How To Clear Blocked Downpipes Link Here

Encouraged, he went deeper. The knitting needle followed. Push. Twist. Squelch. The pipe groaned. Water began to dribble from the bottom joint—not a good sign. That meant the blockage was below the joint.

Arthur did. As the hot water hit the cold sludge, Gladys gave three sharp, angry pumps with the plunger. POP.

He grabbed three tools: a wire coat hanger, a bucket, and his mother-in-law’s best knitting needle (she was on holiday. Probably). how to clear blocked downpipes

Defeated, Arthur went inside and called his neighbour, Gladys, a 78-year-old former plumber who used to fix boilers during the miners' strike. She arrived in slippers and a raincoat.

Arthur remembered a YouTube video. "Use a garden hose," the man with too many teeth had said. "Ram it up there." Arthur rammed. He turned the tap to full. For ten glorious seconds, nothing happened. Then the pipe shuddered, made a noise like a bear giving birth, and a geyser of black, leaf-infused water shot out of the top of the pipe, directly into his face. Encouraged, he went deeper

It was the wettest April on record, and Arthur’s kitchen wall was weeping.

He stood there, dripping, tasting the flavour of 2019’s autumn. He had not cleared the pipe. He had simply taught it to spit. Water began to dribble from the bottom joint—not

The downpipe began to sing. A clean, clear glug-glug-glug .