What's the best way to unblock a rain-water drain blocked with leaf mulch?

Question

Hi there,

There's a drain in the patio outside my property that drains away rainwater from the two flats above and also my patio area.

This morning I got up and noticed there's a large pool of water (2 or more inches deep) around it, and the water's not going down.

There were some leaves around it, but I moved those and it still won't drain, so there must be a blockage further down in the drain.

My dad recommended buying a device with a handle on top that screws a flexible wire into the drain to break up the blockage, whereas someone in work told me to buy some drain rods and use those.

Can anyone tell me which is the best for this type of job, and where I can get them from.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Cheers

Answer 1

Take off the drain cover. The drain goes down a foot or so and will bend towards where there is usually some grass or soft earth. With rubber gloves on put your hand down and remove all the debris. It usually collects near the bend and if there is some rubble there it collects a lot easier. The water should then disappear. If it does not it is because the soakaway to which this drain probably goes is saturated due to the amount of rain we have had in a short time. It will eventually go.
Drain rods might help but be careful as they could come unscrewed if you don't keep on twisting them as you go.

Answer 2

Well first, if a drain is blocked, you wouldn't get any flow through it. So this premise is wrong. Now for other possibilities. If you allowed water to back up above a clog, you might conceivably build enough back pressure (due to the height of the water) to loosen or even free the clog. It is not very likely since you would not get much pressure on the clog this way, but stranger things have happened. Another possibility is the clog was caused by a blocked vent line, and the vent was clogged because of freezing. Then the clog may disappear because the temperature rose enough to melt the vent clog and free the line.

Answer 3

Clearing Blocked Drains Diy

Answer 4

Personally, I've had the same problem. And you know what? I've paid for all the gadgets you can think of. The problem is, it may be deeper and more compact than any gadget can handle. And if it's got a serious turn in the drain like mine does (mine is connected the the sewer line, thus it has to have a serious twist in it to keep sewer gas from escaping up the pipe), no DIY tool will be able to handle getting by the twist... unless you pay big money for a machine (which I doubt you'd want to do).

Save your time, effort, and money and get Roto-Rooter in. They had to work on mine for like 30 minutes... it was that bad. But once it's clear, you can make some DIY repairs (like mesh around the drain opening) to prevent further issues (like water in the basement, if you have one).

Hope that helps.

Answer 5

I have a surface water drain in my back garden, it's really just a brick 'hole' that fills up before the water flows away. This lets the mud & leaves etc sink to the bottom so they don't block the out-flow drain.
If you have a big square metal cover, take that off (if it smells like sewge - wrong drain - call a plumber, you could catch allsorts!) the hole may be full of rubbish / leaves etc. Dig it all out and put it into bags or on the compost heap.
If iit's one of those little pipe-top drains, just get the drain rods out.

Answer 6

Keira H.:
I'll share with you what I did for the same problem. First, in the place where the water goes down the verticle pipe from the horizontal gutter, I placed a piece of screen, with holes small enough to block leaves and large enough to allow the water flow. Then, over the gutter where I had the most problems, I placed screen, such as chicken wire with smaller holes, to stop the leaves from getting in the rain gutter. You (your father) can place the screen in a position anywhere near the rain gutter to stop the leaves from getting in there and blocking the flow of water. In the hole where the water goes down from the horizontal piece, what I did was cut a small piece of the screening, roll it to a size to fit in the hole and extend up about 4 inches. That way the leaves can't get in the hole and the water will. I hope this helps.

zeke

Answer 7

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Answer 8

If the blockage is not too deeply lodged you can try to vacuum it with wet/dry shop vac. If it is deep, it is best to use professional drain cleaning co. Clay drain pipes are brittle, for example, and my break during the cleaning. The professionals use special cameras, the right tools, and the know how. Good luck.

Answer 9

best way is to start a fire in your drain when the leaves are dry so you can burn the leaves away because if you wet them more you will just make it more messy and they will stick more

But drain rods are a much better deal a good place to buy these from is B&Q

Answer 10

the cheapest by far would be metal coat hangers.. undo them and twist them together with a pair of pliers.. push the coat hangers down the drain repeatedly, so that you can punch through the blockage and get the water running again.