leasehold house drain issues

housegirl83

Ah the simple joys of home ownership!

Ok. I own a leasehold house. Owned by me for just over 2 years now. The freeholder is the original developer. House is new build... Since Jan 2012.

My neighbour and I have noticed an issue with a drain outside my house. For example if I have my washing machine and dishwasher on at the same time it overflows and water runs down my drive. It looks like clear water however there is regularly a sewage type smell outside both our properties (more noticeable now its warmer).

When I first moved in I did have to remove a load of waste that the builders had left down there, I noticed the toilets took a short while to drain) but seemed to work ok once I'd done that.

I seem to have quite a few issues drainage wise... shower on top floor doesn't drain properly, toilets and sinks gargle, toilets slow to drain on full flush, and now the overflowing outside drain. The drain lid is on my drive.

So couple of questions

- could the issue be a blocked outside drain?
- there is a sewage smell sometimes (I've also noticed this in my downstairs toilet), could this be a health issue?
- does/should sewage pipes and 'normal' (shower, sink, dishwasher etc) pipes drain to the same place right outside my front door?
- who is responsible for maintaining the outside pipes and drains (looked at my lease and can't find anything specific to maintenance and repairs)? Is it the leaseholder or freeholder?

Cheers ��

essjae

Hi housegirl83,

1 - Yes it could be a blocked drain! Or partially blocked, more likely.

2 - The smell in itself is unlikely to be a health hazard as far as i'm aware (or people working in water treatment etc would have a bit of a problem!), merely unpleasant and indicative of a problem with the drains.

3 - Yes, it is normal for the waste outlets from toilets, showers, sinks, etc to go into the same drain.

4 - If the drain only serves your property, its down to the lease. For a leasehold house, its likely that the lease will have been written to make it your responsibility.

I suggest you start by lifting the drain lid - if it is clear, you should be able to see the bottom of the insepection pit, with a U-shaped drain channel running through it.
If you can't see this channel, the drain is going to need to be cleared - you can buy drain rods yourself (£20-30ish?), or call someone out (eg dynorod, although they tend to be on the expensive side) - cost about £70-80 if its easy to clear. This should sort out most normal blockages, such as a build-up of fat or babywipes etc (neither of which should be put down a drain, by the way).
If this doesn't sort the problem, there could be serious troubles with the drain - time to check the lease, and also check whether it would be covered under the NHBC guarantee. It could also mean the problem is elsewhere - perhaps the pipe connections from your house are leaky so sewage is seeping out - check around your house for signs of leaks.

Hope some of this is useful!

G_M

But adding to the above, if the property was built 2 years ago, does it come with a NHBC warranty or similar?

If the builder has not done the drains properly I'd expect him to fix them. So depends what exactly is wrong with the drains.