Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2011 10:18 am
Hi, looking for a bit of advice if anyone can help.
I noticed one of my rainwater downpipes seemed to be leaking near the roof recently and water was running down the wall every time it rained. The pipe was cemented into the ground through a hole in a paving slab.
I removed a section of the downpipe and it was full of decaying leaf matter which was almost compost like indicating it has been like that for some time. I then tested the small bit of pipe left above ground but even small amounts of water were taking a very long time to dissipate. I tried rodding it with a claw attachment and managed to remove quite a bit more debris including some reasonable sized stones but I could only get the rod about 8 inches underground. So, I chipped out the cement and when i pulled out the small remaining section of downpipe it was not connected to anything. The ground directly beneath it is like a sand and hardcore mix but this is directly adjacent to my house foundations.
I got a copy of the house drainage plans from Building control which indicate that that downpipe should be connected to a shared soakaway on my neighbours property.
Is it possible they changed their plans - could it be a filter drain? Or did the builder just not fancy constructing that soakaway and just stick the pipe into the ground?!
I noticed one of my rainwater downpipes seemed to be leaking near the roof recently and water was running down the wall every time it rained. The pipe was cemented into the ground through a hole in a paving slab.
I removed a section of the downpipe and it was full of decaying leaf matter which was almost compost like indicating it has been like that for some time. I then tested the small bit of pipe left above ground but even small amounts of water were taking a very long time to dissipate. I tried rodding it with a claw attachment and managed to remove quite a bit more debris including some reasonable sized stones but I could only get the rod about 8 inches underground. So, I chipped out the cement and when i pulled out the small remaining section of downpipe it was not connected to anything. The ground directly beneath it is like a sand and hardcore mix but this is directly adjacent to my house foundations.
I got a copy of the house drainage plans from Building control which indicate that that downpipe should be connected to a shared soakaway on my neighbours property.
Is it possible they changed their plans - could it be a filter drain? Or did the builder just not fancy constructing that soakaway and just stick the pipe into the ground?!