Clearing a pipe blocked by silt

[MyNameIsUrl]

I have a nearly-horizontal pipe leading from a drainage grille in my drive which has become blocked by silt. Only rainwater goes down there, and I assume the pipe leads to a soakaway, probably at the side of the garage 10 metres away.

How can I suck the silt out? If I get a contractor do they use suction to extract the silt or simply try to push it further in?

[bungeejumper]

Is this an old property? Do you have rodding access to the upper end? And do you know pretty much where the exit pipe leaves the area on its way to the soakaway? (Although breaking into a deep-buried ceramic pipe to clear it is a lot of faff, so it's best avoided as long as possible. It's probably 15-18 inches down, for a skick-off.)

For the last year or so I've had a similar blockage on our late Victorian house, which I suspect has been caused by roots invading the pipe. and so far I've successfully put off the task of dealing with it. Unfortunately our pipe incorporates a Buchan trap (a glorified S-bend), which stops any attempt at rodding in its tracks, so my first foray has been to use a pressure hose into the top end of the pipe. Partially successful, too, but not entirely so, and it's also a summertime task because you get extremely wet as well as filthy.

A heavyweight chemical drain cleaner (i.e. a heavy acid) will get through biological obstacles such as invasive roots, but it's also likely to kill the surrounding vegetation, and the smell is appalling, and they're not supposed to sell it to ordinary punters anyway. (I'm in property management, so I'm allowed.)

A long length of really stiff cable, such as armoured cable, might get through the pipe where mains cable won't get far enough. You can only try successive blasts with a pressure hose and then rodding, and then more blasting, but I fear you might need Mr Expert in the end. Sorry.

BJ

[mc2fool]

Can you access the other end of the pipe? If not, I'd think that should be your first objective. Then you should be able to clear it out with one of these and a bit of elbow grease. https://www.wickes.co.uk/Wickes-Drain+Gutter-Cleaning-Kit-11-Piece-Kit/p/420003

(I'd try pulling the silt out with the drop scraper first, from both ends, rather than pushing it out with the plunger. At least until you can see through and can flush out the rest with lots of water and the plunger.)

[MyNameIsUrl]

Is this an old property? Do you have rodding access to the upper end? And do you know pretty much where the exit pipe leaves the area on its way to the soakaway?

Can you access the other end of the pipe?

The property is about 50 years old - we've been here about half that time and the pipe has never fully blocked before. The drain grate drops only a few inches into an elbow, so it's too tight to get rods down there but something more flexible might be persuaded. Although I don't know where the far end of the pipe is, I know which direction the pipe heads off and there is a tee into it from a trough in front of the garage doors. This too is full of silt.

I don't think there is a plug of silt blocking the end which can be pushed along out of the way - the pipe is almost horizontal and silt has settled out along its whole length. This is why I'm asking about whether it can be sucked out. Also why I'm asking if the professionals just try to push it in - which I don't think will work, there must be a barrow load down there. I know they will have power lances to blast blockages such as those from kitchens and toilets, but I don't know if power suction is possible.

The drop scraper mentioned by mc2fool looks good in principle but I'm not convinced the professionals would use such a meticulous and lengthy method, even if it would work round the elbow.

[mc2fool]

The drop scraper mentioned by mc2fool looks good in principle but I'm not convinced the professionals would use such a meticulous and lengthy method, even if it would work round the elbow.

Maybe not, but it was suggested as a DIY approach which could save you potentially £hundreds at the cost of £30 and some elbow grease on your part.

[DrFfybes]

First thing I'd do is clean the silt out of the feed into it, and try and keep that clear.

Then use a decent garden hose with nothing on the end, push it down as far as possible and use it to 'rod' the drain with the water flowing. The water will wash the silt back towards you as the hose works its way through, until it can go the other way.

Paul

[bungeejumper]

A 'worm' such as https://www.amazon.co.uk/Unblocker-Prof ... 0BHZ7GZ54/ (5 metres) would probably be in with a better chance than a set of rods. I've got both, and they both have their uses in different situations. Could be worth a punt for £13?

If there's a visible trough and a T junction in front of the garage, then that's your most obvious place to access it. Blast it, rod it, pump it, and then rinse and repeat.

One word of warning. If you're using even one of the "tamer" drain unblockers (HG, Mr Muscle etc), never mix them with bleach. They combine to give off some seriously unpleasant/dangerous gases. Take care.

BJ

[Dod101]

First thing I'd do is clean the silt out of the feed into it, and try and keep that clear.

Then use a decent garden hose with nothing on the end, push it down as far as possible and use it to 'rod' the drain with the water flowing. The water will wash the silt back towards you as the hose works its way through, until it can go the other way.

Paul

I have exactly the same problem but my blocked pipe is only about30 years old. I have tried pretty well everything except for a hose pipe which promises to be a filthy job. I have been told the only way to sort it out is by digging and I am not prepared to do that nor at the moment to get someone in to do it for me (even if I could find someone) And of course washing the silt into the soakaway promises to block the soakaway itself.

