Water soaking brickwork from neighbour's leaking toilet

robgoingcrazy

JohnB47 wrote: »

Ultimately you will have to trust someone to come and look at the problem and decide what to do.

But I really do think you can do yourself a favour by simply taking some time to go and stand for a while and see if you can spot any water actually falling on that corner. If it was me, I'd be out there in the rain, with a brolly up and a torch if need be, just taking a good long while to observe.

Also, that flat roof - been up to look at it from above?

OK, if you don't see anything untoward, at least you know that much. If you're not sure, take more pictures (of the flat roof, particularly at that corner) and let the experts (not me) have a look.

It's a pain I know but why not just have a look? Also, what about that echoing dripping noise you said you heard - is it gone now?

As it happens I took a look at the roof from my back room window, as I have no idea about roofs I didn't know what I was looking at really, have also just been out with a torch but as it's raining can't really see much, apart from maybe water dropping on to a drainage pipe which might then be dripping around it and on to the flat roof.

Of course there is some water going on the flat roof, but I haven't seen if it's just rainwater or something else, as yet...

JohnB47

Ah, so you didn't see more water dripping into that corner, than could just be explained by rain. ie there wasn't more water falling in that corner than elsewhere on the tiled area? That's the point I'm making, to see if there's a concentration of water at that corner.

The more I look at your pictures, the more I think that the source of the water is close to that corner. Could you take another picture, this time showing the metal pipe and where it is relevant to the corner. I can't see how water dripping from it could be soaking the corner like that - unless the slab underneath it slopes towards the corner?

Also, is water still coming out of the metal pipe?

southcoastrgi

Rob, the metal pipe outside is connected to the prv inside the boiler, this is connected to your heating system & therefore the water contained within it, everytime you get water out this pipe you have to add more to bring the pressure back up, everytime you add water this weakens the concentration of the inhibitor, you said this pipe had been leaking for a while, therefore the amount of inhibitor within your system will be very limited, the inhibitor prevents rust & sludge within your system, BG are very good at refusing to do repairs that are down to sludge & then they will req you to have a powerflush @ about £750 (their prices) before they will repair your boiler, as you have a sealed system it is more work for them to put more inhibitor in, however in your own interests this should be done

I_have_spoken

TBH it looks more like water is coming up from the ground and soaking the brickwork - has the patio been laid above the level of the damp-proof course on the extension? (Is there a DPC?)

Maybe high ground water after the rain and there's hydraulic pressure causing the water to come up is it can't flow away due to the foundations?

I'd lift the slab in the corner, dig down maybe 20cm and see if the hole fills with water. You may need a "drywell" which discharges into the drains used by the two downpipes.

robgoingcrazy

Ok, here are today's pictures. Roofing person I had planned coming was out of it on booze when I called him so have gone to another bloke who did some work for me before.

Anyway, today's water pattern, different from the other 2 lots:



Here is location of pipe if you can see it, but it has stopped dripping now. Now I think of it, could the steam from the flu be condensating on the pipe above, then dripping down onto neighbours roof?



And a view from above:



As for the inhibitor I will certainly check that out, however I would say the system only had to be topped up once, not repeatedly, it never dropped to a level where it flashed red, was just low, don't know if that makes any difference. Maybe I will write to British Gas and just mention it (I am just not knowledgeable enough to challenge a qualified plumber when he has just opened up a boiler and fixed it!).

Thanks. Just going to try to get a close up of corner...

here...

JohnB47

Good photos, thanks.

Well, a couple of observations from me, a non expert.

That bent down copper pipe is not the culprit I think, even when it was dripping. Too far away from the centre of the problem - the corner.

That flat roof covering looks a bit odd. You can see, curved over the edge, the rough upper surface of the original felt. But then you can see a smoother layer of something placed over the top of that. You can see the edge of that, along and about 4" out from the neighbours wall, that looks like it could let water get underneath. Seems like there's been a problem in the past and that's a bodge job to try to cure it.

The walls above that corner look perfectly OK, which suggests that the water is getting to that corner either from below or out from your neighbours place via that crack between your wall and his.

I realise that this might not be easy, or possible, but I would be keen to see what is happening inboard of that corner in your neighbours house. I wonder if he has a serious leak in that flat roof and the water is running down on the inside (perhaps in his cavity) and coming out at that corner. His bricks aren't keyed-in or mortared to your wall on the lower six or so courses, so that's what could let the water ooze out. Bearing in mind the good mortar joints above, this suggests that the problem, whatever it's source, is very old leading to the mortar breaking down and crumbling away.

One other, unrelated point. Is that his soil pipe (loo outlet) running across your wall into your soil stack? That doesn't seem right to me but perhaps it's permissible. (I wouldn't want anyone else to be able to put anything into my waste pipes that could cause a block that I would have to pay to get cleared).

robgoingcrazy

Thanks for those thoughts JohnB47, much appreciated.

I remortgaged the house about 4 years ago so will try to find the surveyors report I don't recall there being any mention of a problem at that point and he didn't say there was any problem with the house that would affect its marketability.

Is the soil pipe the big black pipe, I can't make head nor tail of where that belongs or if that is my outlet pipe but I don't know how that would fit with it coming out of his house - it seems to have water go through it if I flush my toilet, maybe its my overflow pipe, am not sure - my loo is sandwiched between the two bedrooms right inside the house so it must come out somewhere... He has said his toilet is downstairs, in the extension, so I really have no idea how my pipe would come out of his house...

My builder is going to come in next few days, my neighbour has said he can't see any problems inside, and has said it would be Ok for my builder chap to look in his house if necessary, we seem to be cooperating so far, it's in both our interests to get this sorted really, he seems as baffled as I am.

I_have_spoken

That mop won't soak up the water

Seriously if there was dripping/overflow from above I'd expect to see wind-blown splashes up and down the wall. The concentration along the edge of the slabs says it's water rising from below to me.

JohnB47

Sound good news about your builder coming and cooperation from your neighbour. I hope he gets to the bottom of it.

As regards the soil pipe - yes it's that big black pipe. I thought it must be your neighbours cos it's inboard of the line of his extension. But if you are saying it's yours, doesn't that mean he's built his extension on your land? I can't see if that's a gable end we're looking at but in any case, if that pipe and the small loo overflow pipe to the left of it indicates the position of your loo, surely directly below it is another room of your house and therefore he has extended beyond the line of the party wall? Perhaps I'm wrong.

Anyway, let us know what the builder says.

robgoingcrazy

I_have_spoken wrote: »

That mop won't soak up the water

Seriously if there was dripping/overflow from above I'd expect to see wind-blown splashes up and down the wall. The concentration along the edge of the slabs says it's water rising from below to me.

Ha ha lol!

This is an interesting theory, would it be possible for that to happen even during a very dry spell? So far there seems no real correlation between the water appearing and any heavy rain, it was appearing at random when it was hot and dry at the end of the summer, but I guess I will have to keep observing.