How to unblock a drain
If the worst comes to the worst and you discover that you have a blocked drain, depending on the severity of it you may be able to tackle the problem yourself and save on the delay and expense of a professional call-out. Our step by step guide will help you determine if it's a problem that you can solve:
Step 1
Lift the drain cover nearest the house to see if the chamber is full of water. You may need to use an implement such as a spade or crowbar to help you lift it. If the chamber is empty, the blockage is somewhere in the soil pipe from the house to the chamber. If there's water in the chamber the problem lies further along the pipework nearer the main sewer. Check the next chamber and so on, until you have isolated the problem area.
Step 2
Having identified where the problem area is, you then need to purchase a set of drain roads with screw and plunger ends that are available from most DIY and plumber merchants stores.
Step 3
Screw together two of the drain rods together with the plunger head and push the end into the opening towards the b,ockage. To help the rods progress through to pipe, rotate them slowly clockwise. Don't turn the rods anti-clockwise as this will cause them to unscrew and come apart.
Step 4
If you don't feel any resistance you need to keep adding extra rods until you feel the rod strike against the source of the blockage. When you feel this, you then need to move plunger quickly back and forth to try and dislodge the obstruction. If you have trouble clearing it, remove the rods and fit the screw attachment which should give you more purchase. Keep twisting and pushing the rods until you feel the obstruction give way and water flow through. If any debris floats to the surface remove it (although make sure you are wearing rubber gloves before you attempt this!!)
Step 5
Having cleared the debris, run a hot tap in the house to try and clean out any remaining obstruction.
Hopefully now your drain will be running clear, but if having tried the above you are still having problems, you will need to call in a professional.
