My house has two bathrooms: one at the front and one at the rear.
There are manholes at front and back; and the waste drain runs under
the house from back to front.

Every year or so (like this morning) the drain gets blocked under the
house and I've got to get out the rods, etc.

I do not knowingly send solids down the drains and the grids are
protected against leaves, etc.

I do have a dishwasher and, more particularly, a waste disposal unit
which may contribute solids but then I have had such things for yonks
without any problem.

My question is ...

Is there anything else that I can do to ensure that the drains do not
get blocked?

Thanks!

---

Clarification of Question by probonopublico-ga on 06 Aug 2003 05:59 PDT

Hi, Missy

As fas I can see, Drano is not sold in the UK.

However, I bought some 'professional' unblocking stuff that I have
been assured is 'very powerful'.

We shall see.

In the meantime, please post your Comment as an answer.

Many thanks & regards

Bryan

Hello Bryan!

That Drano comment was pretty meager, so let me offer you some other
solutions to look into as well:

DaleUK Drain Opener (call or e-mail for pricing)
http://www.daleuk.co.uk/drain_op.htm

One Shot Drain Opener
http://fdev.co.uk/products/

Vegetec International offers a heavy duty drain cleaner (Product Code
VDC):

Vegetec Cleaning Products
http://www.vegetec.co.uk/cleaning.html

For ordering information:

Vegetec International Ltd
Office 3 
Willow Farm Business Park 
Allwood Green
Rickinghall
Suffolk, IP22 1LT
England
Tel: +44 (0)1379 898990 
Fax: +44 (0)1379 898993 
Email: Vegetec@aol.com

Break Thru, from Chemical & Coating Supplies Services
http://www.chemc.co.uk/61.htm

Ordering information here:

http://www.chemc.co.uk/del.htm

I've found references to the following drain openers/cleaners in the
UK, but no online availability.  These may be available locally at
plumbing or chemical supply shops:

Dyno Rod Drain Free
Kleenoff Drain Cleaner
Mangers Drain Cleaner
Mr Muscle Drain Opener
Deepclean Freeflow Drain Cleaner
Shift It Drain Opener

Some things to keep in mind:  lard, oil and other fats should never be
put down the garbage disposal.  These coagulate and build up,
eventually leading to blockage.

You can help keep your lines from getting gummed up by dropping a
quartered lemon into your running garbage disposal once a week.  The
acidic lemon helps cut through any residue, and it makes the kitchen
smell nice, too!

It might be worth your while to have a professional come out to auger
out your drain once or twice a year, especially if your pipes are
particularly narrow.  I'm not sure what the going rate in the UK is,
but my grandparents used to have our drains done twice a year for
about $100 each visit.

I hope you get your drain straightened around without too much fuss!

--Missy

Excellent ... as always!

Many thanks, Missy, for the advice & contacts.

In fact, I've already got a large supply of 'One Shot' ... so I will give it a go.

Kindest Regards

Bryan

Have you tried occasionally using Drano or other such chemical
un-clogger as preventative maintenance?

--Missy

Hi, Missy

Never even heard of Drano, nr any other such product.

Sounds worth investigating. 

I'll make enquiries.

Many thanks.

Hi, In one house I lived in, the architects had built the drain for
'max capacity usage,' i.e. they were storm drains (I'm not technical),
but they were actually too much for the five houses in the terrace
sharing the drain: they were great for storms and floods, and lots of
families and lots of dishwasher and washing machine stuff going down
for the pipes, but not for five (and a half) houses with maybe eight
people living in then. So that's one possibility.

Hi, Intotravel

Many thanks for your suggestion ...

However, I am sure that I've got a different problem because the
blockage is always between the back of my house and the front.

The waste from the back is collected at the back and then routed to
the front.

So, there's only me to blame!

Now, here's a funny thing ...

A little box appeared at the top of the question and offered an
interesting solution with next day delivery.

'Ah, ah', I thought when I saw the 'dotcom' suffix ... 'another
American company offering next day delivery to the UK'.

But no ... it was a UK company.