As an emergency plumber we have been called out to many strange causes of a block drain. The strangest of them all so far a bunch of adult magazines, but that’s another story. One of the most common is roots and always found around old clay pipes.
We have been called out too many times to mention to find the root cause of the blockage is roots. Roots can cause all kinds of problems, from messing up your patio to effecting the foundations of your house, so it no surprise that they can get into your drainage system. Now believe it or not there is good news if your problem is roots, because 9 times out of 10 they can be jetted out and removed from your drain. However, the worst case scenario is they have become so thick you will need to excavate the ground around your drain and replace the section of pipe work, Now, here is the thing, roots only tend to grow into old clay pipe drains as they become old and crack, so we always recommend replacing your old pipe work with plastic as this can prevent any future issues