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Oliver (Drain Addict and Drain Addict - Uncut @ YouTube; Drain Go) is called in by another plumber to deal with a challenging drain blockage.

The other plumber had tried using a drain snake to clear it, but wasn’t successful. Dirt was also being brought back on the snake, suggesting a broken pipe underground.

Oliver starts by unreeling and hooking up the high-pressure water jetter’s hoses, and otherwise preparing his equipment. He then begins by jetting the line through an inspection opening that’s within a raised section of the property’s front yard, right next to the sidewalk and the nearby road.

It doesn’t take Oliver very long to clear the drain. He then sends down the camera, and while there doesn’t appear to be any significant root infiltration or other obstructions, a large break is noticed in the wall of the clay pipe.

He uses the pipe locator, along with the sonde in the large camera head, to try to find where exactly the pipe is broken. Unfortunately, he seems to ecounter some sort of interference, and isn’t able to get a good fix on the location. After switching to the smaller camera head sonde, however, he is able to eventually locate the break in the pipe, which happens to be under the middle of the nearby sidewalk.

After cleaning up some sewage that had collected around the inspection opening and washing off part of the sidewalk, Oliver packs up his gear and jetting equipment. He also gives an extra shoulder-length rubber glove he has to the other plumber.

Andy, Dave, and Justin (The Drain Unblockers @ YouTube; Mersey Rod Drainage Services) are working behind a house in an area that is full of garbage, and there even appears to be what might be human feces nearby.

The high-pressure jetting hose is sent into the external stack pipe running along the side of the building, and after some jetting it eventually sounds like the drain has been cleared. A drain camera is then sent down the line to confirm that this is the case.

At another job, Andy is at an inspection opening outdoors that has sewage backed up in it. After briefly prodding around in the moderately-firm sewage with a metal hook to assess the situation, he starts by inserting and using a plunging rod. Some water is poured around it to try to soften up the sewage.

After some more plunging, the backed-up sewage drains away. More water is poured down the drain, which helps wash away some of the residual sewage remaining around the inspection opening. The metal hook is used once again to remove some final bits of material from gaps near the rim of the inspection opening.

Some water is also poured into a downspout gully that is clogged, and some plunging with a rod is performed to clear it. Once it drains away, more water is poured down into the gully to rinse it off, and this water drains away successfully.

Bruce (Drain Cleaning AUSTRALIA @ YouTube) is at a restaurant with a blocked floor drain.

He finds the access lids for the restaurant’s grease trap along the side of the building, near some green bushes. The cover on the incoming side is lifted, and the drain camera is inserted into the pipe leading back to the restaurant. An obstruction of some sort is observed.

The drain camera is removed from the pipe, and the high-pressure water jetter nozzle and hose are inserted. After some jetting, a large volume of water suddenly empties into the grease trap.

Sinks inside the restaurant are used to send some water through the system, and it can be seen draining into the grease trap.

Some more jetting is done, just to ensure that the line is fully clear, and some more debris is pulled back. The walls of the grease interceptor are then hosed off before the cover is replaced.

Oliver (Drain Addict @ YouTube; Drain Go) is working in the backyard of a house where it appears that bricks have been dropped down the boundary shaft, and another blockage is causing a shower and toilet to back up.

He starts by trying to remove the bricks. Using the drain camera, he shows how one brick is already near the connection to the mains, while the other is closer to the boundary shaft. A reverse nozzle is attached to the jetting hose, and this is used, without water, to hook the farthest brick. He’s able to pull it back away from the city’s main line.

The closer brick ends up being pulled back, too, and Oliver puts his entire arm down the drain to try to retrieve the brick by hand. Although it isn’t easy and it does take some effort, with the help of a long screwdriver he’s able to dislodge and then remove the nearest brick.

He uses the reverse nozzle on the jetting hose to once again try to hook the remaining brick that’s still in the drain, but the brick’s alignment makes it difficult to move. After some more work with the jetter, the brick does move somewhat, but still not in a way that allows him to remove it. Eventually, he decides to try to pull the brick back using a wet/dry vacuum, but the vacuum doesn’t seem to have enough suction power to sufficiently attach to the brick.