Dod

[pochisoldi]

I had a drain full of silt at my Mother's house. I used a ladle and stuck my arm down to remove the worst of it, then filled the gully with water to the brim. The level went down slowly and I kept topping up from a watering can. After a couple of minutes of watching the gradual reduction in level rapidly sped up as the flow of water cleared the remaining blockage.

Clearing silt is easy - it's the rotten organic material on top of the silt that's the hard bit...

[Dod101]

I had a drain full of silt at my Mother's house. I used a ladle and stuck my arm down to remove the worst of it, then filled the gully with water to the brim. The level went down slowly and I kept topping up from a watering can. After a couple of minutes of watching the gradual reduction in level rapidly sped up as the flow of water cleared the remaining blockage.

Clearing silt is easy - it's the rotten organic material on top of the silt that's the hard bit...

That is interesting and may encourage me again, thank you.

Dod

[stewamax]

Wardsflex are the people to go to for serious deblocking tools.
I have a lot of 4inch foul and storm drains and old 3inch land drains, and use both their Nuflex Lockfast poly rods and - what may be what OP needs - their 19mm coiled springs. Not cheap, but cheaper and quicker than a callout.
Usual disclaimers.

[DrFfybes]

I had a drain full of silt at my Mother's house. I used a ladle and stuck my arm down to remove the worst of it,

One tip if you can when doing this is to tip half a bucket of hot water in first. Makes the job a lot more pleasant when you have to keep plunging your hand in to remove the silt. And be prepared to find the odd frog, which is somewhat surprising and unpleasant.

Paul

[GoSeigen]

I had a drain full of silt at my Mother's house. I used a ladle and stuck my arm down to remove the worst of it,

One tip if you can when doing this is to tip half a bucket of hot water in first. Makes the job a lot more pleasant when you have to keep plunging your hand in to remove the silt. And be prepared to find the odd frog, which is somewhat surprising and unpleasant.

Paul

And add a fair amount of washing-up liquid to soak through, which might loosen it up considerably. That's how we free up blocked toilet soil pipes in this old building. Fairy + hot water.

GS

[bungeejumper]

That's how we free up blocked toilet soil pipes in this old building. Fairy + hot water.

Consolidated crap, wet wipes and the occasional recycled vindaloo. The fairies must be getting a bit fed up with what's become of their three wishes these days.

BJ

[pochisoldi]

The original post was about an external drain blocked by silt, not a soil pipe blocked by 'negligence'. If you want to talk about a pipe blocked by fat, nappies or wet wipes, you need to start another thread...

Moderator Message:
Agreed. Please stay on topic re the OP, or start another thread here or in an appropriate board. Thanks (chas49)

[servodude]

I've used the "hose" method mentioned - with a brass coupling/gland on the end of it you can get a satisfying thud (as feedback) as you ram it against the blockage. With the right amount of water going through the silt will eventually become slurry and should move, becoming flushable unless there's something serious down stream blocking stuff (bloody roots! )

the skinny snake/worm auger things can be pretty good if you've got the run up distance to keep them straight and drive them from a cordless drill
- the problem is that when doing this any kink very quickly becomes a bit of the snake you need to cut off, but until that happens it can be a rewarding way to clear drains

[Dod101]

I've used the "hose" method mentioned - with a brass coupling/gland on the end of it you can get a satisfying thud (as feedback) as you ram it against the blockage. With the right amount of water going through the silt will eventually become slurry and should move, becoming flushable unless there's something serious down stream blocking stuff (bloody roots! )

the skinny snake/worm auger things can be pretty good if you've got the run up distance to keep them straight and drive them from a cordless drill
- the problem is that when doing this any kink very quickly becomes a bit of the snake you need to cut off, but until that happens it can be a rewarding way to clear drains

Of course in pushing the silt downstream you are just postponing the problem because eventually the soakaway will get blocked up as well. Then you have a real problem. Nobody seems bothered about that.

Dod

[servodude]

I've used the "hose" method mentioned - with a brass coupling/gland on the end of it you can get a satisfying thud (as feedback) as you ram it against the blockage. With the right amount of water going through the silt will eventually become slurry and should move, becoming flushable unless there's something serious down stream blocking stuff (bloody roots! )

the skinny snake/worm auger things can be pretty good if you've got the run up distance to keep them straight and drive them from a cordless drill
- the problem is that when doing this any kink very quickly becomes a bit of the snake you need to cut off, but until that happens it can be a rewarding way to clear drains

Of course in pushing the silt downstream you are just postponing the problem because eventually the soakaway will get blocked up as well. Then you have a real problem. Nobody seems bothered about that.

Dod

That "should" be able to cope if it's fit for purpose - or at least might fall in to the category of "someone else's problem"