The Drains
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What is it with old houses and their drains? I’m sure I’m not the first proprietor of inter-war property to suggest the methods used by contemporaneous engineers for constructing this (what should have been) unfaltering subterranean appendage, has not met with universal success. Alas, the ensuing decades have shown that the tree root and the vitreous clay pipe, lead a somewhat less than symbiotic coexistence.
After operating the toilet flush one morning, the water level in the W.C. pan rose rapidly to the brim and remained there! Naively optimistic, I took out my waste pipe snake and pushed it through the W.C. pan trap, no help. I only succeeded in leaving unsightly grey scratches on the pan, it must be the drains!
Fifteen meters of drain rods could be fed via the rod access point at ground level into main straight drain run with ease, this must be clear! Conclusion: the underground branch pipe contains the blockage.
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I emptied the W.C. pan (which is on the first floor), removed it from the soil pipe and put down a dust sheet. After introducing about 3m of rod I hit a solid obstruction and no amount of rotating, gyrating or cursing produced progress.
At this point my previous objectivity began to falter, it’s just a 4 inch pipe that goes from the back of the toilet to the street, what can be complicated about that? Maybe I should call someone out? Maybe I should contact my home insurer first?....arrrgh.
A pause and a cup of tea reignited an ember of resolve. I decided I needed to access the drains further down!
The vertical soil pipe is located in a lean-to building at the side of the house, and obscured by clutter. After cleaning stuff away it became apparent I wasn’t the first to have encountered the present malfunction, someone in the past had cut into the cast iron soil pipe a few inches above ground level, and subsequently sealed the breach with a plastic strap-on boss.
This access point allowed enough force to be applied to the drain rods to force them past the bend at the base of the vertical soil drain and into the branch pipe.
Using a variety of rod end accessories, bleach and caustic soda I eventually managed to extract the offending obstruction via the access in the cast iron soil pipe. It appeared to consist of roots from a variety of shrubs and other nearby vegetation.
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