1-2 Clear

Beverley’s Beaver blocked by Knickers http://1-2clear.com/beverleys-beaver-blocked-by-knickers/ The manager of Beverley’s Beaver pub called us on a Sunday afternoon after he’d spent most of the night before, and the Sunday morning (in between coaching a rugby team) trying to clear the ladies toilets. He was a desperate looking man when I arrived - like someone who had spent hours trying to clear his own drains. He described how the drains from the ladies toilet had blocked late the previous evening, when the pub was in full swing. Each time the ladies toilets were used water came up through the floor drain and the toilets overflowed, flooding the floor – but still the customers used the toilets. He went on to describe how the water had flooded out from under the toilet door covering the floor of the corridor outside and running into the gents. Imagine the scene at the end of the night when all the punters had left! He’d locked the doors, and decided to go upstairs, count the takings and do all the other things he needed to do before going to bed. Then at about 3am, not being able to sleep came downstairs to set about clearing the drains – from the floor gully in the toilets. He’d had some four hours at this before giving up and getting organised for the rugby training. On his return from training he’d called us. As I walked in I spotted the manhole in the corridor outside the toilet door, but continued into the ladies, which had been cleaned but still held a level of water in the toilet pans and the floor gully was full. He followed me in and said that he’d been trying to clear it from the gully, had brought all sorts of stuff out of the drain, including a bra (?) and had broken his sink plunger, he then showed me how his arm was chafed…. At this point he asked if I wanted coffee. I accepted as long as he joined me because he looked like he needed it! I lifted the manhole lid in the corridor and saw that the line coming in from the toilet was well and truly blocked, everything was being held back by some black fabric caught on the junction, I had a quick poke with a drain rod and hooked the fabric, removing a pair of big ‘Bridget Jones’ type ladies knickers’, this released the blockage and the backed up sewage in the line ran away to the manhole, and was soon on its way to the main drain. He brought the coffee as everything was running clear – I did say that it is very common to find ladies underwear blocking toilets and drains in pubs which at times can be somewhat of an education…. And added, “And looking at the size of these I think the owner had ‘got lucky’ and pulled, and perhaps didn’t want to show ‘em to the lucky man!” So Mr Dave Price, manager of The Beaver in Beverley – here as promised, your tale of woe on our website!

"The once beautiful garden looked dead, decaying and arid with only a few trees standing – just like the encroachment of the Sahara desert in North Africa.......!" There is an intense rivalry in Alabama between the American college football teams of the University of Alabama and the University of Auburn. There is a court case pending where an Alabama fan stands accused of poisoning a row of trees where the Auburn fans tie ribbons when their team wins – some would say this is taking football rivalry too far – but it did bring back memories of a strange experience many years ago. A gentleman called asking us to come up with a solution to drain his rear lawn during times of rainfall. He said to call at any time when passing, jump over the rear fence and give him a call at work when on site. The next day I arrived along the shared access road and drove around the back of a number of exclusive properties – to see a fantastic garden walled along three sides and a post and rail fence as it abutted the shared drive. A great deal of money had obviously been spent on this meticulously maintained garden, whose centre piece was a rich and well-manicured lawn of about 400 square meters. The garden was divided into sections consisting of contrasting semi mature plants and shrubs, with care being taken to ensure colour in each part throughout the year. There were palm trees, evergreens and shrubs, large cacti and ferns, ornate pots, and roses trained to grow up the walls, interspersed with beautiful hanging baskets. There was also an elaborate garden shed about the size of a small cottage, and very complex water feature and fish pond. My thought, as I climbed over the fence, was how difficult the reinstatement of any excavation would be; I walked around the edge of the lawn (to avoid putting footprints in the grass) to the obvious low point, and proceeded onto the ornate patio and carefully lifted the nearby manhole. I began to sketch a drawing of the garden when a van arrived on the access road, and a couple of guys got out, one shouted over asking me what I was doing, I began to explain that I was looking at how to drain the lawn, one of them interrupted and said “You don’t want to get involved here mate, he won’t pay you, that’s why we’re here ‘cos he’s not paid us for laying that lawn last year”. The other came from the back of the van carrying a large 5 gallon back pack sprayer full of liquid. I twigged on pretty much straight away and said, “Round - up! ..... you’re not going to are you?” “Too right mate, we’ve no choice, second hand turf isn’t worth anything and he’s not willing to pay” was the reply as he climbed over the fence and began to spray the beautifully manicured lawn”. At this point one of the neighbours came out asking what was happening. The contractor explained about the unpaid bill whilst the other continued spraying. The neighbour commented, “He doesn’t pay anybody, the people who planted the trees haven’t been paid and neither as my mate who fitted his windows, if I were you I’d spray the bloody lot!” “We could, but we’ve no water with us” the Contractor said. “No problem” the neighbour replied, “I’ve got an outside tap …. be my guest”. At this point I made my excuses and left as they started spraying the shrubs and plants….. I never did call the householder and he didn’t call me. I passed by some months later and couldn’t resist stopping for a look – the once beautiful garden looked dead, decaying and arid with only a few trees standing – just like the encroachment of the Sahara desert in North Africa! Just glad we didn’t get involved in that job!

