Hi all, My toilet is not draining properly.
I need to lift the associated drain cover in a utility room to check for blockages but the cover has never been up since the day it was fitted and looks jammed solid.
It is a concrete filled tray type with 4 tiny holes in the corners. I'm gonna try to hire something to lift it on saturday.
Has anyone got a link to what a drain cover lifter looks like? It wasn't greased when installed. Is it likely to be problematic to lift it?
Not at all...have you tried a few screwdrivers in two corners closest to each other? With a colleague, lever one side up and get the oppo to stick something underneath like a spade etc, then continue with the drivers etc until it's off.
Also, the more common causes of blockages are:
1) using kitchen roll instead of toilet roll - it doesn't break up. 2) 'flushable' baby wipes (kandoo etc) - see above. 3) 'flushable' brushes, the disposable use once variety, - see above. 4) kids flushing unbreakupable items such as dolls, pencils, pyjamas etc.
Don't think that would work - it weighs a ton and 'looks' stuck. And I don't want to damage any threads or whatever is in the holes.
blackbat,
It may well be screwed down to ensure an air-tight seal. Have a look in those 'tiny holes' and you may find the screw heads (brass or non-ferrous) - if they are there, simply unscrew them first and the cover will lift out.
Tips:
1 The 'concrete' is probably screed and will be no more than two inches thick - so fairly light. 2 Before you start, nip down to the local builders merchants (Jewsons) and buy yourself a couple of manhole lifting keys to suit for a couple of pounds.BRG
and 5) String tailed mice.
Have you tried a well aimed and fast poured bucket of water? That'll shift most things that should be down a toilet. If there is a risk that something is down there (see previously posted list for ideas) that shouldn't be get your hand in first and feel around the trap. Squeamish? You could use a rubber glove and some bleach in the water...
How far below the slow toilet is this inspection cover? If it's as jammed as you suggest it might be holding back a stack full of shitty water until you disturb it then whoosh.... 110mm dia pipe holds a lot of water, can't be arsed to do the maths but something of the order of a gallon or 5 litres per foot (30cm) I should think.
Dave,
Yes it is a lot of water! I was once involved in clearing a sewer where the poor old workmen had to dig down around four foot to find the pipe (below the blockage as we thought) break into the pipe, clear the blockage and build a manhole there (it was a hell of a long run).
We made a mistake in our calculations and broke the 6" sewer above the blockage, and within seconds, the poor beggers were up to their knees in some rather smelly stuff - yuk!
Took me days to get rid of the smell from the van after I had taken them back to the depot for a shower and then home for clean clothes (they did look rather fetching in nothing but new boilers suits and wellies though as I took 'em home). :-)
BRG
Just been there - just done it ! Mini digger to dig down to an S G bend with a liftable cover - it lifted all right and the hole filled up almost to road level with my family's deposits !! Probably pretty obvious but I cleared the drain with a hose attached to the drain rod with cable ties.
So there's now a hole extended to find the broken join and tomorrow's task is to sort that and also fit a rodding eye for that part of the drain run.
Sorry - that doesn't help the OP !
Rob
I've cleared any debris out of the holes with compressed air. All I can see is another threaded hole further inside. I guess there must be some key etc that fits those threads to allow lifting.
It's not the toilet, the drain for my kitchen sink also routes via this cover and that is also taking time to dissipate.
Great - you're supposed to be giving me encouragement :-)
i'm on drains too, ive got one that is quite blocked, takes a long time for water to seep through, what i've been doing is putting a hose and water tap in there dripping just enough to keep it topped up and looking at it every half an hour or so, after while i could open the tap a little more and more water was getting through, its slowly crumb by crumb unblocking itself...
also caustic soda dissolves shit and stuff doesnt it?
so my suggestion is to put a hose in there and drip in just as much water as will drain, and see if it clears itself before destroying pipes, some of the posts here are quite scary...
but if its the only loo youve got perhaps dig an earth toilet in the garden whilst you sort it?
g
Nah! If the cover is not screwed down (and from your previous reply it appears that way) then you can take some comfort in the fact that there is no pressure there - if it was, then the lid would be on the ceiling by now - and I would suggest the blockage is *before* the manhole.
Try putting a heavy screwdriver (after giving the manhole cover a sharp rap or two with a hammer shaft) between the lid and frame rebate and press down - you should see the cover give.
BRG
er, so why did you say?:
Give the full and correct story and you satnd a much better chance of getting accurate and sensible advice... Though that doesn't help a lot other than indicating the blockage is not likely to be in the U bend of the loo.
Does mean you'll have greasy and rotting vegitable matter along with shitty water to contend with. I'm not sure which is worse the shit or rotting vegitable matter, I think the later.
Just a warning before you go proding about willy nilly and flood your utility room. I think building regs say that inspection chamber covers inside buildings have to be screwed down and have proper seals, unlike those outside that just rest in the rim without seals. Open with caution and be prepared to shut it down again PDQ (if you can!) and have plan for when you can't, clear the floor, remove furniture etc...
The message from "BRG" contains these words:
Just to muddy the waters a little shouldn't manhole covers inside a house be screwed down as a matter of course?
Hmm, I'm considering putting that on a T shirt
Correct, but not all builders do that - or the odd D-I-Yer for that matter - or they simply 'forget' to put the screws in :-)
BRG
BlackBat -- first thing I would do is find the next drain down the line and look in there (if you can).
Funnily enough I TOO cleared a sewage drain last weekend(!) Luckily, ours goes into our neighbour's, which is in his garden, and the two join together and flow into a larger diameter drain.
I cleared ours (having unsuccessfully poked long things down from my end) by shoving a running hose pipe up my neighbour's end (he enjoyed it immensely): the flow of water flushed the blockage gradually, in a minute or two, followed by a veritable fountain of shit which had (as others have warned) backed up well beyond my blocked drain. Fortunately I was prepared for that (done this before), and was standing well back.
John
Good advice.
It is more likely to be outdoors in case of a little mess, if that also shows signs of blockage then move to the next one until you find one that is clear and you can then work on the thought that the blockage is between them.
I'd also be tempted to try rodding from the clear end.
If you find (and clear) a blockage keep an eye on things. If the point of blockage is outside and things start to slow again, it will probably be work getting a camera up to check for damage - you may have a tree root or slippage between pipes.
strong enough to take it, a whack with a sledge hammer at several points around the edge will often loosen it. Then get crow bars and chisels in and finally it will lift but it's best if you've got some manhole keys. I've seen professional sewer gangs whip up Victorian manhole covers in the street in no time with nothing fancier than this.
Don't hit it if it's a flimsy cast iron lid though. It'll break.
True, but to be fair my question was how to lift a stuck manhole cover, not locate a blockage.
I'm dreading an overflow situation, the utility room has washing machine, tumble dryer, freezer and fitted kitchen units. Not easily removed.
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