If your outside drain is blocked, the first thing to do is to find out where the blockage is. You can find this out from your water sewerage company or local authority. If you’re confident enough, you can follow a DIY guide to clear it up. If you’re unsure, you can also contact your insurance company to get help.

Root ingress

It’s very important to check the outside drainage system in your home, and to determine whether it is blocked. Your local water sewerage company, or your local council, may be responsible for clearing a blockage. If not, you can call a drainage contractor to clear the blockage. Alternatively, you can try a DIY solution to unblock your outside drain. For further help, you can check your insurance policy, which can cover blocked drains.

One of the best ways to tell if your outside drain is blocked is to look at what is blocking it. Often, blockages are caused by things that should not go down your drain. These can range from food particles and grease to coffee grounds, soap scum and hair. In your bathroom, wipes and sanitary products can also clog your drain. If you have a toilet, you should also make sure that there is no excess toilet paper in your drain.

Bad odour

A blocked outside drain is not only a nuisance, but it can also create an unpleasant odour. It’s important to get a drainage engineer out as quickly as possible, especially in the recent hot weather. A drainage engineer will be able to use CCTV inspection techniques and high-pressure water jetting to clean the drain to make it run as it should.

Most of the time, the smell is due to bacteria that has grown in the ground around the blocked drain. However, in some cases, the smell is caused by sewage back-up. This sewage could be coming from your house or the surrounding sewer lines. Either way, you should call a plumber immediately to assess the problem.

Using a drain rod

If your outside drain is clogged, you may need to use a drain rod. This tool can be inserted into the drain and twisted to break up the obstruction. You can also pour boiling water into the drain to loosen the clog.

The drain rod should not be rotated anti-clockwise as it can undo the drain plunger attachment. When using a drain rod, you should always wear protective gloves to prevent any injuries. Using a drain rod to check a blocked outside drain is easy, but it requires some basic knowledge and skill. First, you will need to insert the rod into the drain. You will need to bend it so that it fits the size of the drain. Next, you will need to push the rod further down the drain. Afterwards, you should turn the rod in a clockwise motion to prevent it from unscrewing or detaching.

Once you have located the blockage, you can try removing it by hand. To do this, you need to remove the outside drain cover. You can then reach inside the drain and pick up debris that is inside it. To clear larger blockages, you may need to use a drain rod.

Using Caustic soda

Caustic soda is an excellent drain cleaner but you should always use caution when using it. It is very dangerous and can cause burns and swelling in the eyes. Additionally, it can damage your pipes and drainage system. As such, it is best to use full protective gear when using it.

Caustic soda can be bought in liquid or powder form from a hardware store. It is important to dilute it to a concentration of 10%. A higher concentration won’t do much for a blocked drain. You should also store it properly to prevent corrosive damage.

When you use caustic soda to unblock a drain, be sure to follow all instructions. It is a very aggressive chemical and should only be used by professionals. Besides being highly corrosive, it can also cause serious damage to your water system. You should only use caustic soda on blocked drains if you’re sure that your pipes are clear.

Finding out if your external drains are shared

You should be aware of the fact that external drains may be shared with other homes. This means that you should have a map showing the location of your external drains. Usually, a standard home will have a main drain which transports foul water to the sewage system. Once this is complete, all the drains in your home connect to this drain. It is operated by the water authority.

In many cases, shared drains run along the length of a street. These drains connect each house’s pipes and drains to the central shared drain. The waste from each house then discharges to the shared drain and into the public sewer or sewage treatment plant. This arrangement is cost-effective and allows for higher drainage capacity.

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