Yukky stuff

[Barrykgerdes]

I have just had a lovely time clearing a blocked drain. The Sink I thought drained via another path but testing showed it was the kitchen sink. At any rate I took the cover off and baled it and the gunk out Yuk! I found the inlet and outlet and the out let was sure blocked. I cleared as much as possible by hand Yuk! Yuk! but it was still blocked.

I thought maybe a plunger might free it But I dd not have one. Then I thought Maybe I could make one. I grabbed a pice of timber and cut a couple of squares glued them together, put a 1/2 hole in the middle, put a two ft length of threaded rod in it and put the lot in the lathe an turned up a disk the right size.

I took my Plunger round to the drain and pushed it down till I felt some resistance then gave a great push, the plunger went down another ft with a great gurgling noise. Pulled the plunger out and the backed up dirty dish water started pouring through. What a relief now I need two showers to wash off the stink. Yuk!Yuk!

Baz

[supernova1965 (Warren)]

Hey Baz

Not while I am eating

[BerrieK]

Barry I empathise with you (Mr Smelly Hands and arms)

Our shower drain was blocked a few months back and the gunk in the drain was just laughing at the plunger... so off to Bunnings we went and purchased a manual eel. Well, as well as the obligatory disgusting stinking grimy decomposing hair ball in the drain mixed with soap scum and other icky stuff we pulled out a chopstick (!!), a heap of hair bands that my daughter has discarded in the shower, a few hair clips, a plastic dinosaur, half a plastic soldier and a popped balloon. New rule in the house for the kids: NO TOYS IN THE SHOWER.

Ick.

Kerrie

[xelasnave]

From your observations we can conclude that "push" will work even in the realm of a black hole.

alex

[Ric]

Good one Alex.

[Jen]

Ewwwwww I deal with plumbers every day woah you should hear some of their stories

[Baddad (Marty)]

Hi Barry,

I have over the years cleared several drains and sewer pipes. No hassle. No dirty Hands and no mess.

Available off the shelves of Woolworths or Coles is the secret. Sodium Hydroxide, or caustic soda.

Pour the whole 500gms into the blocked drain. Wait a few hours or sometimes minutes and it suddenly flows free.

The worst I had was a sewer pipe. I used two lots to clear it and 3 hours wait. Better than getting dirty.

Just don't let the stuff touch you, its pretty mean. Incidently Drano is about 50% Na OH.

Cheers Marty

[Barrykgerdes]

I Thought of Caustic soda. The problem there was the amount of dirty water backed up. It would have needed a couple of kilos to get the concentration high enough.

I have cleared worse blockages. Toilets are much worse particularly when you get the inspection cover off the pipe and someone pulls the chain before you have got out of the way.

Plumbers usually have some good stories. A mate of mine got called out to clear a toilet blockage three times in about two years. The third time he left the blockage on the bathroom floor. He never got called there again.

Baz

[Kevnool (Kev)]

There sure are some dirty jobs out there.

Cheers Kev.

[pgc hunter]

I had to deal with some grease traps at work last week on top of carrying bricks concrete and rubble upstairs in wheely bins from a dusty, manky stinking old basement in what must've been a 150 year old building.

Smell + sight of decades old contents of grease trap = diahorrea x vomit ^2

[Ian Robinson]

Not the most pleasant task ....


The first time was not long after I've renovated the bathroom .... some bits of cement that had been "sealing" the wastes (tops of underground pipes) had blocked the underground pipes , no amount of pumping water or flashing the loo would shift it, and the water drained away very slowly. .... dambed plumber who did my new bathroom pipework should have been more careful to make sure no bits of concrete fell into the pipe .... obviously setting up another job for himself later when the pipe was blocked .... never trust a tradies and watch them like a hawk when you use them ....

So I took the inspection plate off , had my wife watch what happened and put water down the pipe access hole in the down pipe under the loo as fast as could by hose .... she reported some was coming through but only a trickle , and eventually the water backed up and I had a whiffy dirty and discusting overflow out through the hole I had hose stuck into.
Nothing for but to visit a equipment hire place and get hold of one of those electric pipe snakey things ... once I managed to coax around the bend of the air hole next to down pipe .... I was able get the pipe unblocked , wife reported bits of concrete and lots of nasty stuff came out .
Cheaper the getting the plumber out.

Another time I found the bath wasn't draining very fast .... turned out being hair and other smelly stuff, horrible smelly mucky job clearing the stuff out .

I now regularly check the pipework under the sinks in the kitchen , bathroom and laundry , they come apart easily enough and can cleaned of scale build up and scum and blockages easily under the tap outside.

I have vivid memories of my dad getting into the front yard and the access space between the side of the house and the side fence , digging up the pipes and clearing blockages (well formented brown and yellow stuff) .... I never want to have to do that.

[Bassnut (Fred)]

Originally Posted by xelasnave

From your observations we can conclude that "push" will work even in the realm of a black hole.

alex

Had a chuckle on that one, sharp