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Outside drains remove water from your home and move it into the public drains located outside your property boundaries.

Many properties have a kitchen drain located on the exterior near the kitchen which may well be the cause of a blockage if you are dealing with slow draining sinks or pooling water. There may also be another outside drain that is responsible for removing wastewater from other parts of the home, namely bathrooms.

Before you take action to clear your outside drain, it is worth noting that if you live in a terraced property, or a semi-detached home, you may well share your outside drains, and should consult with your neighbours before you take action.

Talking to your neighbours can also give you crucial information about the location of a blockage. If you are the only one who is experiencing problems, the chances are that the blockage is in or close to your own property, and not in an outside shared drain.

TCF Environmental are Glasgow’s leading drain clearing and repair company and have seen all sorts of blockages over the years. If you are struggling to find the source of your drainage problems or simply want the issue to go away as fast as possible, the best thing to do is to give us a call. In some situations, however, you may be able to clear your own exterior drains, especially if the blockage itself is located on the exterior of the drain and not deep within the pipework.

We have put together this guide to doing just that to help you have your drains running freely once again as soon as possible.

Locating Your Drain

External drains on your property are usually located outside the kitchen directing waste water from the ground floor of your property into the public drains. Drainpipes will usually be used to transfer water from appliances on the upper floors. If your drainage issues are only affecting the upper floor of your home, there is a good chance that the blockage is in a drainpipe rather than the ground floor drain.

What Causes Outside Drain Blockages?

The causes of outside drain issues include:

• Garden debris – Sometimes drainage issues can be resolved simply by locating your external drains and removing the leaves and other garden waste that have accumulated there over time.
• Tree roots – Trees that are growing too close to your home can pose all sorts of problems, with roots that can dislodge and invade your drainage system. Tree roots can cause drains to crack and cause blockages of their own and unfortunately will required professional assistance to ensure their removal.
• Foreign objects – Drainage issues are regularly caused by misuse, with people flushing wet wipes, sanitary products, and other items that are not designed to fit down your toilet and sink.

If you are unsure what it is that is at fault for your blocked drain and cannot determine the cause through a visual inspection of the external drain alone, why not arrange for a CCCTV drainage inspection with the team here at TCF environmental. Our micro-CCTV cameras will reveal in HD clarity exactly what is causing your problems and allow you to arrange for the appropriate action to be taken.

How to Unblock an Outside Drain

If you can see the cause of a blocked drain simply by looking at the drain itself, the remedy could be as simple as removing the leaves of garden debris that has gathered there. You can remove the cover of the drain to examine it in closer detail and give it a good clean.

Once the cover has been removed you can also shine a torch down below to see if there is any obvious grime that could easily be cleaned away. If not the issues are probably located further down in the drain.

One great homemade way to shift any drain blockages is to create a drain cleaner using a combination on bicarbonate soda and vinegar. Pour a similar amount of both substances down your drain and wait for the bubbling and fizzing solution to work its magic. For the best results, combine this solution with using a drain rod which are specifically designed to find and dislodge minor blockages.

If your homemade drain cleaner isn’t making progress, take a trip to your local supermarket and see what they have on offer instead. Make sure to look for drain cleaners that are specifically designed for outdoor drains as they will likely be made of stronger chemicals than the ones designed for sink and shower unclogging.

The final thing you might want to try is using a pressure washer to send water down the drain in an attempt to dislodge a blockage. If this doesn’t work you are best off calling the experts in. Our high pressure jetting is commercial grade and offers far higher pressures and better results than the jet you use to clean your car or garden.

Call us now to arrange an appointment at a time that suits you.

Severely blocked drains aren’t subtle and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to work out that something is wrong if water starts coming back up from your sink or bathtub, or stops draining away completely.

However, often blockages build up over time, and knowing the symptoms of a partially blocked drain to watch out for will allow you to take early preventative action to stop the issue getting any worse.

Ignoring these signs is the worst thing you can do as allowing a blockage to build can increase pressure and could result in a partially or fully collapsed drain that will require professional drain repair and even excavation in some cases.

Common Signs of a Blocked Drain

A blocked drain in your business or home drainage system can have serious consequences and acting fast is the key to avoiding disaster. Get in touch with the professional team at TCF Environmental as soon as you spot any of the following signs of a blockage.

Strange Noises

If your drain has started making a strange gurgling noise when water is draining away, it could be an indication that there is a blockage somewhere in the pipework.

As waste water drains away, it will pass by any objects that are partially blocking the pipes. As it does so, trapped air will be released, causing the gurgling sound that you can hear from up in your kitchen or bathroom. There are many things that could be at fault for a build-up of trapped air, from food waste, hair, and oil that has accumulated over time to a single outsized object that has become wedged in a U-Bend.

This blockage may also may its presence known in other ways such as causing water to drain slowly, but if the blockage is currently still pretty small, this sound may be the earliest indication that you get. Acting now will help keep any damage to an absolute minimum.

Slow Draining Water

Most drain blockages only block off a portion of your pipework, at least at first, meaning that water will be able to get past, but at a slower rate than would otherwise be the case. If you notice that your sink, bath, or toiler are draining slower than they used to, a partial blockage is almost certainly the root cause.

This will likely get worse and worse over time, until eventually water doesn’t drain at all, and can even end up coming back up out of the plughole. By this stage the pressure in the pipes will be significant and a burst or collapsed drain is a very real possibility. Get your drains cleaned as soon as your water begins to drain slowly to keep the risk of this to a minimum and avoid potentially extortionate repair bills.

Nasty Odours

If food debris is responsible for the blockage in your pipes, you may well be able to detect a pretty nasty smell with no obvious source coming from your sink or toilet. This smell will tend to get worse over time and be particularly pungent when water drains through the blockage.

Water Backing Up

When you run water into a blocked drain and it is unable to escape downwards into the sewer, it will be forced to look for another exit route. In some cases, this will simply cause the water in the sink of toiler you were using to drain slowly or not at all, but it can also lead to water going back up other pipes in the system.

If this happens you might find that water comes out of the drain in your bathtub when you run the washing machine, or from the kitchen sink after washing your hands in the bathroom and vice versa. There is no case where water should come back out of a drain if the system is working as it should so if you do see water backing up from your drains you clearly have an issue and should call a drain cleaning expert as soon as you possibly can.

TCF Environmental are Here to Help

If you believe that you do indeed have a blocked drain on your business site, or in your home, TCF Environmental are here to help. We offer CCTV drain inspections allowing us to identify exactly what is causing your blocked drain issues, and use industry leading jet washing technology and professional drain rods to clear away even the toughest of blockages. 

Get in touch today if you have noticed any of the signs mentioned above and our expert team will be delighted to assist you.