S
SloughLandlord
Hi,
I hope someone can offer some advice regarding a drainage problem. A bit of background: I own a ground floor flat, which I lived in between 1998 and 2004. During that time, I had no problems at all with the plumbing or the drainage.
In 2004, I moved out, and began renting out the flat. The current tenants have been there for a couple of years, and in those years they have complained about drainage problems repeatedly. The most common problem is that water is slow to drain from the bath, but they are also experiencing other problems, for example when they run their washing machine, the waste water from the washing machine is coming up the plughole into the bath.
I have used plungers and over-the-counter chemicals to try to help the situation, and I have asked the tenants to use unblocking chemicals regularly. I have called out two separate plumbers (one from a large company, one independent) on four separate occasions. The last plumber visited around a month ago, and already after only a month the tenants are complaining that it is worse than ever.
On each occasion, the plumber has used a combination of physical and chemical methods to remove blockages, but has said that the problem is caused by the waste pipe being too close to horizontal, and that it needs ripping out and replacing - something which can only really be done as part of a major renovation as it would require the entire bathroom and kitchen to be removed. Both plumbers have independently come to the same conclusion.
However, I'm not convinced that this is the whole story. I don't doubt that the waste pipe is more horizontal than it should be.... but I lived in the flat for 6 years without any trouble at all. So I'm sure that the problems of way the pipe is sitting are being aggravated by something else, perhaps a blockage somewhere else along the pipe.
Can someone please advise me on what can be done next? Clearly trying to remove the blockage using standard techniques is not working - but what else can I do to get the drainage system back to the way it was in 2004?
I'd welcome any ideas for techniques, etc, that I can research or companies that specialise in this kind of thing. I'd also welcome messages from professionals who might like to quote to fix the problem - but only if you are going to try something different to what the other plumbers have tried in the past. I'm tearing my hair out here trying to figure out what to do next, and my tenants are, quite understandably, getting upset and considering leaving.
Thanks!
Dean
--------------
I hope someone can offer some advice regarding a drainage problem. A bit of background: I own a ground floor flat, which I lived in between 1998 and 2004. During that time, I had no problems at all with the plumbing or the drainage.
In 2004, I moved out, and began renting out the flat. The current tenants have been there for a couple of years, and in those years they have complained about drainage problems repeatedly. The most common problem is that water is slow to drain from the bath, but they are also experiencing other problems, for example when they run their washing machine, the waste water from the washing machine is coming up the plughole into the bath.
I have used plungers and over-the-counter chemicals to try to help the situation, and I have asked the tenants to use unblocking chemicals regularly. I have called out two separate plumbers (one from a large company, one independent) on four separate occasions. The last plumber visited around a month ago, and already after only a month the tenants are complaining that it is worse than ever.
On each occasion, the plumber has used a combination of physical and chemical methods to remove blockages, but has said that the problem is caused by the waste pipe being too close to horizontal, and that it needs ripping out and replacing - something which can only really be done as part of a major renovation as it would require the entire bathroom and kitchen to be removed. Both plumbers have independently come to the same conclusion.
However, I'm not convinced that this is the whole story. I don't doubt that the waste pipe is more horizontal than it should be.... but I lived in the flat for 6 years without any trouble at all. So I'm sure that the problems of way the pipe is sitting are being aggravated by something else, perhaps a blockage somewhere else along the pipe.
Can someone please advise me on what can be done next? Clearly trying to remove the blockage using standard techniques is not working - but what else can I do to get the drainage system back to the way it was in 2004?
I'd welcome any ideas for techniques, etc, that I can research or companies that specialise in this kind of thing. I'd also welcome messages from professionals who might like to quote to fix the problem - but only if you are going to try something different to what the other plumbers have tried in the past. I'm tearing my hair out here trying to figure out what to do next, and my tenants are, quite understandably, getting upset and considering leaving.
Thanks!
Dean
--------------
