5 manholes in a brand new house (garden & drive way)...

sniggings

BartyBoy wrote: »

I have now obtained a copy of the 'original' drawing plan from the sales guy.

Here is the drawing plan

My plot is highlighted within the purple/magenta box. All blue circles represent rain & surface water drains, and the red circles represent manholes.

On the actual site, there is a manhole sitting half way in between the top small red circle and the big red circle, but for somehow it is not shown on the drawing plan. In total there are 2 small and 2 big red circles in the back garden.

From what I saw on-site last time, the big red circles in my plot are the black plastic manholes similar to these.

I was told the way these manholes connect to each other between plots is, plot 2 connects to plot 1, then plot 1 to plot 3 (the one near to the back fence), then plot 3 to plot 4. But then you will see there is no big red circle in plot 5 (only 2 small circles by the property), so how does it work now?

I think you are looking way to deeply into this, you either want to accept the manhole cover in the middle of the garden or you don't.

Asking for and getting a decent discount/upgrade on something may make living with the cover that more bearable

Leesud

Hi,

About 4 years ago we moved into a 4 bed new build in Consett, County Durham. It was a showhome and had a decent size back garden but there was only a small lawn, it was all landscaped with plants and trees and had a water feature. We loved the house and bought it.

I saw a couple of manholes but thought nothing of it. We moved in and wanted to lawn the whole thing so our 2 year old at the time had somewhere to play safely. I ripped all trees and stuff out to turf it all and discovered there were actually six manhole covers on the area I was wanting to make into a lawn, 4 round and two big rectangular ones. What a mare!

I wasn't happy so once I'd returfed it all I thought maybe I could make something to hide them. I've worked in engineering for years so I came up with a frame and lid that fits into the ground around the manhole cover once it has been lowered into the ground. For starters, I thought they didn't look nice on the lawn but my biggest gripe was that I didn't think it was safe to leave our little girl to run around on the garden on her own in case she tripped or fell over them and hurt herself. Plus they affect how you can utilise your lawn space with regards to where you can put things and what sort of activities you can do.

I fitted my product and thought they look canny. A few friends saw them and I ended up making some for them and fitting them on their lawns. Since then I've patented the product, registered the design and got a trademark for them.

It's nice to read this forum and see that it isn't just me that thinks these things are a nightmare! I've had some leaflets printed and posted them through most of the doors of the houses on the local new build sites in Consett with the intention of trying to sell and fit them, which are riddled with manhole covers on lawns, but as yet had no interest from anyone.

If anyone is interested please let me know and I can email you the images from the leaflets I've had printed so you can see what they are. I made rectangular and round one's for my old garden but I'm looking to test the water with the round one's first.

The above is totally genuine, I've been in the same situation as the majority of people on this forum, I haven't just made it up to try and sell them!

Thanks very much.

Lee

marksoton

Leesud wrote: »

Hi,

About 4 years ago we moved into a 4 bed new build in Consett, County Durham. It was a showhome and had a decent size back garden but there was only a small lawn, it was all landscaped with plants and trees and had a water feature. We loved the house and bought it.

I saw a couple of manholes but thought nothing of it. We moved in and wanted to lawn the whole thing so our 2 year old at the time had somewhere to play safely. I ripped all trees and stuff out to turf it all and discovered there were actually six manhole covers on the area I was wanting to make into a lawn, 4 round and two big rectangular ones. What a mare!

I wasn't happy so once I'd returfed it all I thought maybe I could make something to hide them. I've worked in engineering for years so I came up with a frame and lid that fits into the ground around the manhole cover once it has been lowered into the ground. For starters, I thought they didn't look nice on the lawn but my biggest gripe was that I didn't think it was safe to leave our little girl to run around on the garden on her own in case she tripped or fell over them and hurt herself. Plus they affect how you can utilise your lawn space with regards to where you can put things and what sort of activities you can do.

I fitted my product and thought they look canny. A few friends saw them and I ended up making some for them and fitting them on their lawns. Since then I've patented the product, registered the design and got a trademark for them.

It's nice to read this forum and see that it isn't just me that thinks these things are a nightmare! I've had some leaflets printed and posted them through most of the doors of the houses on the local new build sites in Consett with the intention of trying to sell and fit them, which are riddled with manhole covers on lawns, but as yet had no interest from anyone.

If anyone is interested please let me know and I can email you the images from the leaflets I've had printed so you can see what they are. I made rectangular and round one's for my old garden but I'm looking to test the water with the round one's first.

