSPAMnet]

Are they getting mixed up with Hydogen Peroxide or Sodium Chlorate ( Oh the fun we had with that when mere children )

[ARWadworth]

Try

and search for caustic soda bombs to see what it does.

Adam

[Tanner-'op]

Sawdust can make a right old explosion!

[tim.....]

It's just a stock excuse. You're lucky you didn't get told it's because of Data protection.

They probably don't stock it because it's a bit dangerous to handle and therefore not commercially sensible.

tim

[Steve Firth]

Stupidity on the part of B&Q.

It's still widely available, try somewhere like SCATS .

But if the blockage cannot be reached with drain rods, WTF makes you think sodium hydroxide will do the trick? NaOH has to reach the site of the blockage and if the liquid is not flowing at all in the drain then it will take forever to diffuse more than eight metres. Also it's going to take one sod of a lot of NaOH. If I've not managed to slip any zeroes, I make 8 metres of 100mm dia tube to have a volume of about 600 litres.

The concentration in the drain should be at least 1M (40g/litre) so that's 25kg of NaOH.

Do not, under any circumstances, add 25kg of caustic soda to a toilet bowl.

Even of what you are suggesting could be attempted using less caustic, the chances of it working are extremely low and then you're going to have to call a professional and explain to them that as well as unblocking a lavatory they have to do so working through a corrosive solution.

Since you've had a go and can't fix the problem yourself and since the caustic solution (sic) is no solution at all, it's time to give in an employ someone equipped to do the job properly.

[Arthur2]

I bought a plastic bottle of CS a few months ago from one of those 'discount-all-kinds-of-crap' shops. They don't care what they sell as long as it will fill shelf space. If they could get them for 25p a piece they would knock out hand grenades for a quid each.

Arthur

[Rod]

But Silicon Carbide isn't caustic. :-)

[John Rumm]

Saw some in Makro the other day...

(had the Bosch multi tool thingy for 54+VAT as well - alas no blades.)

[The Medway Handyman]

I rodded from the access hatch in the gardem. so I was going 8 metres towards the WC's.

The water/poo level drops overnight, so its not a complete blockage.

Or ask advice from someone who doesn't jump to incorrect solutions :-)

"The bath, shower & wash basins are OK, so my guess is that the blockage is somewhere between the two WC's, probably at a bend or join".

[Andy Dingley]

On 9 Aug, 21:11, "The Medway Handyman"

Generates hydrogen gas when mixed with aluminium foil (or the aluminium swarf they add to "drain cleaner" based on it.)

Great stuff for kitchens (fat buildup), but for toilets you're usually better with conc. sulphuric acid.

[Steve Firth]

Perhaps you could learn to give an appropriate description of the problem?

And? The above can be interpreted in many different ways and since you claimed to have both used a drain snake and a rod to dsitance of 8metres (without stating from where) then my interpretation made a damn sigght more sense than what you now state to be the problem.

Whatever, you're still a f****it.

May the caustic burn your eyes out rather than those of an innocent bystander.

[Andy Dingley]

On 9 Aug, 21:11, "The Medway Handyman"

PS - Makro (or any trade catering supplier) is cheapest. Gallon plastic jerricans of dry NaOH prills for only a handful of quid.

[Steve Firth]

they probably do sell it, but not to the loony with straws in his hair.

[Tim S]

The Medway Handyman coughed up some electrons that declared:

Righty ho. I had a similar blockage, with water levels dropping gradually. What I did was wait for the level to drop, add about 0.7kg (not full tub because that's all I had to hand) of granular caustic soda to the water in the pan. Remembering that the dissolution is *highly* exothermic and the stuff dissolves faster in hot water than cold, meaning be very careful.

This stuff can boil water explosively, in your face, if you are not careful. I discovered that the hard way when I was a teenager making up my own RonStrip substitute. Fortunately it didn't quite explode, but it got close and did boil.

Regarding the bog, to deal with the risk, I used a stick to stir in about a cupful at a time until dissolved. Take your time. The last cupful went in followed by a short flush. Left overnight. By morning the system was completely cleared.

Due to being a rented property, I made a courtesy call to the landlord who turned up with a mate the next day to check it over. He discovered a buried rodding point hiding under the flower bed with a 90degree bend. What we believe happened is something had wedged there, and the plug of fairly strong caustic with some undissolved granules had made it's way there overnight as the water seeped past and dealt with the blockage. Nothing to be seen in the rodding point and no problems since.

It's totally hit and miss but it's worth a try IMHO if it saves the callout of a drain company.

As to buying caustic - go to a proper hardware store or janitorial suppliers. B&Q are being, well, B&Q. It's still easily available.

Cheers

Tim

[Tanner-'op]

Have you tried taking one or both of the pans out and rodding from the open ends into the soil pipe?

BTW, there are specific drain cleaners that can be bought from a half-way decent builders merchants - but in this case, they will probably be next to useless, especially if the partial blockage is something rather solid and caught on a bend - or even rags, paper or sanitary towels snagged on a rough joint somewhere along the sewer (the ubiquitous toy dropped in pan by nipper can be excluded in this case). :-)

Also, if the water level drops, then there is a good probabilty that the solids are just backing up somewhere and will ultimately fill the pipe.

If all else fails, hire a drain jetting unit.

[Frank Erskine]

There were lots of 'bottles' of it the other day in Wilkinsons here (when I was looking for fabric dye).

My local ironmonger, too, seems to specialise in almost anything that's difficult to get elsewhere, such as real creosote, imperial-size drill bits, fork handles and odd-style curtain hooks.

I'm sure that it's pressure from 'Drongo' Brown and his cronies that tries to make it difficult to buy real chemicals.

:-)

[TLodge]

Why you need to mention that is beyond me - get a life you sad old man.

Save time and get someone who knows what they are doing - you don't seem to have much of a clue.

Really? They still sell weedkiller and I haven't noticed any ban on sugar or glycerine, potassium permanganate or fertiliser recently - have you?

You seem a bit thick. Why not try your web browser or get someone who can help you.

It doesn't suprise me that you can't remember what you did last week.

[The Medway Handyman]

There are two distinct types of people who participate in this group, those who have a genuine desire to exchange information, ideas & expertise - and those who wish to snipe at others and boast about how clever they are.

My description of the problem is entirely appropriate as per the example below.

Perhaps you could tell me how that could be interpreted differently? Nobody rods a drain from the WC end. Standard practice is to rod from the inspection cover at ground level, downstream of the blockage.

If I had rodded from the WC end I would have had to remove it whilst still full of sh1te. I could then have rodded to a point very close to the inspection cover - thus negating the reason for inspection covers.

Face it, you misread the post either deliberately or through ignorance, you just had to include the chemical name for caustic soda to show how clever you are, then you become abusive.

I think that speaks volumes about you.

[Steve Firth]

He just needs to employ a professional since he obviously hasn't got a clue.