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I have a quandary.
I live in a flat in a tenement. I am on the first floor out of four.
There are two main drains for my side of the building - one for kitchen water waste and a bathroom soil pipe.
The kitchen drain had a blockage which caused it to back up. As I have the first flat above where the drain blocks, it backs up through my kitchen sink.
This happened a couple of years back. I called a plumber who cut into the drain pipe, cleared the blockage and fitted a bung.
However, it has happened again. Unfortunately I was away for the weekend so didn't catch it. The drain water has come through my kitchen sink and flooded my kitchen. The laminate floored is knackered so I'm going to have to replace it myself, or via insurance (excess probably more than the replacement cost).
Again, I got a plumber in and got the blockage cleared and have cleaned up the flat. The blockage was a big greasy blob of fat etc. FWIW, the plumber is arranged through the council and they bill all the flats in the building equally.
Part of the problem is that I have no way to stop the backed up water filling my kitchen sink.
However, I can fit a stop valve on the waste pipes in my flat, either a manual one or I think there are automatic ones.
This would stop my flat getting wrecked. However, it would just mean that the blockage eventually comes out my upstairs neighbour's sink and floods his flat. He's a lovely old guy who lives by himself. Not very handy/confident with DIY stuff at all.
The two flats above are rentals, generally students. Now, I know I don't put fat or grease down the sink and the guy upstairs doesn't either. It seems likely student tenants wouldn't care about that sort of thing so much?
I could fit a one way valve in his waste pipe that would stop it flooding his flat, but then that just moves the problem one level up. And eventually you run out of levels.
I think it would work if I was home, saw the issue, manually blocked off mine and his wastes, told everyone to stop using water in the kitchens and got an emergency plumber in. Or I can run a manual divert to the toilet drains?
But I'm not home that much, and if it happens like this again I'd come home to a smelly flooded kitchen.
So... I don't really know what to do. An automatic valve would save me but is bad news for Mr Upstairs.
Possibly the easiest option, assuming the bung in the waste pipe can be easily removed and re-fitted, is to open it up and clear it out at regular intervals. That way your addressing the problem as much as you can. Other option is that the landlord fits a grease trap in flats 3 & 4 but that will require maintenance also. Plus not sure if you can get small ones for a domestic installation.
preventative maintenance would seem the best thing as you've got a bung. Rods are pretty cheap.
Have you considered speaking to the students and explaining the problem? They are young and ignorant and probably do not realise that putting grease down the sink is a bad idea...
Have you considered speaking to the students and explaining the problem? They are young and ignorant and probably do not realise that putting grease down the sink is a bad idea…
This + 1, free and most likely to work.
Is the waste pipe external? Could you ask the plumber to fit a tundish or vent to your arm from it so at least when it blocks it pours down the outside of the building rather than into your flat?
IANAPlummber or have any knowledge of building regs around this, but it's what I'd do.
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I could fit a one way valve in his waste pipe that would stop it flooding his flat, but then that just moves the problem one level up. And eventually you run out of levels.
One way valves are not 100% reliable, they're generally better at preventing backflow than backpressure. So if you've got a column of stinky kitchen water ~10m up the side of the building it'll still trickle back through the valve, just slower. Might help you catch it, but not if you're not home.
Hi guys
Have spoke to the students and explained, but it depends who is in - changes over quite a lot. And whether or not they listen to me.
Preventative maintenance is a good idea. One issue is that I am moving out and setting the place up as a short term let... I'm only moving to the next town over so that could still work. This may affect the telling the students thing too.
The drains are internal to the building so are inside a cupboard in my flat.
Jamz
Have you considered speaking to the students and explaining the problem? They are young and ignorant and probably do not realise that putting grease down the sink is a bad idea…
This would probably be my first port of call, but I would also look into getting some kind of valve installed & discussing this with your neighbour upstairs to see if he would also like to take the same precaution.
It would probably make sense to get them both done at the same time, so would be handy to have him on board.
I would also tell the students that this is what you have done, as you are not always at home to catch the first sign of a blockage & the subsequent flooding to your kitchen is not a great situation to be in.
I suppose as mentioned above as well, it wouldn't hurt to get a set of rods & regularly give the pipe a bit of a whizz through.
Do all.
Fit the value to your and your upstairs neighbor.
Try and have a maintenance routine.
Speak to students.
Speak to landlords, although you may need the pressure of a financial concequence to make it stick.
Have spoke to the students and explained, but it depends who is in – changes over quite a lot. And whether or not they listen to me.
I'm sure the landlord will be passing on the plumber's costs, this will tend to motivate them! Maybe ask the landlord to put a notice above the sink (complete with a photograph of your trashed kitchen) saying that they will be liable for any costs of plumbing/damage?
The other solution is just to get into the habit of throwing a bucket of drain cleaner down the sink every other month. Caustic soda crystals are dirt cheap, and you only need a cupful in a big bucket to leave the drains sparkling clean.
The joy of a ground floor flat is if you deflect it upstairs and he's away for the weekend.....
You get the joy of replacing your roof and your floor next time.
Fwiw I feel your pain I'm at the bottom of a hill where the inspection chamber seems to keep filling up.....because one of my neighbours kept flushing wipes ....
The other solution is just to get into the habit of throwing a bucket of drain cleaner down the sink every other month. Caustic soda crystals are dirt cheap, and you only need a cupful in a big bucket to leave the drains sparkling clean.
Exactly this..... even the occasional kettle of boiling water will help.
Have you considered speaking to the students and explaining the problem? They are young and ignorant and probably do not realise that putting grease down the sink is a bad idea…
I wouldn't necessarily assume that its not the old guy! I'm not sure I recall as a student ever having large amounts of fat to dispose of - perhaps a grill/frying pan of bacon/sausages - but not roast dinners! In my experience waste and environmental pollution is often more on the agenda of 18-25 year olds than 52-81 yr olds!
I'm not quite sure what the easy/responsible way to dispose of waste fat is in an Edinburgh tenement? do you still just have bin bags? I'm guessing you decant it into a sealable container and put it in the bin? IME plastic bottles with small necks and hot/warm oil are not a particularly convenient solution - its what I do and then drive to the waste oil container at the tip (which has been out of action because of covid for over a year so I have a stock pile). I've got wheely bins and don't feel right putting it in there - if I was taking black bags down four flights of stairs I'd be even less happy. Perhaps the answer is to make/find a convenient way to dispose of the oil.
I’m sure the landlord will be passing on the plumber’s costs, this will tend to motivate them!
I doubt it - he'd have to know which flat was at fault, I'm pretty sure that a short term student let the liability for drain maintenance falls to the landlord and the students only get billed if they are shown to be negligent.
If I have a lot of fat from cooking I put it in a jam jar and then in the general waste bins. Or make fat balls for the birds in winter.
We have various recycling bins on the streets here we can use.
Plumbing costs get split for every flat in the building by the council's shared repair scheme. I call the council, they send the plumber, a bill appears through everyone's door a few weeks later.
Caustic crystals and lots of boiling water. Send the fat further away and keep everything else as is.
Probably a monthly task but if its a build up its unlikely to be a one off event doing it.
Could do with a cheap domestic version of this.
https://environmental-innovations.co.uk/industrial-kitchen-blocked-sewer-alarm/