Moving Manhole outside the house

Shekar

Hi
I have just purchased a house and discovered that the extension has been built over a manhole. I am in the process of putting up a new kitchen, so would like some advise
1. Keep the manhole as it is
2. Move the manhole outside the house.


Can someone help me with a rough cost to move the manhole outside the house possibly 10 feet outside and basically build a one outside and seal this off. Does it involve building control ?


Thanks
S

HiToAll

I hope the previous owners had permission to 'build over it'

ST1991

Did that not come up in searches.....?
It is likely that the extension has not been signed off by building control if the manhole has not already been sealed and moved.

Hope someone comes along with a price for you in a moment, but this really should have been flagged up during searches/survey...

Shekar

It's a very old extension built in early 80's and don't know if it got the planning permission for that .Neverthelss no point to find out that ,need some advise on the way forward .would be keen to move the manhole outside of the house unless it's very expensive to move it out

societys_child

Depends what the drain cover is for.

If it's a surface water drain and/ or grey water from your sink, it may not be too bad, but if it's sewerage and carries foul water from both yourself and your neighbours, depending on location, it may not be possible to move it, at any cost.

Have you any idea what it is?

It's a very old extension built in early 80's

Some of us might not think that's particularly old . . .:rotfl:

jimmy_cricket

We had an extension built about ten years ago and there was a manhole for our sewer under where it was to be built. We had it moved to the side and new pipe to connect it all up. It all in with the price and done as the builders did the foundations, so nothing out of the ordinary price wise. I would guess it will cost quite a bit as you are having it done separately and there will be the issue of how to get the pipe work under the foundation and flooring.
The biggest expense was the 500 or so Thames water wanted for them to give permission

kingfisherblue

I've no idea if this is of any help, but there was a kitchen extension and a brick garage both built in the 1970s on the house that I currently own. I moved to the area in 1977 (I lived round the corner) and both had already been built. No problems were flagged up when I bought the house in 1994. There had been two additional owners since the chap in the 1970s.

Fast forward to 2002/3. We needed a wet room building downstairs for our disabled son. Everything was fine until it was discovered that there was a problem with draining the water. It was at this point that I found out that a manhole should be somewhere on my property - probably under the kitchen extension, but maybe under the garage. We needed a whale pump adding to the wet room so that the water can be pumped away when the shower is in use.

So, a simple solution for us, and maybe worth considering as an option if needed.

Shekar

How do i find out whether it's a sewerage or just a surface water drain for my property

Shekar

How much did it cost altogether and did you had to involve building control

ST1991

Shekar wrote: »

How do i find out whether it's a sewerage or just a surface water drain for my property

This should be on your water searches. there should be a plan of the property outlining where drains etc are, and what purpose they serve

societys_child

Shekar wrote: »

How do i find out whether it's a sewerage or just a surface water drain for my property

You could get a (perhaps vague) idea by checking the where the drainage pipes are.
Are your toilet/ sewer pipes close by or on the other side of the property etc.

Lifting the cover slightly and flushing the wc / bucket of water down the rain water gulleys/ empty the sink etc while someone gazes down the hole would give a better indication . . . (the one drain could carry everything)

Is the cover set into the ext floor or did you lift floorboards to discover it, there are sealed covers which can be used "indoors", it may be one of these?