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Any plumbers on here that can give me some advice . The water from the shower tray hasn't been draining away properly for a few weeks and after trying  things like caustic soda and Mr Muscle I had to call a plumber. He used industrial unblocker  but it hasnt helped.
The problem has got worse,  the dishwasher isnt always draining away and is leaving stagnant water, and yesterday when the washing machine was on the water was coming up through the drain in the shower tray. It drained away but  my shower is covered in fluff. 

I called the plumber again and he said to get a jet wash or whatever they are called. He recommended someone who charges £140.
But i have no idea who this guy is, the plumber took 80 quid for putting some cleaner down the drain which didnt work , I dont want to throw more money down the drain. 
I need to get it fixed fairly fast though, I dont want to be in the shower and a rat pops up through the plughole , or worse still Mr Tidy’s morning jobby. 
Is the jet wash the best way to go and can anyone recommend anyone in the Renfrewshire area? 

Edited by TDYER63
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I had a similar problem last year. We had various different plumbers try various different unblocking methods and nothing worked. Eventually one told us it was a drainage issue as opposed to plumbing so we ended up putting in a claim through our insurance. 3 different companies come and tried loads of different things including putting a camera down the toilet plumbing to see if they could locate the blockage and excavating a 8 x 4 foot hole in my garden. Turns out the builder who had done our extension had  tipped sand down the external drain and it was stopping the water from draining effectively. Didn’t cost us much in the end as insurance covered it however it took about 3 months to get fixed and that’s a long time to be continually hoping your jobbies won’t resurface! 

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Thanks Fairbairn. I think it probably is a drainage problem , just don't know if it is drainage issue due to a blockage from a general build up of gunk, or if it something different like your situation . The plumber put the fear of god in me. I was of course joking about the jobbies coming up the plughole but he mentioned there is a lot of problems with vermin just now as there has been so little spare food on the streets that rats are getting desperate. He may be talking a load of shit but it does happen , rats were eating through the plumbing in the last place I worked. 
We got work done in the kitchen and plumbing was changed but that was 4 years ago and we havent had any issues till now so hopefully there are no problems arising from that.
Its typical , I only renewed my home insurance a few days ago and with a different company, if it is drainage and I need to claim they will think I am at it. I might just need to try the high power jet first of all and  hope it works. 

Like your picture of Ally btw 😍
 

 

 

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3 minutes ago, TDYER63 said:

Thanks Fairbairn. I think it probably is a drainage problem , just don't know if it is drainage issue due to a blockage from a general build up of gunk, or if it something different like your situation . The plumber put the fear of god in me. I was of course joking about the jobbies coming up the plughole but he mentioned there is a lot of problems with vermin just now as there has been so little spare food on the streets that rats are getting desperate. He may be talking a load of shit but it does happen , rats were eating through the plumbing in the last place I worked. 
We got work done in the kitchen and plumbing was changed but that was 4 years ago and we havent had any issues till now so hopefully there are no problems arising from that.
Its typical , I only renewed my home insurance a few days ago and with a different company, if it is drainage and I need to claim they will think I am at it. I might just need to try the high power jet first of all and  hope it works. 

Like your picture of Ally btw 😍
 

 

 

That's his plumber

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I've had a similarly disgusting problem in my Renfrewshire area.   Ally had nothing to do with it though.

You need a drain guy Tidy, not a plumber.   It took two or three attempts to unblock mine.   First was thwarted by drain guy's equipment being frozen (a couple of Januarys ago).

Next day, hosing upwards from near the street for hours loosened nothing but a pink plastic curler.   Definitely not mine so it must have been stuck up there somewhere for years.   The other +1 on this though was that his generator was screaming away all morning after the 'weans' next door had an all night party.   Result 😄

That well meaning guy had to give up, but recommended folk with a camera on a flexi-rod-thingy.   (I can't remember names, but fancy equipment means price goes up.)   They revealed a fork in the pipe-work, showing that previous skooshing was straight-on, but the house was forked off to the side, which was why nothing was getting un-bunged.   They could also see a lip though, so the drain from the house side was either badly built or damaged.

