Rainwater drain help....damp/drains..

[Wesleycottage]

Ammended

Please can any one advise?

We have recently moved into a Victorian House. I have been sorting out some bits. One of which was the cause of damp to an external wall. i traced it back to a leaking /blocked down pipe. this is now sorted, however.....

The down pipe went to a brick hopper and into a cast iron bellow ground pipe. This ran along a party garden wall and left the property just bellow ground level through the foundations of the brick wall at the front of the property (with me so far?) directly into the ground bellow the footpath.

The path that this cast iron pipe originally took is now blocked by:

BT have inserted a telegraph pole directly the other side of the wall, butting up to my wall, and in direct line of the iron pipe, which must have ran into the sewer under the road.

Do I have any come back on BT or the highways to reinstate the drain? There is no room for a soakaway, what else can I do? The water currently drains onto the soil at the base of the downpipe.....

Thanks

Jim :?

 

[Lime]

How do you know where the blockage is?
how long has the pole and the pavement been in place?
If they have been in position for a long time then your ability to take action in court is unlikely.
For instance, if you lived in London, suing the GPO or the LCC would not be possible.
Both had Crown Immunity at the time.
Besides you would need to prove the pole or pavement caused the blockage.
I suspect the blockage has been caused by neglect over the years and by detritus going down the pipe.

 

[Penners]

Following on from Lime's thoughts about muck in the pipe, have you tried getting a specialist drain clearance company in to try and clear it? They have all kinds of weapons in their armoury nowadays - water lances and so on.

If you have done this, and it hasn't worked, then if all else has failed, have you considered re-routing the outflow pipe to discharge into an alternative surface water sewer - assuming that there's one at a convenient point?

Be very careful how you approach this, though. There are all kinds of regulations about keeping foul water and surface water apart, and you would be well advised to seek advice from your local sewage service provider before you plan anything.

 

[Pford75]

As others point out, an acquired right of drainage may be difficult to pursue....however, check your deeds. If you have an easement for drainage of water (which in theory you should have if the pipes are long-standing, involved drainage across other property etc.)

If you have a right of drainage in your deeds, the fact that others chose not to enforce these rights or that blockage occurred some time ago, is not your problem.

Even if you do not have a right specifically mentioned in your deeds, I would be tempted to write a polite, but pointed letter to the local highways department (responsible for the pavement) and to BT. Point out that you have recently purchased your property and that you have noticed that their (raised pavement / pole) is blocking your drainage and causing damage to your building. Put them on notice that you require them to address the problem ASAP and that you are reserving all rights to damages from this point.

This (in my experience) is usually enough to get someone to sort the problem.

 

[DaveBrigg]

If a right of drainage across a neighbour's land exists in deeds, does anyone know whose responsibility it is to ensure that the drain is kept in a good state of repair. i.e. does the neighbour have to look after the drain on their land, even though it does not serve them, or does the owner of the building that needs the drain have to maintain it, even after it leaves their property?

 

[Penners]

Are the details of such responsibilities not laid down in the deeds?

I believe the norm is that you have to maintain your part of the drain, and to contribute to the cost of maintaining the jointly used part. If your neighbour fails to maintain it such that this affects your useage of the system, then I suppose you would have recourse in law.

Could be troublesome and costly, though.

I hasten to add that I'm no kind of lawyer, so that's purely a layman's speculation.

 

[Pford75]

If a right of drainage across a neighbour's land exists in deeds, does anyone know whose responsibility it is to ensure that the drain is kept in a good state of repair.

Penners is correct....it should be stipulated in the deeds. Our's contains what I believe is a pretty standard paragraph granting...

"The right, given reasonable notice, to enter onto the adjoining property (at a route which can be varied by the landowner of the adjoining property, but which must be no less convenient than that currently used) with men, materials and machinery as required to maintain the right of drainage. All works to made good by the holder of the covenant (us), except in the case of damage caused by negligence by the owner of the adjoining property"

So...we can access any time to maintain our drainage ditch (which is interesting since we have had to use a JCB in the past).....in our case the route will now have to cross people's gardens.

The negligence point is key....our ditch became blocked since the landowner was dumping garden rubbish in it.....after we cleared it, we sent him the bill for over £1100!

 

[DaveBrigg]

Interesting replies, thanks. Our deeds require us to keep existing drains which cross our property, and to allow reasonable access for maintenance. However, the recent barn conversion adjoining our property has a gutter with a missing downpipe and a new storm drain, which both shoot rainwater into what must have once been a drainage system that crosses our garden. At times of heavy rainfall a small pond appears in our garden, at the base of their wall. The drain is silted up and I have no idea where it leads or how long it is. It may head out the other side of the garden onto land owned by someone else. I imagine the overhaul of the drain could be expensive, so it would be nice to know which way the bill will fall before any discussions begin.

 

[Pford75]

I imagine the overhaul of the drain could be expensive, so it would be nice to know which way the bill will fall before any discussions begin

Firstly, it may not be as expensive as you suspect. If the downpipe is missing, it is very possible that silt/mud etc has entered the drain and simply blocked it. This (in our experience) may be possible to clear yourself (with a set of drain-rods from Screwfix and a pressure washer). Alternatively, most drain guys won't charge more than £100 to jet the drain.

If there are lots of bends, or if the drain has collapsed, then it will be more expensive. But this cost is typically (99% of the time) to the person exercising their right to drain (ie. your neighbour). Unless specified in yours deeds, you have no duty to maintain the drain. Although i'm not sure that you can force them to maintain the drain either....but you can pursue a 'nuisance' claim against them for the discharge of water onto your garden.

 

[Flyfisher]

Firstly, it may not be as expensive as you suspect. If the downpipe is missing, it is very possible that silt/mud etc has entered the drain and simply blocked it. This (in our experience) may be possible to clear yourself (with a set of drain-rods from Screwfix and a pressure washer).

Just to add to that, I've unblocked a drain using just a garden hosepipe. It all depends on the blockage, of course, but it might be worth starting with a simple hosepipe and work your way up, so to speak.

 

[Penners]

As Flyfisher says, a hosepipe fitted with a good jet nozzle, and poked down the drain on a long stick, can often solve the problem. If that doesn't work, and you've got a pressure washer, try that instead.

 

[arthurw3]

If you do use a pressure washer, be careful that the force doesn't either smash up the possible cracked and dodgy pipes or blow all the cement out of the joints and block the pipe with that

 

[DaveBrigg]

I ran out of excuses not to tackle this job. First, a couple of barrow loads of soil were dug out of what I think is a sump. The entrance and exit pipes for the water are shown below

I'm not a drainage engineer by trade, but as a layman, Semtex would seem to be the answer.

 

[Pford75]

it is very possible that silt/mud etc has entered the drain and simply blocked it

So I was on the right track....although perhaps underestimated the volume of silt/mud

We had a similar problem with mud in our sump after our cellar flooded. We dug out as much as possible, then we used a set of drain rods with a 'corkscrew' attachment to drill a small bore through the plug. If you can get through the plug, water can then be used to gradually wash it away. Might also be worth trying some seriously heavy duty drain unblocker....filling the sump with water and leacving overnight.

 

[DaveBrigg]

Sounds like a good idea. The access hole is quite tight, otherwise I have a small child desperate to do some digging. We don't know where the exit tunnel leads to, but digging out the sump completely should at least take up the run-off from light showers.