The above is totally genuine, I've been in the same situation as the majority of people on this forum, I haven't just made it up to try and sell them!

Thanks very much.

Lee

All very good but i'd suggest making sure you comply with sewers for adoption and CESWI before installing. Because if you don't and flooding occurs....

BartyBoy

Leesud wrote: »

If anyone is interested please let me know and I can email you the images from the leaflets I've had printed so you can see what they are. I made rectangular and round one's for my old garden but I'm looking to test the water with the round one's first.

Hi Lee, I am interested to see your solution, could you please send me a web link to see your products either here or via private message. Many thanks.

BartyBoy

Not sure if I have mentione this here before, but after expressing my big dissatifaction to these manholes, Taylor Wimpeny has agreed to remove two manholes in my plot, one at the end of the drive way and another one in the centre of the rear garden. The agreement was made in May, but the first of the two manholes (the drive way one) was only removed 2-3 weeks ago.

Anyway, I can now see the manhole cover is disappeared, and there is a big square hole filled with soil. Please correct me if I am wrong. I thought when a manhole was removed, a new pipe needed to be put in to re-connect the drainage system (for example, manhole 1>manhole 2>manhole 3, when manhole 2 is removed, a new pipe to re-join manhole 1>manhole 3), but the hole with the soil is only few inches bigger than the manhole cover, so I don't think a new pipe has been put in to re-join the other two manholes. If that is the case, what did the builders do here? My big concern is, I am planning to build an extension to my property in the near future, I don't want the council thinks I was the one trying to remove and hide the manhole here...

Such a pain really!

marksoton

BartyBoy wrote: »

Not sure if I have mentione this here before, but after expressing my big dissatifaction to these manholes, Taylor Wimpeny has agreed to remove two manholes in my plot, one at the end of the drive way and another one in the centre of the rear garden. The agreement was made in May, but the first of the two manholes (the drive way one) was only removed 2-3 weeks ago.

Anyway, I can now see the manhole cover is disappeared, and there is a big square hole filled with soil. Please correct me if I am wrong. I thought when a manhole was removed, a new pipe needed to be put in to re-connect the drainage system (for example, manhole 1>manhole 2>manhole 3, when manhole 2 is removed, a new pipe to re-join manhole 1>manhole 3), but the hole with the soil is only few inches bigger than the manhole cover, so I don't think a new pipe has been put in to re-join the other two manholes. If that is the case, what did the builders do here? My big concern is, I am planning to build an extension to my property in the near future, I don't want the council thinks I was the one trying to remove and hide the manhole here...

Such a pain really!

In which case i'd bet they've just covered over the manhole and not redirected the pipeline.

Be very careful about these pipelines. If they're adopted by the water company you will not be allowed to build over them as a rule of thumb and would have to have the pipeline diverted at your own cost ( Which would include additional new manhole construction )

TW need to provide you with their revised drainage plan to prove what and where everything is going.

Leesud

Hi,

It's a stand alone unit that fits into the lawn around the manhole cover's chamber. The only contact you have with the manhole is when you have to lower the chamber so the top of the manhole cover sits a minimum of 30mm below the surface of the lawn.

It has a removable lid to provide access to the inspection chamber which can be replaced once the necessary work has been carried out.

As the unit just sits in the soil it can easily be removed if required.

Thanks.

Lee

Jhoney_2

marksoton wrote: »

In which case i'd bet they've just covered over the manhole and not redirected the pipeline.

Be very careful about these pipelines. If they're adopted by the water company you will not be allowed to build over them as a rule of thumb and would have to have the pipeline diverted at your own cost ( Which would include additional new manhole construction )

TW need to provide you with their revised drainage plan to prove what and where everything is going.

What kind of price? Perhaps OP can negotiate with Taylor W to help things along!

marksoton

Jhoney wrote: »

What kind of price? Perhaps OP can negotiate with Taylor W to help things along!

Impossible to tell without knowing if it's foul/storm/combined. Pipe depth,gauge and material.. The list goes on.

But you're talking thousands not hundreds...

Jhoney_2

Someone local has just done a side extension where there are at least 2 manholes, 1 definitely a foul and another large rectangular or square one. The house is the last of a group of 4 houses with connected drains before it goes back into road IYSWIM.

They were able to do the extension and have probably moved the drains to do (it isn't complete internally yet so not sure), so still hope and all the better if you can find out the cost and get the developer to help pay for the moving of the pipes!