by htg engineer »
Sun Jun 10, 2007 7:04 pm
just had a very similar problem in my house, luckily no sewage came back up, just water and I thought how can it back up that much.
Lift the manhole cover outside to see if that is full.
I used drain rods from the toilet down and from the manhole up because I thought it was just a blockage. I found clay marks on the drain rods which told me there was a collapsed drain or some similar problem. Had to have drains repaired, renewing the cast iron to clayware joint and about 2m of pipe.
The first sign for me was, listen when the bath is emptied or if the shower is running to see if you can hear water in the soil pipe. You should hear it running but not filling, you will be able to tell if its filling. The sewage could of been your own, it may have gathered at the bottom of the soil pipe and eventually risen if its been unable to get away.