Oliver moves on to trying a large metal hook on the end of some flexible rods. While he is able to move the brick, he isn’t able to retreive it. With it eventually ending up in the city’s line, he calls the city to have their crew retreive it at some point.

In the home’s bathroom, he begins by jetting down the shower’s drain, to see if that can be used as an access point. Unfortunately, that doesn’t work, so he ends up drilling a hole through the toilet’s porcelain instead. Using that as an access point, he’s able to jet down along the bathroom’s branch line, and he pops the blockage. Much of the backed-up sewage in the shower drains away.

Using the camera through the access hole he drilled in the toilet, Oliver inspects the line and finds that some roots still remain after the initial jetting. He does some more jetting to get those all cleared away.

Once the drain line is clear of roots, he hoses down the more solid chunks of sewage remaining in the shower. He then affixes a rubber stopper to the toilet, to seal up the access hole he had drilled into it earlier. Some cardboard that had been placed down on the floor leading from the back door of the home to the bathroom is cleaned up, and then he uses an old towel to wipe up the water that remains on the tile floor. To confirm that the line is clear, a couple of successful toilet paper flush tests are performed.

Oliver (Drain Addict @ YouTube; Drain Go) has been called in by Isaac, a plumber, to help with a wastewater drain system where flushing an upstairs toilet causes a downstairs toilet to make a gurgling sound. There is what appears to be a vertical stack pipe along the outside wall of the building, and the drain line is thought to run below a concrete walkway next to the building.

From an inspection opening outside, Oliver starts by sending the drain camera down the line toward the toilets. Some small roots are seen along the way, with a more significant blockage being found some distance down the pipe. The pipe locator is used to find where the blockage is located, and markings are left on the concrete above the pipe using pink spray paint. Given the location relative to the building and the external vertical pipe, Oliver thinks there might be roots within the branch line leading to the toilet.

He moves the camera and jetting reel inside the bathroom. During a previous drain cleaning performed by somebody else, a large hole had apparently been smashed through the ceramic drain portion of the cemented-in toilet, and then covered up using duct tape. Oliver reuses this existing opening, and sends the camera down the toilet’s branch line. Some more roots are soon discovered in the pipe, and the pipe locator is used outside the building once again to find and mark where the obstruction is. The location suggests that the vertical pipe on the outside of the building may be a vent pipe, rather than the stack that the toilets are directly connected to.

They decide to jet the line from the outside inspection opening, and Oliver quickly clears away the roots. It appears as though they may be entering through an old inspection opening at the top of the pipe that is now inaccessible below the concrete walkway. While removing the jetting hose, he clears away some more roots that are observed coming in around another old inspection opening near a different branch line junction.

Isaac has to leave, but before he goes, he helps perform a toilet paper flush test. He flushes some toilet paper down the line, while Oliver watches at the inspection opening outside the building. While some water is observed flowing past the inspection opening, the toilet paper isn’t seen. Isaac performs another flush with more toilet paper, and the paper is clearly seen flowing by on this second attempt.

A small piece of cut-away root at the bottom of the inspection opening shaft is removed using a pincher on a long pole, and Isaac gives Oliver some duct tape he can use to patch up the hole in the toilet’s drain. A final visual inspection of the line is performed by feeding the drain camera through the hole in the toilet, confirming that the pipe is now clear.

Oliver clears away some of the existing tattered duct tape covering the hole in the toilet, and then patches it using the roll of duct tape that Isaac had given him. Another test of the toilet shows that it’s flushing fine, and then the inspection opening cover outside the building is screwed back in place.

Oliver (Drain Addict @ YouTube; Drain Go) has been called in by Isaac, a plumber, to work on a bathroom sewage system that isn’t draining.

Isaac cuts out part of the vent pipe along the outside wall of the building to create an opening for accessing the sewage system, rather than having to use a nearby gully that is full of sewage.

