November 26, 2010

  • Friday 26th Novemeber 2010

    Friday Afternoon; Sunny but cold, todays high has been 12C, overnight low was 8C, the rest of the week has been about the same.......

    About a year ago we had a problem with a blocked drain; the blockage caused the downstairs shower room to flood when the front bathroom or kitchen sinks were emptied, so we called an English plumber for help. Two of them turned up, they spent 20 minutes or so trying to plunge the blockage, which I had already tried in vain……. They then suggested that the floor would need to be dug up in order to get to the problem, but first we could try using the strong drain cleaner, which is basically sulphuric acid. For this “help” they charged us 30 euro’s

     

    Over last weekend we have been experiencing the same problem, but this time it has been worse and is affecting all sinks and baths. The first thing I tried was the acid, but it failed to unblock the pipe, then became mixed with the water and that stinks like Rotorua!

     

    So we had to get a plumber, but I decided not to use English plumbers again, instead I wanted to find a Spanish one.  Tuesday I rang Jim as his Spanish neighbour Miguel is a builder and he was able to recommended someone, he even rang the guy and arranged for him to visit, explaining how to find us and arranging a time.

     

    Ok he wasn't available until Wednesday morning because he was in Valencia, but he turned up as arranged. Of course all communication is in Spanish, but I had typed out what I thought the problem was and my theory, then put it into Google translate so I was able to show him. We also used it the other way round, I do speak some Spanish now, but not the technical stuff…..

     

    First the plumber tried to plunge the problem, but of course I had already tried that in vain, then he tried a small snake like thing which he pushed up the pipe from outside, but it was no use either. He said this would need to be cleared by compression, but then he rang the company who specialised in this, arranged for them to come this afternoon and explained how to find us. He was here for nearly 30 minutes and he didn’t charge us anything because he hadn’t fixed the problem…… I was impressed and although he doesn’t know it yet, this will indeed “pay” for him.

     

    In the afternoon a large tanker type lorry turned up, it was far too big to get past the church, but that didn’t seem to worry them. Two guys worked for an hour, first they tried the suggested compression method, but it didn’t work, then they tried a large hose with high pressure water from the outside pipe, then in the end they succeeded with a tiny thin version of the same thing. With this they fired water under immense pressure along a hose, which was fed all the way from this tanker at the bend of the drive by the church extension. The nozzle directs the water backwards, but it is under such pressure it pushes the nozzle forward and so as it goes it cleans the pipe at the same time…… It pulsed like a hammer drill, it was amazing and that one worked!

     

    My theory as to how this all happened in the first place was also confirmed. It would seem that the workmen last week had had flushed all the broken bits of concrete and small stones with cement dust down the drain. This must have fallen into the bath when they changed the windows and they just flushed it down the plug hole….. My theory was confirmed when a large amount of small stones came rushing out as the nozzle broke through…..  Moral of the storey…use the Spanish services, not the Brits.