gentlegreen wrote:
Dear URGlers,

I recently found that the water from my mum's roof was backing up and taking
an age to get down to the soakaway.

The offending tree has now been removed, but the clay drainage pipe is still
stuffed with roots.

Apart from diverting the water elsewhere and allowing the roots to dry and
shrink, I wonder how best to speed the process without major excavation.

At our last house in the City we had exactly the same problem. We had
a company come in with a video camera which they put down the drain.
It was found that the roots had cracked the clay pipe further along
this pipe which ran through our neighbours boundary. We had
correspondence with the local authorities regarding public health and
our neighbours, with whom we had a very good relationship. After
discussion, both parties decided to bite the bullit and have it
excavated on both properties so that new pipes could be laid.
Needless, to say, we had the roots pruned on the offending tree. We
involved our insurance company from the start who negotiated with our
neighbours' insurers and the matter was settled swiftly, efficiently
and amicably.