ż'A kiss is all part of the Service' I picked up a call from a customer who relayed a story about another company who had cleared the drains and carried out a CCTV survey, they supposedly spotted a tree root intrusion through one of pipe joints, excavated and broke into the drain upstream of the problem and relined the drain for 4m downstream, and then filled in the hole. This was done two weeks ago and the drains had not run since. She’d tried to contact the other company who refused to come back, and now refused to answer her calls; unfortunately she’d paid the invoice. She owned the house but it was rented out to tenants, I offered to visit either late Saturday or Sunday morning to have a look, she added, “My husband will be there, and he’s already re-excavated the drains and chopped the tree down”. I arrived early, walked around the rear of the property to find the decking removed and a 3 foot deep hole in the back garden adjacent to the kitchen waste water gully, which was filling with water each time the kitchen sink or washing machine emptied. The husband arrived and immediately described how he been ripped off, how he’d already got ‘Trading Standards’ involved, and would be seeing them in court. I put my hand out and shook his hand and said, “No problem, we can help you with that, let’s see how we can get this drain running shall we, firstly do we know if the neighbours drains are blocked?” He came back with, “Yes apparently they’ve been blocked for the last 18 months.” He went next door, and before he returned an obviously nervous lady came out of the back door followed by her three small children. We had a quick chat over the garden fence and she confirmed that her kitchen gully had been blocked for the last year and a half, which it had been getting her down, as she had no money and couldn’t afford to get the work done. She went on to say that her husband had lowered the garden to allow the water to run away from the house. I asked her if I could lift up a fence panel and come through to have a look, her reply was to say certainly, but again to add that she had no money and couldn’t pay anything. Sure enough the gully was blocked and the waste water was running onto the garden, which had been lowered by about 6” for the full width and the soil piled up at the rear end. I indicated that I needed to find out if her blockage was affecting her neighbour, and said, “Let me have a quick look at clearing it for you”. I got a six foot industrial drain rod with a 6” plunger from the van, stepped through the fence, smiled at her & her children and said, “don’t, worry have faith”. I inserted the plunger into the kitchen gully and used an action honed by over twenty years in the business; the water dropped with the first plunge and went completely with a very satisfying glug after the second. I turned and told her that her drains were now clear – her eyes filled and to see 18 months of worry & misery disappearing from her face after approximately 20 seconds of work, free of charge, was something that has made my weekend. After a few seconds she looked at me and said, “You have made me so happy, I could kiss you”…. I gave her a little peck on the cheek as I walked back through the fence and said, “It’s all part of the service”. The prognosis was that the drain liner inserted into the next door drain by the other company had collapsed inwards on itself before the epoxy resin had set. The solution is an excavation in the garden of the lady with the long term blocked drain (although she is not affected), to remove a short section of drain where the liner has collapse. Does the lady mind us excavating the drain in her garden…. What do you think?? I did ask the husband how he came to call us after his experience with the other company, “Oh you were recommended by the Estate Agent we used when we bought the house”

