Issues with neighbours property possibly affecting/damaging mine

corleone8400

Hi all, 
My partner and I moved into our mid terrace property 3 years ago, and the property next door to us is owned by a landlord who has approximately 6-8 tenants living at the property.  In the last year, we started to notice an egg like smell coming from our new kitchen extension area next to where we share a party wall with this neighbour and around about the same time we developed a problem with rats in the extension loft ceiling.  We got pest control in to deal with the rat problem and he suspected that they could be coming from next door (although he wasn't 100% sure). At the same time, suspecting that the egg like smell could possibly be gas, we had a gas engineer from Cadent come over to investigate the area and following their investigation they could not spot a gas leak and said the smell could be due to drain vents but also wasn't 100% sure. We have continued to have funny drainage smells in our bathroom as well which we suspected could be coming from next door but again we were not totally sure. 

Fast forward to today, I could hear a builder doing some work next door close to the extension party wall but didn't really think much of it. Then about an hour ago, one of the tenants knocked at my door to tell me that they have been having an ongoing issue with their toilet and pipes at the property for over a year now and all the tenants have notified the landlord who just gets someone in to apply a quick fix rather than fix the actual issue. The tenant continued to tell me that he didn't realise the scale of the issue, until he went into the kitchen today. The builder who was working there, had the floorboards uncovered and the tenant could see a flood of water under their floorboards along with human faeces. I barely know this tenant, only from saying hello when we bump into each other, however he felt compelled to tell me in case it was affecting my property. He offered to take pictures of the issue to show me so I could see for myself. In the pictures I could see what looked like approximately a foot of water/urine/faeces underneath the floorboards/foundations near our party wall.  I started to wonder whether it would be possible for this sewage water to get in through the foundations into our property so I lifted one of the floorboards underneath our stairs as it was the only place where we have an exposed floorboard. Whilst I could not see any sewage water, the rubble underneath was moist. 

Unaware of how long this issue has existed or what damage it could be causing our property I am extremely worried and not sure what to do. Are the problems we experienced with the rats previously and ongoing smells because of this? Could this existing issue be damaging or already damaged our house's foundations?

Any advice on how to progress is hugely appreciated. 

vw100

It is unlikely your foundations will have been affected by this problem, considering some people cellars and under floorboards have had standing water either through flooding or the water table being high in the area. The good thing is only the rubble was moist and you didn't have standing water under the floorboards. The smell would definitely have come from the sewage and the rats. Once the problem is fixed next door slowly the smell will reside. You can a get rodent deodorant to mask the smell which will come from their droppings, urine and oil residue from their skin. If you got access it might be good to give a good cleanout using bleach where the rats have been.

Davesnave

House foundations are expected to get wet. You don't say how old the house is, but water under next door's floor wouldn't affect modern foundations. Drain collapse could cause subsidence on almost any property, but it doesn't sound like a washing-away sort of issue, rather the reverse.

Things should improve now. If they don't, contact Environmental Health. I had the same problem in my college hall of residence and that was a new build. It wasn't until I actually pulled up part of the wooden floor to expose the problem I'd been complaining about for weeks that anyone took it seriously. Then, by God, did they move swiftly!

Homer_home

As long as the cracked waste pipe has been properly fixed I wouldn't worry about it too much , just seal any holes to stop rats getting in again 

FreeBear

Homer_home said: As long as the cracked waste pipe has been properly fixed I wouldn't worry about it too much ,

Depends on how long the pipe had been broken and also the type of soil under the foundations - On a sandy soil, it is quite possible that the water could wash away the soil under the foundations and compromise the stability of the structure. Once the water has drained away, a structural engineer should be consulted to check the state of the foundations.

With a year's worth of raw sewage sitting under the floor, there is going to be a serious amount of s!!t to dig out (by hand), and the smell is going to linger for quite some time. I'd be wanting to have a look at the damage caused (after the sewage has been removed), and if there is the slightest suggestion of subsidence, professional surveys conducted.

Davesnave

FreeBear said:

Homer_home said: As long as the cracked waste pipe has been properly fixed I wouldn't worry about it too much ,

Once the water has drained away, a structural engineer should be consulted to check the state of the foundations.

With a year's worth of raw sewage sitting under the floor, there is going to be a serious amount of s!!t to dig out (by hand), and the smell is going to linger for quite some time. I'd be wanting to have a look at the damage caused (after the sewage has been removed), and if there is the slightest suggestion of subsidence, professional surveys conducted.

Trouble is, the OP doesn't have the right of access to next door or to demand anything from the landlord, unless perhaps they enlist the support of Environmental Health and/ or their insurer or lender.