Blocked Drain

[masterpasser]

My neighbour above has a blocked drain -primarily to drain storm water from his balcony.

The pipe is blocked at some point and causes flooding inside his condo.

Tried a snake but hopeless.

Have read about a Kinetic Water Ram

Does anybody know where to hire one in Pattaya?

[lopburi3]

Would not advise using something as potentially destructive in a condo setting myself (without full approvals prior to use).  Have had air pressure used (from tanks) on septic tank vent in home and it is a very messy process when everything goes right - if you break pipes/connections it could be a serious expense to correct in a condo I fear.  

 

Suspect this should be done by condo maintenance as they will have details on pipe runs and access points.

Edited September 23, 2017 by lopburi3

[Halfaboy]

This pipe is 'common area' and the problem needs to be taken care of by the Condo manager. 

[AsiaCheese]

I would highly recommend the condo maintenance... they might fumble, but if something goes wrong, it's going to be their problem, not yours (or your neighbors). In the meantime, pouring down a liberal helping of baking soda followed by an equally liberal helping of vinegar (the cheap stuff found in any shop) might help. There will be some extreme bubbling. A bit of "pump action" (no pun intended) with one of those half-round rubber things on a stick (you know... can't remember the proper name) at the same time might just fix the problem.

[Lamkyong]

get yourself some soda crystals   put the in the outlet  known locally as  soda fai   (soda fire 

wear protective gloves  it will burn any unprotected  skin etc be very careful dangerous stuff

[ebonykap]

2 hours ago, AsiaCheese said:

I would highly recommend the condo maintenance... they might fumble, but if something goes wrong, it's going to be their problem, not yours (or your neighbors). In the meantime, pouring down a liberal helping of baking soda followed by an equally liberal helping of vinegar (the cheap stuff found in any shop) might help. There will be some extreme bubbling. A bit of "pump action" (no pun intended) with one of those half-round rubber things on a stick (you know... can't remember the proper name) at the same time might just fix the problem.

That be a "plunger" my man .

[Crossy]

9 minutes ago, ebonykap said:

That be a "plunger" my man .

 

Have plunger, will travel.

 

 

[Jingthing]

I had totally unfixable by standard methods blocks in two parts of my condo.

Tried everything normal and got all the condo maintenance help imaginable. Multiple times. All in vain.  

On one drain (shower), it really was a design flaw and had to have everything dug up (Iots of cement) and a new pipe installed. Yes it was localized to that. Work lasted many days. Not cheap as you can imagine but it's been completely fixed since then. 

I suspect the seller of the condo knew about the design flaw but of course didn't inform me. 

The other one in the kitchen sink was more of a block further down the system. What eventually worked was an outside contractor that had some kind of special pressure machine that he hooked up to the water supply from a bum gun. That also worked though I do need to plunge it occasionally. 

Not saying this will be relevant to you but just saying the problems can be more serious than you think and way beyond any chemicals or normal plunging.

Good luck. 

Edited September 23, 2017 by Jingthing

[Crossy]

As others have noted, anything over and above normal chemicals and a decent plunger needs the condo management involved.

 

Any failure of the pipe is going to dump loads of, whatever, into the unit downstairs. You don't want any of that, your insurance won't want to know either.

 

[Tracyb]

I concur with others ..

Advise you do not risk taking this on yourself.

Call the building manager ASAP and ask to have the building maintenance staff resolve the issue.  It's in the "common area" and is their problem to solve.  

Let us know how you make out.

Edited September 23, 2017 by Tracyb

[ToddinChonburi]

They do sell good liguid drain cleaner you can try.  Tesco and big C

[The Deerhunter]

1 hour ago, Crossy said:

 

Have plunger, will travel.

 

 

Love it.  There's the answer.

 Call Dr Who!!!!!   On Yahoo!!

[maxpower]

Office building services here use a Songkran pressure sprays with rubber on the end.

 

[bazza73]

I know of one guy in my condo who hired a "plumber" to redo his bathroom. Broke a mains pipe, and flooded a whole floor. Cost him 30,000 baht in damage, and the "plumber" had disappeared.

Other posters are right - it's a job for building maintenance. That way, the OP's butt is covered if they mess it up.

[MyFriend You]

1 hour ago, ToddinChonburi said:

They do sell good liguid drain cleaner you can try.  Tesco and big C

I bought the white bottle one, with the skull & crossbones on it,  and a plunger  -  big mistake, bathroom sink was blocked, added water and poured some of the liquid down the drain, lots of sputtering and a smell that could knock out an elephant   used the plunger and voila, pipe drained rapido, all over my bare feet and the floor - that stuff melted a hole in the 'cup' of the downspout.  Cost me 800 baht to have maintenance replace the downspout pipe.  Never again.

[cat handler]

Try Caustic Soda. Poor a little (or all of it) and add a bit of water.

 

[Foozool]

Thai plumbers never heard of "slope".

Slope means nothing to plumbers or contractors. Sometimes the pipe is not even level, but also it has some slop against the flow. That's why in longterm a layer of hard stuff clog the line.  That layer will be tough to be removed, especially in a long pipe. 

Edited September 23, 2017 by Foozool

[Jingthing]

It's been awhile but  I recall my shower drain problem where I had to tear up a concrete floor was related to slope. Also pipe was too thin. Fix was to slope the flow down with a wider pipe. In any case it worked.

[masterpasser]

Thank you  for your responses.

The problem cured by cutting out all the pipework and replacing with new.

Blockage was cement/sand and could not be removed .

Lots of braking into walls to access pipes -Its been a nightmare.

Cause originated from renovation of roof top pool and contractor washing down into drains!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Jingthing]

Sounds similar to what happened to me with my shower drain. Yeah, sometimes, an easy looking problem ain't that easy. 

[VocalNeal]

2 hours ago, masterpasser said:

Blockage was cement/sand and could not be removed .

My thoughts. 

 

When they build condos they put all the PVC piles in and leave them all uncapped. Interior works guys (plasterers, windows, floor tiles) come in and to clean up they flush everything down any available exposed blue pipe. This includes bits on concrete, wood ,old nails et al. 

 

 

[Jingthing]

It's a plus for buying an older condo. Any of the more serious flaws from new construction are likely to have been fixed by then. 

[lopburi3]

2 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

It's a plus for buying an older condo. Any of the more serious flaws from new construction are likely to have been fixed by then. 

Not in this case.

Quote

Cause originated from renovation of roof top pool

 

[Crossy]

17 hours ago, masterpasser said:

Thank you  for your responses.

The problem cured by cutting out all the pipework and replacing with new.

Blockage was cement/sand and could not be removed .

Lots of braking into walls to access pipes -Its been a nightmare.

Cause originated from renovation of roof top pool and contractor washing down into drains!!!!!!!!!!!!

At least it's been solved, Contractor billed for the work? Nah, thought not