Lining domestic foul drains

[Peter Brooks]

I've read an earlier thread on this. I've got a quote for digging out the drain and it is not cheap!

We used to have a big tree in the garden, we got rid of it before the roots damaged the foundations, but, it seems, not before the roots damaged the drain. Two years after the tree has gone we had a blocked drain. They used a powerful machine (roto-router, I think) to slice through the blockage, though they had to have two goes.

All seemed fine until now, three weeks later, there's another blockage. This cleared with repeated flushing, but the plumber, who provided the quote to upset the rest of my Friday, is of the opinion that their machine chopped out the root, but has now left a hole in the pipe, which will cause blocking again intermittently.

A poster said that big sewers can have plastic lining applied to deal with cracks and leaks. Why should this be so expensive for a domestic foul drain? What products exist? It would seem to me, in my simple minded way, that an inner skin of rubber could be introduced from the bottom and stuck to the walls removing the problem. Why is this so difficult?

Given the price, the only option that I see as realistic is to go out to buy a pick and spend the weekend digging the drain out myself. Much as I understand the benefit this will give me in terms of improved physique, I'm not that keen on the option.

What if I got liquid rubber and poured it down the pipe - it'd fill in the crack and then dry - would that work?

I suppose another alternative would be to get a wi-fi camera on a stick with a led attached and see if I can see exactly what the problem is. Then I could use modified keyhole surgery techniques to apply a rubber or silicon seal directly to the spot. Exactly how impractical is this?

I'm not a very practical sort, actually, though I did fit a new oven, hob and worktop with no electrical or handyman assistance this last week, something I'm ridiculously proud of, so maybe I'm ready for keyhole drain surgery.

[Andrew Mawson]

opinion

It may be more ecconomic to find where the blockage is, dig a 'sondage' and repair the pipe. I have a gizmo that emits a radio bleep that I can screw onto a normal set of drain rods and follow it on the surface to see where it is. Slip one into the pipe, follow it to the blockage, and start digging. Any decent contractor offering drain work should have a similar device or use the camera suggested in the post above.

AWEM

[The Natural Philosopher]

Oh fer heavens sake..how long is it?

Rod till it blocks, measure rod, hire a minidigger and rip that bit up, insert new section surrounded by gravel, cover it up and relax..

[Peter H.M.Brooks]

It's not that long, but half of it goes through the bathroom floor.

I'm not tat keen on taking a minidigger to the bathroom floor.

It's not blocked at the moment. I suppose that the advantage of your suggestion is that it will work best if deployed the next time it blocks

- which could be tomorrow or, more likely, Christmas Eve - so I have some time.

[Peter H.M.Brooks]

If I wanted to buy a camera for this, what sort of camera would it be and where would I get one?

[Tony Bryer]

Although it will cost you, I'd get a camera survey done first to establish exactly what the condition of the pipe.

[Andrew Mawson]

Do a search on 'drain camera' on eBay, but the proper ones are vastly expensive

AWEM

[Huge]

My local council will do drain surveys for GBP60. Not often you get to see a video of your own poo.

[Newshound]

I see CPC are doing a "bike camera" using SD which claims to be waterproof for about 60 notes. Not so convenient as diagnostic as camera and monitor, but less agro just to stick on the end of a set of rods.

[Simon]

This is my limited understanding from a single experience of a collapsed shared private 4" rainwater sewer: I think the approximate cost for installing a short section of liner might be in the region of £1000. This involves putting a resin-impregnated woven liner down the pipe, which is held in place by an inflatable bag until the resin sets. This isn't a DIY job. If the people digging are being payed by the hour or the pipe is deep, this solution is probably cheaper than digging.

I've seen a couple of camera surveys done, and the gear used is quite expensive. The cost of a survey seems to be £100 - £200. OTOH, I recently bought one of these

for garden monitoring, and I reckon that combined with a roll of duct tape and a set of drain rods, it would survive at least one trip down the drains provided the bends aren't too tight.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Ah..that changes things a little

Is the bathroom floor concrete?

I had assumed from your posts about tree roots that it was an underground section that was buggered, not an underfloor.

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