In Laws Conservatory Part-3

Frank99

After telling my Brother In Law to force the Windows Company to go a minimum of 600mm on the wall footings as apposed to 450 they readily agreed however, a new problem arises, at around 500mm down they have uncovered the concrete waste pipe which takes his water water straight into the nearby public sewer drain.


I don't know what they will do but should they A) Pour Concrete over the Pipe fill back in with some soil just enough to cover and protect this concrete pipe or C) Something else.


The only reason i ask is to try and find out what the best course of action would be, i'm concerned about the possibility of the pipe being crushed if concrete is on top of it.:eek:

Plantation7

Frank99 wrote: »

After telling my Brother In Law to force the Windows Company to go a minimum of 600mm on the wall footings as apposed to 450 they readily agreed however, a new problem arises, at around 500mm down they have uncovered the concrete waste pipe which takes his water water straight into the nearby public sewer drain.


I don't know what they will do but should they A) Pour Concrete over the Pipe fill back in with some soil just enough to cover and protect this concrete pipe or C) Something else.


The only reason i ask is to try and find out what the best course of action would be, i'm concerned about the possibility of the pipe being crushed if concrete is on top of it.:eek:

My mum's Conservatory was recently replaced after 40 years of my Late Bricklayer Father building it and all he had done was 150cm depth concrete slab all the way around, it was there for 41 and a half years in total with 2 full height double skin side walls and 900mm dwarf front wall.
Not one crack or sign of foundation problem during it's life span at such shallow depth amazed us but as he was a bricklayer i'm not sure if he knew something we didn't such as soil type something else.
I know the soil in her area is described as Loamy with Clay Deposits.:D

stuart45

Frank99 wrote: »

After telling my Brother In Law to force the Windows Company to go a minimum of 600mm on the wall footings as apposed to 450 they readily agreed however, a new problem arises, at around 500mm down they have uncovered the concrete waste pipe which takes his water water straight into the nearby public sewer drain.
I don't know what they will do but should they A) Pour Concrete over the Pipe fill back in with some soil just enough to cover and protect this concrete pipe or C) Something else

The builders should really know the answer to this. If a foundation is directly over the top of a drain the building can settle enough to fracture the drain.
You are supposed to take the foundation below the invert level of the drain and then lintel over the top to allow room for settlement without damge to the pipe.

Davesnave

stuart45 wrote: »

The builders should really know the answer to this. If a foundation is directly over the top of a drain the building can settle enough to fracture the drain.
You are supposed to take the foundation below the invert level of the drain and then lintel over the top to allow room for settlement without damge to the pipe.

This is the correct answer, but there's one mistake; these guys aren't proper 'builders' if they need telling.


Even I know it, and I'm not a proper builder either!

stuart45

This is a common problem when building extensions, so it's looks like they never go deep enough to find any drains.
If they are going to use trench fill then they will have to sleeve the drain wjth something compressible.
Are they the older salt glazed pipes covered in concrete?

Frank99

Davesnave wrote: »

This is the correct answer, but there's one mistake; these guys aren't proper 'builders' if they need telling.


Even I know it, and I'm not a proper builder either!

They haven't asked us what to do, I'm just wondering what the best course of action would be, i know these companies tend to bring in these builders to do their base work and you never know how good these people are, my late father said any decent builder is busy building homes not conservatories.

pmartin86

If your on your third thread asking for advice and querying the builders job then I'd kindly suggest that you reach a settlement figure for work carried out to date and cancel it. Do some more in depth research and look to complete the build when you've had time to understand the process and vet your chosen contractors properly.

Davesnave

pmartin86 wrote: »

If your on your third thread asking for advice and querying the builders job then I'd kindly suggest that you reach a settlement figure for work carried out to date and cancel it. Do some more in depth research and look to complete the build when you've had time to understand the process and vet your chosen contractors properly.

The problem is that the OP's BiL will have already signed a contract with the conservatory company with a hefty penalty clause, to say nothing about liability if some of the units have been made.

They will not be in a position to select the builder now, but they can work from a position of knowledge, as I did.

Here, the correct procedure has been outlined and there's plenty more on 'how to do it' web sites, which is what we used when installing a brick extension over a drain. Unlike most conservatory builders, we had a building inspector to satisfy.

stuart45

Davesnave wrote: »

The problem is that the OP's BiL will have already signed a contract with the conservatory company with a hefty penalty clause, to say nothing about liability if some of the units have been made.

They will not be in a position to select the builder now, but they can work from a position of knowledge, as I did.

Here, the correct procedure has been outlined and there's plenty more on 'how to do it' web sites, which is what we used when installing a brick extension over a drain. Unlike most conservatory builders, we had a building inspector to satisfy.

This is the best advice IMHO.