flushing kitchen

[charlie-ia]

still working on the french drains round the house, and redirecting water coming down the hillside, but making steady progress.
in times of heavy downpours a stream appears in the kitchen, and we are having trouble finding where it comes from. it appears from under a step inside the house, and also through the bottom of the fireplace (luckily it then follows along between the flagstones across the kitchen floor, under the hall door and then straight out through the draught in the front door, so it could be worse!)
does anyone know where we can buy the flourescent dyes they use for hydrological surveys?
do they come in different colours?
can we make our own?
ta!

 

[Schoolmarm]

We used food dye in our last house to try and find out where some pipes led to.

 

[Edwardia]

Blimey, I will drag husband in front of this thread, so that if he thinks he's had probs ... burst lead water main, asbestos water tank, rewire, replumb, new wall ties.loft insulation, new boiler and CH, loadsa woodchip, two cast iron fireplaces to strip, acres of horsehair plaster to paint, several Leylandii to fell, pergola and shed to erect..he can see he has it easy compared to a stream through the kitchen !

Any fish ?

 

[Feltwell]

Blimey, that does sound a bit dramatic!

Drain tracing dye should do the trick - buy online or try your local plumbers merchants. They're usually based on food dyes and are completely non-toxic, but check which one you buy. An example is below:-

http://www.anthire.co.uk/drain_tracing_dyes_40_65_1.html?gclid=CIX36IPl6ZUCFQKHlAoduUSZeg

 

[Penners]

Sounds brilliant. No more washing the kitchen floor.

 

[fjpdesigns]

It's called a 'feature' isn't it?

 

[charlie-ia]

tried food dye, lovely chromatography, but didn't really work. thanks feltwell, will give them a go.

id rather have this "feature" than all your fun Edwardia!(actually that list sounds quite familiar in places, but one step at a time eh!)
its not really that dramatic. better now the vinyl floor has gone! it is quite deep in full flow, bout 1/2 an inch, but its not very wide, and nicely contained by the edges of the flagstones. we just chase it out with a broom when its done, and yes penners, our floor is beautifully clean! It soon dries up when the sun shines. no fish, but there was a giant horseleech one morning! (far bigger than a match box, and that was when it was sleeping)

im going to miss the pool in the bottom of the fireplace, it reflects the firelight like a mirror, and the pops and hisses as any tiny spark drops in are a lot of fun!

 

[Pford75]

You can also buy the dyes from screwfix

 

[kaz]

I really don't know whether visiting this forum is good for my health :shock:! About 3 years ago the old village pub was knocked down and a rebuild was halted due to a natural spring. Anyway... they've sorted out the problem (great news for them... grrr), and they have successfully rerouted the flow of water towards my house :shock:. Recently I had a full survey done and was advised to dig a French drain... I keep meaning to make a start on it :roll: otherwise, like you, I could be introducing a water feature in my kitchen too (God forbid)!

 

[Schoolmarm]

It isn't draining off their land onto yours is it? I don't think that they are allowed to do that.

 

[kaz]

At the time I rang the council and they told me it would be my responsibility to divert the flow. They said that most new builds affect underground water flow in some way. I wonder how much it would cost to get someone to dig the French drain... anyone got a rough idea?