DRAIN BLOCKED..TOILET NOT FLUSHING..

This is an HA property, it is the responsibility of the HA to solve the problem.Do not mess with what may be a noisome and serious problem yourself. call the HA and keep calling until they do something. Th problem is clearly not in your plumbing but further down the system.

Maybee you can get permission to take a tree down in a conservation area I live in one but the trees in my garden were dangerously close to my building and in high winds I was scared I had to fill in forms and send in photos but it went through and I had them taken down

It's a bit late, I know, but we always keep a wire coat hanger around as they're great for dispersing extra large logs and for pulling up anything that is blocking the loo. Just wash after use, or use wipes, and put out of way of children & idiots!

One of the biggest culprits for blocking the drains is oil, grease and fat from cooking. They dont mix with water and attract all kinds of other bits and pieces, Eventually they can solidify into a fatburger mass and block the drains.

I have an NDN from a group who use this extensively and she is always whining that her drains are blocked. I dont even own a chip pan and am very careful what I put down (things like wet wipes go into the bin and I dont have kids or use sanitary products). This NDN has form for fly tipping onto my property and other offences so I doubt very much that she is carefully re-cycling all her cooking oil and disposing of it responsibly. More like she is letting it go down the sink. I clean my drain with a mixture of baking soda and white vinegar every few weeks. Ive never had a provblem with any of the toilets or sinks.

This NDN has repeatedly sent plumbers round to my house and also the local water authority. At first I allowed them to lift the drain cover but it was always clear. Now I just dont answer the door to her (as I have a ring type doorbell) when I see her whining face. She can sort out her own problems.

Just had a memory from my late mother's property..she had a beautiful Lilac Tree and its roots entered the drain and completely blocked drainage system...

Back in 2011, the law changed nationally regarding responsibility for blocked drains (to the benefit of homeowners). Our water company even sent us a diagram at the time showing various scenarios.

Home owners are responsible for blockages in the drain up to the boundary of their properties OR until that drain connects into a shared drain.
I have found a website showing a similar diagram which makes it clear
draindetectives.co.uk/blog/who-is-responsible-for-drains/

That’s interesting. I have a massive Scots pine next to my house, the roots of which are pushing up my driveway where the water supply pipes go. I had all the trees removed from my garden ( hated doing it even though they were only small) because if there was a problem I wanted to point out that the tree wasn’t mine. The farmer who owns the land refuses to have the tree taken down and, in fact he can’t anyway because it’s a conservation area. No one seems to care that, if that tree came down it would demolish my house. As it is I think I’ll struggle to sell the house. When we bought it the rules about how close a tree could be to a house we’re different. I do have tree surgeons check it out on a regular basis but after seeing the devastation caused by Storm Arwen anything on that scale would bring it down. I try not to think of it too much!

MayBee70, Thames Water will clear our drains here, promptly and free of charge, as our houses are 90 years old. Therefore, we don't need extra insurance or emergency plumbers.

When the mains burst in my front garden (probably due to next door's tree roots) I didn't have to pay, either (for a first 'offence') but I was warned that next time I'd get a bill. I persuaded next door's landlord to remove the tree.

Happy New Year Shandy57

I’ve never had to pay to have the drains unblocked. But if it was a problem from my water meter in the front garden to my house I think I’d have to pay.

If your sewer system is "shared" by another property then I would check with relevant Water Company to see if there would be a charge to unblock a drain.
Welsh Water (not for profit) do not charge for this service. Unfortunately, not many people know this, and a neighbour of mine in my previous area paid Dyna Rod £350 for something that would have been done free of charge.

Happy New Year Bea65. I hope this is the last time you have an incident of this type and others in the row are more careful of what they 'flush'.