Using this new access point, Oliver begins to jet the line. He eventually breaks through the blockage, and the backed-up sewage drains away. The drain camera is used to try to discover what the problem might have been, but there’s still some residual murky water remaining in the pipe. Isaac goes inside the bathroom and runs some cold water to try to make it easier to see using the drain camera. With the remaining sewage displaced by clear water, an inspection is performed using the drain camera. Evidence of roots is observed.

Oliver decides to jet up toward the toilet, to ensure that part of the system is clear. Isaac flushes some toilet paper down the toilet to help them determine how the toilet connects to the system. Even after a few flushes, dirty water is still coming past the camera. Oliver uses the camera to check up the line connecting to the bath tub and floor drain, and it seems clear, except for some roots that he is able to remove by hand. After some more water runs through the toilet connection, it eventually comes through clear.

The reverse nozzle is used to try to direct the jetting hose back up the pipe leading to the toilet, but the first attempt isn’t successful. The jetter accidentally causes Isaac, who’s in the bathroom near the toilet, to get splashed with some water. Another attempt at sending the hose back up toward the pipe leading to the toilet is successful, and Oliver jets away any roots that might be there.

Some further inspection of the system is performed using the drain camera, and more roots are discovered farther along. Oliver jets the line some more, and then the camera is used again to determine that it might be near an inspection opening. Roots and disjointed pipes are also noticed. The pipe locator is used to find this location, and it does appear to be at the inspection opening. The lid is removed, and the camera is observed in the pipe.

Oliver moves the jetting reel and the camera to this inspection opening, and performs some more jetting to clear up the roots that were observed earlier. He then moves the jetting reel to the boundary trap shaft’s inspection opening. While he jets from there to the earlier inspection opening, Isaac pulls the drain camera backward, capturing footage of how the reverse nozzle works to cut away roots. Eventually the nozzle reaches the inspection opening’s connection.

With the line now clear, Isaac performs a toilet paper flush test, but Oliver doesn’t notice the paper come through at the boundary trap. Just to be sure the system is clear, he ends up using a bucket to send more water and toilet paper through the system, while Isaac films at the boundary trap’s inspection opening. This test is successful.

Oliver replaces the gully’s lid, and then shows how Isaac has repaired the vent pipe that had been cut earlier, with the repaired segment now including an inspection opening in case access is needed in the future.

Bruce (Drain Cleaning AUSTRALIA @ YouTube) is working in a washroom with a toilet that isn’t draining properly. He starts by trying to plunge the toilet, but this isn’t successful.

He then goes outside, and locates the inspection opening in a box under a metal lid. There appears to be some toilet paper and sewage backed up inside the box. After prodding around inside the box briefly with a long drill bit, he pulls out some toilet paper and what appear to be light blue paper towels.

The high-pressure water jetter is used to clear the drain, and some more of the blue paper towels are removed by hand before they continue through the system. When the drain appears to be clear, the drain camera is used to check the line. What seems to be a fragment of concrete is discovered to still be in the line. This piece is removed by hand, but some more pieces of concrete are soon located using the camera.

Two more chunks of debris are removed by snagging them with the jetting hose and nozzle while the jetter is turned off, and then pulling them out of the drain pipe through the inspection opening. The camera is used once again to check the line, and some tree roots are found, although no more pieces of concrete are found. Even before the roots are removed, the toilet is tested, and it is flushing better.

Oliver (Drain Addict @ YouTube; Drain Go) has been called in by Isaac, a plumber, to clear a blocked drain for a newly-renovated bathroom. Isaac had already cut the stack pipe in a crawlspace area, and pulled out what appears to be fragments of tile or other demolition debris from the old bathroom. The drain camera reveals that there is additional debris in the line.

Some more of the easy-to-reach fragments are pulled out by hand by Oliver, including what appears to be an old drain grate of some sort. Once he removes all of the debris that he can reach, he decides to use the high-pressure water jetter to pull back the remaining debris where possible, with the rest of it being pushed toward the boundary trap. A plunging rod with a disc on the end has been inserted down the boundary shaft to try to catch any material before it ends up in the trap.