Finally a guy had to go up on the roof.   There's a vent there at the top of the drain system.   Once up, a quick skoosh (less than a second) and all was relieved.  Including the guy still possibly shitting himself on the roof.

 

...I did have a terrible image of the roof-skoosh backfiring though and the kitchen getting pebble-dashed, but   ...phew.

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I'm not a plumber but we've had trouble with underwater drainage for years; some of it to do with a network of underground culverts that run all over the place around here & some of it to do with cutting corners when the houses were built (mid-1970s).

The bad news is that we've had to have the whole road outside the house dug up on occasions, as have other houses on the street as well,  to get at the problem. The good news though was that Yorkshire Water accepted responsibility straight away (even though some of the issue undoubtedly was under our property) so we never had to pay out anything on getting it sorted.

If you think there's a chance it could be off or near your boundary then (assuming the legal framework is similar) get in touch with the equivalent & see what they say.

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9 hours ago, Grim Jim said:

I've had a similarly disgusting problem in my Renfrewshire area.   Ally had nothing to do with it though.

You need a drain guy Tidy, not a plumber.   It took two or three attempts to unblock mine.   First was thwarted by drain guy's equipment being frozen (a couple of Januarys ago).

Next day, hosing upwards from near the street for hours loosened nothing but a pink plastic curler.   Definitely not mine so it must have been stuck up there somewhere for years.   The other +1 on this though was that his generator was screaming away all morning after the 'weans' next door had an all night party.   Result 😄

That well meaning guy had to give up, but recommended folk with a camera on a flexi-rod-thingy.   (I can't remember names, but fancy equipment means price goes up.)   They revealed a fork in the pipe-work, showing that previous skooshing was straight-on, but the house was forked off to the side, which was why nothing was getting un-bunged.   They could also see a lip though, so the drain from the house side was either badly built or damaged.

Finally a guy had to go up on the roof.   There's a vent there at the top of the drain system.   Once up, a quick skoosh (less than a second) and all was relieved.  Including the guy still possibly shitting himself on the roof.

 

...I did have a terrible image of the roof-skoosh backfiring though and the kitchen getting pebble-dashed, but   ...phew.

😂😂 

Thanks everyone for your contributions and suggestions.  I think the camera thing is the way to go initially , to see what it turns up. This could be more worrying than a rat if its an old item of underwear. 
It may be pricey and messy but its still preferable to dysentery in a pandemic. 
 

 

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1 hour ago, TDYER63 said:

😂😂 

Thanks everyone for your contributions and suggestions.  I think the camera thing is the way to go initially , to see what it turns up. This could be more worrying than a rat if its an old item of underwear. 
It may be pricey and messy but its still preferable to dysentery in a pandemic. 
 

 

I'm confused now as to whether we're talking about the plumbing issue here or the old underwear? :blink:

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I had similiar problems and used a plumbers snake to sort it. (this was just a few months back)

Depends on where the problem is , it sounds like the water is going down then flowing back to the lowest level hence why it's coming up the shower which will be lower than the sink.

Eventually the blockage was not shifting so the council got somoene out with a pressure thingy (technical term) and cleared the blockage that way.

You can pick up a snake pretty cheap i'd go that route first before anything else.

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Is it a fairly new build house you live in? If so you should have a couple of manholes in your front garden that you can lift the covers off of, this will give you an idea of where the blockage is although I would have thought the plumber would have looked into this.

If one of these are blocked (one will be taking the water from the roof etc, and the other taking all the waste water), then it could be that the blockage is outwith your property.

If any of your neighbours is having drainage issues, it could point to there being an issue in the main sewer in the street that is causing everything to back up.

A camera will definitely be the way to determine what the issue is, and then maybe a jetter if needed.

