Laughing like a drain

[williamwright]

Why is it that the drains always block in the middle of the night? Or to be accurate, why is it that I always make the discovery that they are blocked in the middle of the night? This time it was odd because it was a bog that has never, in 45 years, blocked before. I'm temperamentally unable to put jobs off until the next day, so I filled three mop buckets with hot water and tipped it down the three bogs. Each bog has a separate pipe to the first inspection cover in the yard. Two swallowed it quite well but the bog that appeared to be blocked would only take it slowly. So I repeated the treatment with that bog and it definitely helped. But I put my boots, dressing gown, and a cap lamp on and went out to the yard. The outlet to the next inspection cover was clear. The pipe from the blocked bog was dribbling quite well but there was obviously a reservoir of liquids somewhere along its length. The drain rods are in the shed but the hose is nearby, so I rammed as much hose up the pipe as I could, felt the bend, fiddled it round the bend and guessed it was up the stack as far as the blocked bog. Turned the water on and for a long time nothing happened except a gurgling. Nipped in to check the bog wasn't overflowing. Withdrew the pipe a bit at a time, pushing it in a bit and pulling it out a bit. Suddenly an object appeared. It was quite large. I lifted it out and continued. A lot of muck came down; an awful lot. I went in and tipped a mop bucket full of water down the relevant bog. It swallowed it quickly and gracefully. Back in the yard I sprayed water on the mystery object. Surprisingly I recognised it. It was a My Little Pony. One of my daughters was, as a small child, very keen on My Little Pony. She is now

2. Bill

[jon]

I hope you wash the little pony before you return it.

[nothanks]

Do you remember eating it?

[Andy Burns]

If I had two working bogs, I'd be perfectly happy to leave a third non-working one until the morning ...

[No Name]

Well it was clearly $£&@ting like a horse!

[Dave Liquorice]

I'm of the mind of "if something needs doing, do it" but even with no working bogs I'd not be paddling about in the middle of the night sorting it out. That's what the paddock is for or if really too cold and/or wet a bucket...

The exception being if the blockage was causing internal flooding when any waste water was discharged, that would meet the "if somthing needs doing" requirement.

[Dave Liquorice]

Surprisingly I

Bill has. I reckon it'll be an interesting conversation with daughter...

[Harry Bloomfield, Esq.]

williamwright explained on 15/10/2020 :

I am exactly the same, any failure and I'm on it. I only delay jobs which need a coat of thinking about, before I get stuck in.

In the mid 80's, all of our cast-iron fall pipes were changed for new plastic ones. In 2001, our upstairs bathroom began to back up, no flow at all to the man hole it was supposed to drain into. I eventually dislodged several pieces of broken cast-iron pipe, obviously left in there from the mid 80's.

[alan_m]

I share a sewerage outlet with two other neighbours. The last blockage appeared to have been caused by large piece of porcelain stuck in the pipe and only pushed to a manhole chamber with the use of drain rods. The piece was from a broken up toilet bowl but definitely not broken up within the last 20+ years.

[Dave Plowman (News]

I share with next door. The main drain runs from them to me in the back garden, then out to the street under my house - or rather through the cellar.

Next door were complaining of drain smells. I've got a pretty good idea why. The previous owners when modernising had the outside bog removed and fitted the boiler in there - gawd knows why. The plumbers were real bodgers. Knocked a hole through the communal cellar wall (can only guess why) which let rats into my house - while their kitchen wall was left open for ages waiting for patio doors. My guess is they didn't cap off the old drain from the outside bog properly. While bricking up the hole in the cellar I looked through and saw at least two joints in the new plumbing dripping.

DynaRod spent ages cleaning things. Odd, since nothing was blocked. And didn't sort the source of the smells. But then told next door the problem must be my side. Despite having the manholes here, front and back, opened up.

[Andy Burns]

Maybe it was another daughter who flushed her sister's toy?

[williamwright]

Now you come to mention it, no I don't. Odd.

Bill

[williamwright]

I just can't.

Bill

[The Natural Philosopher]

I've never herd it called that before, you nonce!

Its the inrush of blood...

[williamwright]

An enquiry along those lines is now in progress. Although it's a cold case I think the gin will talk.

Bill

[Bev]

Sounds like you need a laxative...

[fred]

Many years ago on moving a washing machine it transpired the outlet pipe had been blocked and the water was flowing on to the floor. Because the floor was covered in vinyl floor covering the water was flowing beneath this and disguising the fault. By he time it was discovered the floor was well rotted and dry rot had set in on the joists.

The cause of the blockage was very simple. When the house was being built a wood screw had fallen down the upright washing machine outlet pipe. Over the years the tiny fibres from the clothes being washed had got trapped on this screw and eventually built up enough to cause the blockage. Had to remove half the floor to effect a repair.