Oliver starts jetting the line and removes some more of the looser debris, but a subsequent camera investigation shows a significant blockage. He changes to a smaller jetting nozzle, which does get more of the rocky fragments out, including a small unknown mushroom-like object. After using the camera again, Oliver switches to a reverse nozzle, to try to blast the larger pieces out. The camera reveals that some of the chunks were removed, but some still remain. The nozzle is changed once more, and some more jetting is done, with an old tampon eventually being brought back on the end of the hose.

Instead of jetting some more, Oliver decides to try sucking out the debris using a wet/dry vacuum. He puts the vacuum hose down the pipe, and although some pieces are removed by the vacuum, the work is still going very slowly.

He begins to remove some slabs on the floor surrounding the pipe, and then begins digging down into the ground using his hands. Since the soil appears to be quite soft and sandy, it’s easy for him to quickly clear away a lot of it, revealing more of the drainage pipe. A handheld reciprocating saw is used to cut through some of the drain pipe, and this allows for several fittings and some pipe to be removed.

With the blockage now more easily accessible, Oliver is able to remove some more chunks by hand. Some of the chunks are quite large and firmly wedged into the pipe. He begins to pull out more of the debris, and piles it on top of one of the floor slabs he’d moved earlier. Although he manages to get most of the pieces, the camera shows that there is some remaining debris just beyond his reach. The jetter is used again to clear away some of this debris, although further camera inspection still reveals more pieces. Some more jetting is done to try to clear them away.

Oliver runs some water through the system to try to flush out any remaining debris, but when he checks the plunger that was inserted into the boundary shaft earlier, it doesn’t seem to have caught anything.

The larger drain camera is then inserted into the drain. Some sand and debris are still observed in the line, so some more jetting is done to try to push them to the boundary trap. After reaching the boundary trap with the nozzle, more water is run down the drain pipe. Some additional camera work shows that the pipe is clear, but the rod blocking the boundary shaft didn’t catch it. To ensure that the boundary trap is cleared, Isaac jets it.

Some toilet paper is then placed in the drain pipe, and Isaac pours a bucket of water down the pipe to simulate a toilet flush. Oliver watches at the boundary shaft to ensure it drains through fine.

Isaac then replaces the pipes and fittings that had to be removed earlier to gain access to the blockage.

Gavin (Penetrator Blocked Drains @ YouTube; Turbo Plumbing Solutions) is at a home with a bathroom drainage system that appears to be obstructed.

He uses a drill-powered drain snake that’s fed into the pipe via a drain in the bathroom floor. Although the system is draining somewhat after a little while of using the drain snake, Gavin becomes suspicious about what’s actually going on inside the pipe. He puts the drain camera down and does see roots, but begins to think that they may be in an overflow relief gully.

After going outside the house, he uses the pipe locator and determines that the camera is below ground in a landscaped area just outside the bathroom’s window. After brushing aside the loose landscaping material using his hand, he quickly discovers a grate covering a gully. Some roots can even be seen growing in through the grate’s openings. Gavin removes the grate, and he’s then able to manually pull out some clumps of roots, thus clearing the obstruction.

Oliver (Drain Addict @ YouTube; Drain Go) is at a home with a toilet that isn’t draining properly.

He starts by cutting a rectangular access hole into the side of the cast iron stack pipe that runs along an exterior wall of the house. This then allows for the drain camera to be inserted to observe the blockage, and the jetter is then used to pop it. The camera is sent down once again, and tree roots are observed coming in through some clay pipe. Some more jetting is done to clear these remaining roots away. The pipe is checked once again using the drain camera, and a toilet paper flush test is performed. The hole that was cut in the cast iron pipe earlier is then sealed with a piece of cut plastic pipe.

The kitchen sink in the house is also making a “glugging” sound. Oliver locates the smaller-diameter drain pipe for that on the outside of the house. After removing the cleanout opening’s cap, some grease or other sludge is observed inside the pipe. Since it’s a smaller pipe, the whip hose attachment is used to jet inside it. Some of the material clogging the inside of the pipe ends up getting deposited onto the concrete of the nearby walkway. Oliver briefly demonstrates the surprising power of the whip hose, and then washes away the debris that ended upon the concrete. A test of the sink shows that the sound heard earlier is no longer occurring.