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2 hours ago, Fairbairn said:

I'm confused now as to whether we're talking about the plumbing issue here or the old underwear? :blink:

It was of course the plumbing,  but the alternative makes me sound a bit more interesting ! 😁
 

1 hour ago, phart said:

I had similiar problems and used a plumbers snake to sort it. (this was just a few months back)

Depends on where the problem is , it sounds like the water is going down then flowing back to the lowest level hence why it's coming up the shower which will be lower than the sink.

Eventually the blockage was not shifting so the council got somoene out with a pressure thingy (technical term) and cleared the blockage that way.

You can pick up a snake pretty cheap i'd go that route first before anything else.

My husband tried to find the blockage before we called a plumber,  but he didnt have a plumbers snake just an old bit of wire he uses to try and solve all DIY jobs.. .

I have booked Dyno Rod but they cant come till Thursday so I will buy a snake and give it a try before then. Even if it doesnt work its worth having for any future problems. And for prodding Mr Tidy when I want my glass of wine replenished. 
 

1 hour ago, Lion Rampant said:

Is it a fairly new build house you live in? If so you should have a couple of manholes in your front garden that you can lift the covers off of, this will give you an idea of where the blockage is although I would have thought the plumber would have looked into this.

If one of these are blocked (one will be taking the water from the roof etc, and the other taking all the waste water), then it could be that the blockage is outwith your property.

If any of your neighbours is having drainage issues, it could point to there being an issue in the main sewer in the street that is causing everything to back up.

A camera will definitely be the way to determine what the issue is, and then maybe a jetter if needed.

The house is about 100 yrs old, I bought it new at that time..🙂

This is really helpful info thanks. I will get my husband to check  the manhole , he should know where it is as he spends most of his time down it hiding from me.
This information will make me sound a bit more knowledgeable when the guy comes on Thursday if we dont establish where the problem is before then. Drainage is a bit of a minefield. 

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3 hours ago, Fairbairn said:

I'm confused now as to whether we're talking about the plumbing issue here or the old underwear? :blink:

:lol:

I was trying to think of reasons why anybody would think about flushing their old underwear down the toilet. Clearly Tidy has done, otherwise she wouldn't have mentioned it.

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6 minutes ago, Orraloon said:

:lol:

I was trying to think of reasons why anybody would think about flushing their old underwear down the toilet. Clearly Tidy has done, otherwise she wouldn't have mentioned it.

😁 no , even we Paisley burds dont flush underwear down the toilet. We canny afford to. 
 I was thinking perhaps an old pair of knickers had escaped from the washing machine. 

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2 minutes ago, TDYER63 said:

😁 no , even we Paisley burds dont flush underwear down the toilet. We canny afford to. 
 I was thinking perhaps an old pair of knickers had escaped from the washing machine. 

Get away, what you doing washing an old pair of knickers? Something very fishy about this.

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7 minutes ago, TDYER63 said:

😁 no , even we Paisley burds dont flush underwear down the toilet. We canny afford to. 
 I was thinking perhaps an old pair of knickers had escaped from the washing machine. 

:lol:

So, when your drain man clears your blockage and comes to the door holding a pair of manky old drawers saying, "This is what choked your drain missus, how did they get doon there?" Are you really going to try to tell him "Oh, they must have escaped out of the washing machine, or maybe they just fell off when I went to the toilet and I didn't notice."?

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39 minutes ago, TDYER63 said:

It was of course the plumbing,  but the alternative makes me sound a bit more interesting ! 😁
 

My husband tried to find the blockage before we called a plumber,  but he didnt have a plumbers snake just an old bit of wire he uses to try and solve all DIY jobs.. .

I have booked Dyno Rod but they cant come till Thursday so I will buy a snake and give it a try before then. Even if it doesnt work its worth having for any future problems. And for prodding Mr Tidy when I want my glass of wine replenished. 
 

The house is about 100 yrs old, I bought it new at that time..🙂

This is really helpful info thanks. I will get my husband to check  the manhole , he should know where it is as he spends most of his time down it hiding from me.
This information will make me sound a bit more knowledgeable when the guy comes on Thursday if we dont establish where the problem is before then. Drainage is a bit of a minefield. 