It was Sunday the F1 racing had finished when the call came through, “My husband’s been at it all weekend and now needs help”. I thought this could be interesting so agreed to go there and then. Arriving at a middle house in a terrace of houses with relatively small enclosed rear gardens in a really nice area, the lady opened the door before I even knocked informing me that he was round the back. I opened the 6 foot rear gate to be met by an unbelievable sight, a guy in his 40s, wearing what can best be described as a black plastic apron, over jeans and a yellow tee shirt, yellow marigold gloves and flip flops – holding a yellow kitchen bucket and looking into a manhole half full of sewage, and he was absolutely covered in the stuff, he’d obviously had an itch on his cheek because he had a finger mark of it there too. But the unusual thing was that he was surrounded by two wheelie bins, seven black plastic dustbins, and at least a dozen plastic bin sacks… all full of sewage…. and a set of brand new plastic drain rods. Trying not to laugh I asked him what had happened? He just shook his head and looked very sheepish. His wife, standing on the doorstep proceeded to explain that they’d had drain problems during the week and Saturday morning was when he decided to start, and he’d been at it ever since. He’d bought some drain rods but couldn’t find the outlet of the manhole so had decided to bail out the contents into black bin sacks, on filling these he’d then continued into the wheelie bin, then the other wheelie bin, but still couldn’t find the bottom of the manhole. He then explained how he’d bought 3 plastic dust bins from B&Q and filled them, he’d then returned to B&Q for 4 more which he’d then also filled… At this point I thought I’d better ask the obvious question, “Did you not realise that the entire terrace drains into this manhole, and the more you bail out the more comes in from the other properties?” The look on his face was priceless as he realised, and the look on that of his wife’s was one of disdain and anger”. I had a quick look in the manhole and commented, “I’m almost certain there will be an interceptor or U bend at the outlet, let me just get something from the van”. I returned carrying a six foot drain rod with a 6” plunger, inserted it into the bottom of the manhole and gave it one single hard push……… The guy was squatting on his haunches watching closely…. and with a loud glug the level of the manhole immediately dropped and the contents disappeared… He just rolled back looking up at the sky for what seemed like many minutes… He eventually looked at me with his dirty face and tear filled eyes and said “I just don’t bloody believe it”, I couldn’t resist coming back with “It’s 25 years of experience that’s all”, He then asked “How am I going to get rid of all this lot? will the Council or Yorkshire Water take it away do you think, or would you take it? – I’ll pay you!” For a millisecond I thought, that would be 4 loads at £** - easy money – but then my ‘natural generosity’ kicked in and I replied, “I’m sure Yorkshire Water will take it, shall we send it to them?” “How he asked?”… He soon realised as I emptied all the bins, wheelie bins and plastic bins sacks into the manhole and both of us took great pleasure in watching it all disappear into the main sewer! Wondering what sort of person would get themselves into this mess I thought I’d better ask him what he did for a living…. He didn’t get chance to reply before his wife sneered, and snarled, “You wouldn’t believe it but he’s a bloody school teacher!”….

The unabridged version of the potential international incident between Somalia and Bangladesh that had been brewing for the past weeks concerning a 3 month blocked shared drain, which was avoided this week by the combined efforts of 1-2 Clear and a neighbouring Council’s Environmental Health Officer. Each time one house (a Bangladeshi family) flushed the toilet it came up in the neighbouring property (a Somali family) and flooded the garden. The 80+ year old Somali guy had dug a bath sized hole at the corner of building which was filled with sewage… Nice! We’d been recommended to the Somali guy (a man who’d been in the UK for almost all his life working in heavy industry) and I arrived to be met by him and his son (with a very broad regional accent), and a short time later by one of the local Council’s Environmental Health Officers. The old man explained that the Bangladeshi people next door had built an extension over the only manhole. At this point it was suggested that I went and knocked on the door of the neighbouring Bangladeshi property…. and then it started. The owner, a guy in his 30’s saying, “We have no problem, it is not our problem”. I persuaded them to let me investigate further, removing the stench pipe and inserting the old trusty rod and plunger, a quick push saw sewage spew up through the kitchen gully and onto the yard – they then realised they had a problem. Then the blaming of each other began in earnest, with the old Somali guy (talking at 100 miles an hour in broken English), and the Bangladeshi guy going at it hammer and tong. Both the Council Officer and I stated that they had to sort their differences unless the Council would issue a notice and it would ultimately cost them more. Eventually, getting on for an hour and a half later, I thought we had agreement for the work required, who was going to pay what, and we would do the work Tuesday. We were just about to leave when the Bangladeshi guy says; “No, I’m going to get a cheaper quote” Well this really did upset the Somali guys and it got serious… The old man said “No, we want Mr Paul to do this, he’s is recommended, he knows job, it was your guy’s that built extension over f…ing manhole in first place…” Bangladeshi guy says, “No, I know some guys would do this real cheap”. Then the old man came out with, “We want Mr Paul to do this, we don’t want any Polish doing this” - his son immediately added “and we don’t want any f…ing Asians either”… as one would expect this lit the blue touch paper!! At this point the Environmental Health Officer and I looked at each other, told them this was totally unacceptable and that we had to leave – so we left…. Needless to say the old man called me the next day and apologised for what had happened and asked for help… I again visited and discussed the options but the Bangladeshi family would not open the door. The Council decided to issue the notice at the end of the following day… Later in the day I was pleasantly surprised to receive a call from a very quietly spoken lady with a West Yorkshire accent, and introduced herself as the Bangladeshi guy’s wife. I said “ah, As-salaam-alaikum”?, she replied appropriately, which certainly broke the ice. She proceeded to ask if we’d still be willing to do the work. I said yes, but we could not have any more confrontations or racist remarks, and we would want payment in cash from both parties before we started, to which she agreed. I then called the old Somali man who agreed, and finally made a call to the Council’s Environmental Health Officer who could not believe they had seen sense… and wanted to know how I’d done it and confirmed that he would suspend issuing the enforcement notice. Anyway, payment was forth coming before we started, the work was completed, all the sewage removed and the drains left running free – we did not see her husband or the Somali sons all day, but having said that but at no point did the Bangladeshi wife or the old Somali guy talk to each other - except through me! Moral of the story ‘Sometimes it just takes a woman’s touch - Alhamdulillah’

