Conservatory drainage?

UltraBadger

Hi there, we've had a conservatory built, almost but not quite finished. I've gone into the back garden and the guttering they've put on runs to a downpipe on the corner of the conservatory and straight onto the ground. Is this right?
They covered a drain for this work but put rodding lines in at each side of the build. Presumably they can't use those for drainage. Currently the ground around the build is just mud (clay). The conservatory is the usual brick on top of concrete footing. It's 3m x 4m so the downpipe is right at the corner of the conservatory wall and 3m from the rear wall of the house.
I was intending to put a water butt on anyway but once that's full is it OK for all the rainwater to just go onto the ground?
I'm not a builder or plumber so all I know is what I've read on t'internet! Many thanks.

Ant555

Our conservatory Co ran a gully in our patio alongside the house as shown below. The 'D' on my plan is the existing drain for the main house roof downpipe. It seemed extremely straightforward for them to do.



I
I House I
I______________________I
D---gully---- I.................I
.....................I....Conser...I
.....................I.....vatory..I
.....................I.................I
..................... __________


edit (I can;t get the above diagram to format correctly but the house is at the top, conservatory bottom right and drain on the left)



Its a kind of preformed concrete U shape with a silver coloured grate on the top. similar to this...


So, although I don;t know if your drain is the proper way to do things, the above is an option if you were to challenge them.

Hope this helps.

SailorSam

You can still cut into the pipe to fit a water butt.
Who fitted your Conservatory ? Check with them what they did with the drain.
It could be what you see as a pipe that goes into the ground, the builders may have cut into drain underneath, and the way they've done it is a neater job than having a grid.

UltraBadger

Thanks guys. The downpipe doesn't go into the ground, it just ends in a 90 degree bend like an old fashioned drainpipe.. The water exits an inch or so above ground. Yes will be doing the water butt anyway.

cajef

When our conservatory was built there was an existing drain pipe about a metre from it, they just connected into that.

Ant555

You said the conservatory is not finished so is it possible that they are intending to do something else with it to finish off properly?

If it were me I would be wary of waterlogging in that area after wet periods and keep a general eye out for damp in the corner of the conservatory.

Just out of interest, what distance is the nearest existing rainwater drain to the closest part of your conservatory?

UltraBadger

Thanks Ant555, the nearest rainwater drain is on the opposite side of the conservatory. Not sure why they didn't use it. I've asked them about the drainage and they've not come back to me. They've asked me for the final payment of £1K but they've not done the skirting yet, never mind the drainage.
Also, the ground around the conservatory is a state and there are lots of holes, would you expect them to make good around the build, at least level it off?