Blocked Sewer - Rod or Jet?

[Conor]

Our main foul run to the public sewer is blocked. I know exactly where and why. This is what I get for taking a shortcut!! (temporary vertical drop as the manhole for the intended backdrop is buried)

Anyway, It's about a 15m run from the upstream manhole to the point where I think it's blocked. It's completely blocked and the water level in the manhole is about 300mm higher than the crown of the pipe.

 

The downstream manhole is about 3m from the blockage, and I've a digger booked to make it accessible.

 

Never done this before, normal rodding kit enough or would jetting be a better option?

[jayc89]

I have a pet hate of rods, especially cheap ones from Toolstation etc. A section got detached 5m down our drains and we had to get someone in to jet them back out again.

 

So Jet every time for me, unless you have a decent set of rods. 

[Russell griffiths]

Rods will cost you £50

jetting will cost you whatever call out they charge £100 ????

£200????

i just like to do everything myself, I don’t trust anybody to do a decent job and I generally learn something doing the job. 

[PeterW]

You can buy a jetting kit for a Karcher jet wash and they are great bits of kit.

[MJNewton]

1 hour ago, Russell griffiths said:

i just like to do everything myself, I don’t trust anybody to do a decent job and I generally learn something doing the job. 

 

Yeah I'm exactly the same. I really do wonder how the word 'professional' ever became synonymous with 'good', 'quality' or whatever. Perhaps I'm just at the extreme end of the fussy spectrum but I seem to be always disappointed with at least something about the work when I have to get the pros in. That said, funnily enough the one guy I was 100% pleased with was the one who came out on Christmas Eve to unblock what we believed to be a shared drain, but turned out not to be but he unblocked it anyway and didn't charge us.

 

For wholly-owned blocked drains I'd invest in a drain cleaner/unblocker hose attachment for my pressure washer. Costs a fraction of getting someone round and are handy things to have around. Fewer risks and a bit easier to use than rods too.

 

[SteamyTea]

Have made my mind up who is coming around to sort me out.

 

   

 

Edited November 22, 2022 by SteamyTea

[saveasteading]

58 minutes ago, PeterW said:

Karcher jet wash and they are great bits of kit.

Yes I have one. It is low powered and slow, compared to what comes with a specialist's van, but that can be a good thing as old drains can be fragile. I think it requires one of the better karcher machined.

I always try rods first though as that usually does the job. But for perhaps a big build up, the jet can nibble away at it.

Also I have encountered very devious specialists (  big name) who made up all sorts of rubbish of what needed to be done....I said just rod here or go away...and it worked.

£300+ is a lot to pay for a good Karcher set, in hope that it does the trick but it is likely to get more use later.

Rods £29 at wickes, less 10% if trade.

[Conor]

Ok.... The job is done.

 

Really struggled with the rods as the blockage was SOLID and even though it was a 1200mm manhole, was tough getting the rods in. In hindsight a jet would have done a better job. Had to use  the rods with no attachment and punch through it.

 

Anyway.. the blockage was at the bodged backdrop as expected... But I pulled out chunks of rock and smashed pipe... I think what happened was a pipe was damaged at some point and not properly cleared out and the debris a cumulated at this one point and caused the blockage. Getting my civils mate back asap to sort out the manhole and do a proper backdrop arrangement.

 

But otherwise a nice day moving 100tonnes of clay 🤣

[saveasteading]

19 hours ago, Conor said:

bodged backdrop

Well done.

I'm guessing that it isn't a roddable backdrop, just a few bends to fiddle the slope.  Having recently made a few, I was surprised how easy it was in plastic. Therefore also surprised why it is so often bodged.

Edited November 27, 2022 by saveasteading

[Conor]

4 hours ago, saveasteading said:

Well done.

I'm guessing that it isn't a roddable backdrop, just a few bends to fiddle the slope.  Having recently made a few, I was surprised how easy it was in plastic. Therefore also surprised why it is so often bodged.

Bodged as in it was basically a vertical tee that was buried with no chamber. Forced out of circumstances as the manhole the pipe was meant to connect in to was under a 3m tall mound of clay. It's now replaced with another bodge backdrop, but with a proper 90⁰ rest bend and in an accessible chamber.