Fixing a drain DIY

Hopingforthesimplelife

I have a gutter roof fed drain that is either blocked or has a hole in it and subsequently in heavy rainfall our cellar leaks.

Two of the major drain companies have come out to look at it and said they would come back with a quote, but weeks later no word from them.

The 2nd suggested they would dig down approx 1m and replace the pipe. Pic below for reference. 

Could a relative novice like me attempt a fix diy? Water enters the cellar extremely quickly so believe issue is at the top of the drain so think this would entail digging down 1m cut off existing down pipe and replace with something brought from screwfix?

or is this plan littered with issues that I haven’t considered and I would be better to hire a professional (if I can get any to come back to me)?

cheers for any thoughts 

Boohoo

You may have to have a camera survey done to find out if you have an issue.
Where the downpipe goes into that clay pipe is it sealed up or just drains into that pipe?
If the clay pipe is not sealed you could buy a endoscope flexible camera for £10 - £30 that would at least let you see if there is a collapsed drain or any other issues.
You mention a cellar, is that near to where that air brick is?

grumbler

Hopingforthesimplelife said:

I have a gutter roof fed drain that is either blocked or has a hole in it and subsequently in heavy rainfall our cellar leaks.

Blocked or has a hole? Big difference. If it's blocked, it will overflow.

Ceramic pipes are a disaster. They are very brittle, often are cracked and in several places. Yes, digging and replacing is a DIY job, but hard one as the pipe can be about 1m deep.  You may need an angle grinder to cut the pipe. And there are special adaptors for connecting modern plastic pipes to old ceramic ones.

greyteam1959

Have a dig down & have a look yourself before you start getting excited about spending money on 'professional' help.
It looks a bit of a bridge job to me though.

Hopingforthesimplelife

You may have to have a camera survey done to find out if you have an issue.
Where the downpipe goes into that clay pipe is it sealed up or just drains into that pipe?
If the clay pipe is not sealed you could buy a endoscope flexible camera for £10 - £30 that would at least let you see if there is a collapsed drain or any other issues.
You mention a cellar, is that near to where that air brick is?

Thanks for thoughts - the plastic down pipe goes about 1ft directly down into the clay pipe but obviously as can been no grid so probably with any of the solutions I will need to hack through the down pipe. As you say yep the cellar (and water entering it) is directly the other side of the wall/air brick.

Blocked or has a hole? Big difference. If it's blocked, it will overflow.

Ceramic pipes are a disaster. They are very brittle, often are cracked and in several places. Yes, digging and replacing is a DIY job, but hard one as the pipe can be about 1m deep.  You may need an angle grinder to cut the pipe. And there are special adaptors for connecting modern plastic pipes to old ceramic ones.

Thanks yep very fair question - it is certainly blocked as it overfills quickly. However the speed at which the water enters the cellar (2-3mins after I put the hosepipe down the clay drain pipe) leads me to think their could be a hole as well which makes your thoughts on these clay pipes being a nightmare really interesting / useful. 

Thanks for the adaptor info, hadn’t even put that on my proposed shopping list! 

Hopingforthesimplelife

greyteam1959 said:

Have a dig down & have a look yourself before you start getting excited about spending money on 'professional' help.
It looks a bit of a bridge job to me though.

Thanks yep you might be able to see from the photo I did start but my 2 year old son tried to “help” which of course was the exact opposite! 

Just to check what do you mean by bridge job? 

FreeBear

Hopingforthesimplelife said: Just to check what do you mean by bridge job? 

Methinks predictive typing kicked in and it should read "bodge job".

You can get couplers to go from 75mm downpipe to 4" drainage. In the past, a clay socket would have been used with a fillet of mortar to plug the gap.

If the weather remains dry over the weekend, I'd suggest getting the spade out and digging down to see what state the underground drainage is in - Does it connect to your foul water sewer or disappear in to a soakaway ?

If the former, rodding the drain should indicate if it is a blockage and how far it is from the access chamber.

Hopingforthesimplelife

FreeBear said:

Hopingforthesimplelife said: Just to check what do you mean by bridge job? 

Methinks predictive typing kicked in and it should read "bodge job".

You can get couplers to go from 75mm downpipe to 4" drainage. In the past, a clay socket would have been used with a fillet of mortar to plug the gap.

If the weather remains dry over the weekend, I'd suggest getting the spade out and digging down to see what state the underground drainage is in - Does it connect to your foul water sewer or disappear in to a soakaway ?

If the former, rodding the drain should indicate if it is a blockage and how far it is from the access chamber.

Thanks again Freebear (as a continuation from my previous thread!).

yep I think you are right I will have a dig down and see what I can find (and I think probably worth £25 to buy a rodding set from screwfix)

greyteam1959

Hopingforthesimplelife said:

greyteam1959 said:

Have a dig down & have a look yourself before you start getting excited about spending money on 'professional' help.
It looks a bit of a bridge job to me though.

Thanks yep you might be able to see from the photo I did start but my 2 year old son tried to “help” which of course was the exact opposite! 

Just to check what do you mean by bridge job? 

Sorry should have been 'bodge' job !!

grumbler

Hopingforthesimplelife said:

 (and I think probably worth £25 to buy a rodding set from screwfix)

There can be a gully in the ground. In this case rodding can be done only after you cut/break it off.