Garage Conversion - help!

exiled_red

I don't think that the water board will have anything to do with this unless you are wanting to have it access the sewer at a different point. It would be between you and your neighbour to sort out I would assume. As the pipework has always come down through your garage I doubt your neighbour will be keen to re-route it through their house. I am guessing that all the houses are identical which probably means that your sewage pipe goes through your other neighbour's garage? If this is the case look at how you might re-route the pipe in your house and translate that to your neighbours house, to get an idea of how feasible it is before discussing anything.


My gut feeling is that you will probably end up having to have the pipe run through your garage/kitchen and just have it adequately enclosed. It is not uncommon to have sewage pipes from bathrooms (in some pipeboxing or partition wall) through a kitchen, usually though it is coming from your own bathroom rather than a neighbours unless you live in a flat.

Aylesbury_Duck

As above. OP, where does the waste from your equivalent bathroom run?

Anyway, I think you have had your answer a few times. It (re-routing the waste) will require your neighbour’s consent and even if they agree (and I can’t see why they would), would be at your cost.

missile

SuperHanz wrote: »

Thanks for your suggestions. I want to explore my idea further before approaching the neighbours - who would I need to contact about the pipe and responsibilities for it? Would it be the water board?

I’ve had roofers come to look at the roof as it’s in urgent need of fixing due to the bad weather. However forward planning I’d like to get feasibility, costs and a plan together to see if we can convert before doing anything but I’m not sure who I need to approach about the work involved etc! Would a reputable builder undertake everything or would I need a few different tradesmen?

Obviously the neighbours need access, my mother let them fix it when it leaked sewage into the garage a number of years ago every time they flushed the toilet which was very unpleasant. However if we were to leave the pipe as it is and extend the kitchen into the garage, I wouldn’t want an expensive kitchen suffering the same fate if it were to leak again for whatever reason.

The same neighbours did exactly the same to their house about 20 years ago and made the back end of their garage a sound proof room for their son to play the drums in so I know it can be done. It’s just the pipe worries me slightly. Our kitchen is too small to be redesigned unfortunately so we really could do with the extra space, especially as we have a huge garage that’s not all in use.

Not sure if I’m explaining myself very well so added a diagram of the layout and the red blob is where the neighbours drain pipe comes straight down out of their bathroom through our garage roof into the garage floor. It won’t let me post the link so I’ve had to put a space after the first letter... h ttps://ibb.co/fdx7ew

I wouldn't waste money on repairing a roof which you intend to replace. You need an architect to advise. A competent builder will be able to sub-contract any work which he is unable to do himself. You might want to ask neighbour who he used to do his conversion. Neighbour or local council may be able to give you a copy of his plans.

glasgowdan

Furts wrote: »

Comical! You appear to know little about building, which is why you are posting on the forum. That is fine by me - we are all here to offer suggestions. But to now claim to be a drainage expert, and qualified to pass judgement after a mysterious gap of 40 years, on drainage you have not seen, nor inspected, nor considered re-routing means you are stretching the boundaries of truthfulness!

Surely you can't be suggesting a soil overflow pipe that leads onto a neighbour's property can, in any way, be considered a good design, regardless of the OPs building knowledge?

EachPenny

glasgowdan wrote: »

Surely you can't be suggesting a soil overflow pipe that leads onto a neighbour's property can, in any way, be considered a good design, regardless of the OPs building knowledge?

I wouldn't call it good design, and would be wary of buying a house with this arrangement. But that doesn't mean it doesn't still happen and in the context of a 1970's house it wouldn't be anything especially abnormal.

The same logic could be applied to the flat roof - they are a terrible idea and if I was the OP I would be looking to get rid of it asap. But let's say the neighbour has a window on the wall above the flat roof - would I have any right to brick up the neighbour's window in order to build a pitched roof on the garage? Of course not. But with enough cash and persuasion they might agree to let me do it. The same goes for the soil pipe - if the OP can find an alternative routeing which doesn't disadvantage the neighbour and is willing to pay for the work then there might be a solution... but if I was the neighbour I'd be very unlikely to agree.

Furts

glasgowdan wrote: »

Surely you can't be suggesting a soil overflow pipe that leads onto a neighbour's property can, in any way, be considered a good design, regardless of the OPs building knowledge?

It is an every day occurrence. It was then, and it is now. Nobody cares less about it. Ultimately if this were to change consumers would need to wise up. In my experience 0% of new home buyers give any consideration to this, and 0% have any interest in it ... until things go wrong, or it causes problems. By which time the builders have been let off the hook.


That is not a defence, it is simply a commercial reality. One of the many hidden joys of new home buying!

glasgowdan

I think the OP is being reasonable and can't understand why some people are giving them a hard time.

Davesnave

glasgowdan wrote: »

I think the OP is being reasonable and can't understand why some people are giving them a hard time.

I don't think they're being given a hard time. People are simply pointing out that being fixated on one aspect of the proposed build might not be wise:

Proposals to move the pipe could entail considerable expense and they might not be santioned by its owner.

Altering the build so that the existing pipe could exist outside the house would probably compromise the design.

The idea of renewing the pipe in situ has not been considered. That would greatly lessen the chance of a leak due to deterioration and might find more favour with the owner.

But in cases like this, it's not safe to assume too much!