With older houses it will almost certainly be a combined system (rainwater and foul water going into the same pipe) and then going into the sewer in the main road, so you may only have one manhole somewhere in the garden, or maybe you won't even have one.

It certainly sounds like most of the water is getting away, or you'd just have blocked sinks and toilets. If you can see any of the downpipes on the external walls you can maybe run a tap and see if you can hear the water trickling. If you can see any downpipes you may be able to gauge where the pipework is discharging and maybe see any water bubbling up which would indicate a break in a pipe somewhere.

Good luck!

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1 hour ago, Tiny Tim said:

Get away, what you doing washing an old pair of knickers? Something very fishy about this.

Nothing fishy about my knickers ya cheeky bassa. I keep a clean house. 

 

1 hour ago, Orraloon said:

:lol:

So, when your drain man clears your blockage and comes to the door holding a pair of manky old drawers saying, "This is what choked your drain missus, how did they get doon there?" Are you really going to try to tell him "Oh, they must have escaped out of the washing machine, or maybe they just fell off when I went to the toilet and I didn't notice."?

Fell off ?? Have you seen the size of my hips? 
So, where do all the odd socks go? I am certain more socks go in my machine than come out. 
 

1 hour ago, Orraloon said:

:lol:

So, when your drain man clears your blockage 

I wonder if he could do something for my constipation while he is here . Might get a wee discount . 

Right, I am away to see Farcity, that  kettle must be boiled by now

🏃‍♀️🏃‍♀️🏃‍♀️🏃‍♀️🏃‍♀️
 

 

 

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1 hour ago, Lion Rampant said:

With older houses it will almost certainly be a combined system (rainwater and foul water going into the same pipe) and then going into the sewer in the main road, so you may only have one manhole somewhere in the garden, or maybe you won't even have one.

It certainly sounds like most of the water is getting away, or you'd just have blocked sinks and toilets. If you can see any of the downpipes on the external walls you can maybe run a tap and see if you can hear the water trickling. If you can see any downpipes you may be able to gauge where the pipework is discharging and maybe see any water bubbling up which would indicate a break in a pipe somewhere.

Good luck!

Thanks again.
I tried to give you and a few others a reaction but  it says I have used them all up even though  I have only used two. If I had known I wouldnt have wasted one of them on Oralloon 🙄
 

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I have given you all reactions in appreciation of your help or humour. I sneaked in just there before the mods got out of bed and cut my allowance again. 
Just dont be helpful or funny today because I dont want to create a back log of these,  like my pipes  ! 

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Sigh. Dyno rod have now tried, and failed, to sort the problem. They didnt use the power jet thing or a camera, just a torch and a suction machine. It cleared the pipes till about 2 hours after they left. They are coming back on Monday.

There is more than a little similarity between this and the issues a few of you have had.
Mr Tidy has now dug up half the garden in a frenzy , and was threatening to pull a ‘down pipe’ off the wall to get a keek down , an action that would have no doubt ended in disaster. I have packed him off to B&Q to get stain for the decking, there is only so much trouble he can get into with that. 

Part 3 on Monday. 

 

 

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10 minutes ago, TDYER63 said:

Sigh. Dyno rod have now tried, and failed, to sort the problem. They didnt use the power jet thing or a camera, just a torch and a suction machine. It cleared the pipes till about 2 hours after they left. They are coming back on Monday.

There is more than a little similarity between this and the issues a few of you have had.
Mr Tidy has now dug up half the garden in a frenzy , and was threatening to pull a ‘down pipe’ off the wall to get a keek down , an action that would have no doubt ended in disaster. I have packed him off to B&Q to get stain for the decking, there is only so much trouble he can get into with that. 

Part 3 on Monday. 

 

 

Just reading this. My guess is it is clogged down at the T connection at where it connects to the main line, if they ran the snake pipe that far along.. I had that same problem in my house.. It was blocked 80 feet down the line and they used a force pump, it eventually let go after about 4 hours.. You should have it cleaned every 2 years for proper maintenance. Hope this helps...

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