For the second time in just over two years we’ve had to have a plumber in because of blocked canalisations. As last time it was tree roots and now they’ve gone things are working again.
But the man said that the roots also go under the house and really someone needs to access that, normally through a vide sanitaire. I’ve looked online and we don’t anything like the pictures that someone could crawl into, which seems to mean drilling down either in the garden or through the ground floor.
He did suggest asking the agent who sold us the house and I’ll also check the folder that the previous owner left us to see if that’s of any help.
I would have thought this man could have done that with the kit he had. The last time we had to call the company, the guy looked under the house with the camera and didn’t mention roots, but I think he said something to OH about relining the pipes. I’ll ask.
It depends how the house was built if there’s a crawl space.
Your house is either built on a slab (modern) or directly onto the earth if it’s old/agricultural or has suspended floors. If there’s a cellar that’s your “crawl” space - any raised floor in this context is your crawl space.
But any house built on a solid base - the pipes often run under the floor in the “slab” typically so once they perish it’s not a fun job.
However roots in pipes. Once the pipe is breached by roots you have to replace or reline the section where roots are entering or it will just repeat and get worse. Now chances are the roots enter the pipe then just spread - so if your lucky the “problem” is the external pipe (the point roots are entering).
It needs clearing then a camera down to find the position and how bad the actual problem is
The key point is not just removing the roots but finding where they enter the pipe. If you don’t fix that section (relining or replacing), they’ll come back again.
You don’t necessarily need access under the house straight away. A proper camera inspection should locate the breach, and often it’s actually outside. If you’re lucky, only the external section needs relining. I’d definitely ask for a full CCTV survey before anyone starts drilling floors or gardens.
There are three trees and one is next door, a large pine tree, so it’s hard to know which is responsible. (And I have a problem with cutting down trees.)
How far away from the drain pipe run are the trees ?
I’m wondering whether an underground root barrier could be installed between the trees and the drain pipe without destabilising the trees too much. Advice from a professional arboriculturalist could be useful.
OH isn’t keen on digging up the garden pathway or part of the ground floor accommodation so he’s been researching what to do having learned from watching the two drains men work.
I haven’t seen it yet but he seems to have bought kit that’s similar to what the drains man has, with a fairly robust little circular saw that goes into the pipes to cut roots and has flushed a lot of debris out from under the house. We think the man who helped us two years ago did this, but the current one doesn’t seem as knowledgeable. Also there’s a product you can put into the pipes that seems to rot any roots that it comes into contact with.
OH is also thinking of getting a special camera for inspecting the pipes and it comes in at less than the call-out charge.
OH says thank you very much for the tip, Corona. We know where to find the Narbonne branch now and it looks rather like HSS in England that we used. It’s going to be cheaper than calling out plumbers.
Yes they do work a very similar pattern, always trying to push their insurance, oh and watch the day/weekend rates. I hired a minipelle for a weekend on their special weekend rate and they later tried to charge for two single days. They didn’t win! Just a cautionary note.
Yes and also Leroy Merlin hire out their stuff too in the returns and collections building. Here they have a display of all the stuff you can hire from leaf blowers to generators and floor sanders.