UPDATE..Severn Trent came and took up several manhole covers in side road and main road..it was the main road drain that was blocked which they jetted with water for some time and problem resolved..just unlucky that my property only was affected but they said its because am in a link of 3 houses and had all their back up in pipework..agree [MayBeMaw] this would have cost me hundreds if I wasn't with a HA and daughter had proposed she buy this house but has since changed her mind,,,drain tech also said my storm drain (didm't know i had one) was half covered by fence and bush on other side so he couldn't access this...Barratt built this property and covered a storm drain with a fence!!
Thank you all for your advice and support...Happy New Year!

When I had a major problem with the downstairs loo two years ago I rang our house insurance company (JL but others are available) it was a Sunday night before Christmas and they had an emergency plumber out in under two hours. He spent at least an hour investigating then “Dyno- rodding” the drains in the front garden (and in the rain) to clear it. Goodness knows how much I would have had to pay a plumber, or indeed how long I would have waited even if I could have found one.
Big ✔️for JL house insurance.

I hope they turn up quickly. We had a blocked sewer (well, a neighbour further down did) and the water level rose alarmingly in the manhole and toilet. We are on the first, higher end, of the drain.

I went next door and asked them to please not flush their loo until Thames Water came. 'That won't make any difference!' said the chap. 'Yes, it will' I said 'Do you realise that your green toilet paper - and everything else - is backing up and flowing our way!' (Then, he believed me.)

I hope they come as quickly as they can Bea65, in the meantime just keep chucking a bucket of water down.

Rang Severn Trent and they told me problem had been logged and i should expect a visit within the next 48 hrs..couldn't have happened at worst time as have prolapse

When it does happen we go into ‘holiday on Crete’ mode. You can’t put loo paper down the toilets on Crete because the pipes weren’t made big enough to cope with them so all toilets have what I call mucky bins next to them for paper. Of course there’s the added problem if not being able to do anything else that involves water. We do play the ‘we’re old and our neighbours are even older’ card as well. And always now keep the phone number of our local drain man to hand.

Poor you. I always know when there’s a problem because I’m at the end of our row because when I flush the downstairs loo the water backs up slightly. It turned out to be some concrete blocking the pipes at the first house combined with someone putting wet wipes or sanitary products down the toilet. Severn Trent have always been very good at coming out, though. I think the last time it happened they did resolve the problem and, touch wood, it hasn’t happened since.

When we last had a drain technician out (I rodded the drain, in the dark and pouring with rain,but it didn’t help) he found that a tree root had gone through the drain, once he pulled that out (also in the dark and pouring rain, poor chap) we were sorted.

We have lived in many houses and as a result of some crazy Karma or something we are the ‘proud’ owners of 3 sets of drain rods plus their attachments. Yuk.

Sorry your toilet won't flush Bea65, you can just use a bucket of water in the meantime? It will at least go out of sight. I hope you can get someone to come again.

Thank you ALL for responding..did get a Drain Technician call at 7:30 pm and was here for couple of hours with rods and wter jets to flush drain but informed me that altho he could clear blockage, water flow was still slow and said he reported it it to Severn Trent as the main street drain is at side of house. MayBee am also end property of link 3 houses so all waste from their houses flows to end of line which is mine...
Update: Thought problem was solved but no...toilet not flushing away waste and have tried to ring HA but waiting time is extensive..just have to cross my legs a lot and pray that technician comes again today!

You probably need to ask your neighbours to see if they have a problem: then you can pinpoint where in the system the blockage is. I’m at the end of a row of 4 houses and the blockage usually starts at the end house near to the main road. The water board are usually very good at coming out when this happens. It’s usually caused by wet wipes.

I live in a H A property and there is always emergency cover over the holidays. Give them a ring. Good luck.

I’m afraid that someone needs to live the manhole cover, do you know anyone who has some drain rods? If so lift the lid and push the rods down and the blockage should clear.
If all the sinks etc. are affected than it’s not the loo that is blocked, although it’s usually the first to show that there is a problem.

The HA are probably still on holidays.

You can get an emergency drain clearing company but they will be expensive.