Dear Paul, I just wanted to write and thank you for your swift, professional and very friendly service today when you came and unblocked the drain outside. I said when you arrived that I didn't know how you did your job, as to me it must be one of the most disgusting jobs in the world! You assured me that you love your job.....and when you told me that it's because you can leave the customer happier then when you arrive, then I can see why you do enjoy your work....you certainly left me going back to my school preparation with a smile on my face! Thank you so much and thank goodness for people like you, who can do what most of us can't........ I think I will stick to the classroom! Many thanks again. Yours sincerely, Kathryn

Interesting customer in Barnsley yesterday – trilby hat, smoking a pipe, a magnificent set of false teeth, and kept calling me ‘Pal’, all he wanted to talk about was his bowel movements or lack of them, before I tried to change the subject by commenting on his fucia plants – “Ee Y’aint seen nowt yet Pal come have a loowk at this lot ‘roun’t back” – wherever you looked there were fusias, he had over a 1,000 plants – he'd be growing and showing them for over 40 years - I indicated that I was impressed..... Then it was “Ere Pal cum loowk at thease” – as he led me to his temperature controlled shed where he had over 200 budgies – he bred them too! “That yan thear cost me 200 pownd, e’s a beauty int he? Ere lad, dist tha want wan o thease bods instead od money for’d drains”? I declined and said I would have to charge him, and as we took a last look down his large and now empty manhole in in front garden, his parting comment before I put the lid on was “ Ee lad, yuv done a crackin job thear, I could shit fo’d next 5 years and still not fill that bugger”! What a fantastic old guy....

I received the following email this week from a customer. It certainly makes it all worthwhile! Dear Mr Robinson I write to inform you how impressed my wife and I were with the service your company afforded us today, when I telephoned you about our blocked drain. To receive such a prompt reply on a Saturday morning and the promise that your operative would attend at 1pm – “or possibly ten minutes earlier” – only a couple of hours after my call was service indeed. In fact, your workman, “Jim”, arrived at 12.50 and within five minutes had released the drain. He ran tests to ensure that it was cleared and detected a noise which my wife had noticed for some time. He explained that this was an airlock somewhere else and then spent considerable time working on two other areas where we had been completely unaware of any problems. Eventually, he ejected to large, solid balls of fat from another pipe and demonstrated that our whole system was now in perfect order. Had it not been for the thorough and painstaking approach of Jim, we would have had another blockage ever-worsening without our knowledge. Throughout his visit, he was most pleasant and not bothered by my questioning him out of interest in his work. Finally, when he completed the work the price charged was exactly what I had been quoted when I telephoned you, even though I think Jim did more work than I would have expected. You are now in our ‘little book’ od reliable tradesmen and we shall certainly recommend you to all our associates. Thank you very much indeed. Yours sincerely Mr L.

On account of the torrential rain, we had a serious problem with drain blockage resulting in raw sewage at the back of the house. The level was so high there was a possibility that it could have come into the house. I telephoned a number of drain clearance companies last night and as you would expect, many were very busy and unable to come out. I am sending this message as your company offered exceptional service and you deserve acknowledgement of this. Although you too, were unable to come out last night, you said someone would be here at 8.30am. I spoke to a very pleasant man on the telephone this morning who confirmed that someone was on the way. Lee arrived shortly afterwards. Lee did a really good job sorting out the drain situation between my house and my neighbours. I told him I was so impressed, would tell his line manager. He was not only efficient but also very professional, competent and pleasant. So thank you for a job well done and at a reasonable price. It is important to acknowledge reliability and good service. Keep it up! Thank you Catherine

22 May 2011 - When someone has a problem with their drains that need repairing, they’re given a price and come they back with the line, “would it be cheaper if I did the digging myself because it's what I do for a living?” ...."Oh really what do you do?"..... "I'm a grave digger!" Priceless!

It never ceases to amaze that plumbers don’t imagine a kitchen drain set to run up hill will eventually block – one floorboard lifted, pipe removed, cleaned and refitted with a fall in the right direction - One hour, standard fixed rate = one very satisfied customer!

It's always great to visit customers I originally visited in the late '80s - she'd held on to the original invoice!