Gutter question/quote

jimjam83

Hello all, I’ve noticed that 2 of our drainpipes out the back drain directly onto the ground. Is it a coincidence that the ground is soggy-wet at the back door?! I’ve also noticed some mould on the inside of the back door...I’ve included an image (first one) below. 

Also - I’ve noticed a section of the guttering seems to be missing. I’ve been quoted £100 for repair...I presume the repair would be a new bit of gutter cut to size and some holding...does the quote seem reasonable for such a minor job?!

Jeepers_Creepers

To answer the Q 'is there a bit missing?', yes, it would appear so. I presume the gutter on the left in your last pic is fully open at the end? In which case it needs an Internal Corner fitting and a short length of gutter to take it over the where the downpipe is. (That Outlet at the end does appear to have an end cap on it, so that's all that's required.

Is the downpipe aiming at soily ground the reason why it's soggy in this most wet of weathers? Well, that's a mystery. Unanswerable.

Of course it is :-)

What to do? Fit a water butt? Run it further away from the house, ideally where there's gravel?

The proper solution is to build a soakaway, but that will need (a) enough land and (b) deep pockets.

A cheat would be to send it down that adjacent sewer, but that would be illegal - well, against water regs anyway.

Is £100 a fair price for the piece of gutter? Probably; the fellow has to buy the parts and then do the job. Could you get it done cheaper? Yes. By how much? I dunno - a £iver? Is it worth quibbling about? Unlikely. Could you DIY it? Certainly. Do you have an offspring who's semi-competent? I dunno - do you?

Mickey666

£100 to sort out the guttering seems reasonable to me.  Someone has to go to the builders merchant, buy the materials, then get up a ladder to do the job.  Probably the best part of half a day.  Not worth quibbling about, though you could probably save over £50 if you DIY.
As for the downpipe, well, very much not ideal and it's tempting to redirect it into the foul drain.  it woul be interesting to know the area of roof being drained through that downpipe because from the limited photo view it looks as if the roof might not be very large.  If so then it's not exactly crime of the century to divert it to the sewer.
But JC is right that the proper solution is a soakaway.  

Jeepers_Creepers

Fit a water butt. If it fills up to the top and you don't have any use for the excess water, then empty it a bit by running a hose from it... to the nearby drain :-)

Not a perm connection = not illegal (walks away whistling...)

FreeBear

Jeepers_Creepers said: The proper solution is to build a soakaway, but that will need (a) enough land and (b) deep pockets.

A cheat would be to send it down that adjacent sewer, but that would be illegal - well, against water regs anyway.

A soakaway would need a fairly deep hole, but if the OP is willing to do the digging, deep pockets may not be needed.

Nothing illegal about discharging rain water in to a sewer. Part H of the Building Regulations allows for it as a last option..

3.2 Surface water drainage should discharge to a soakaway or other infiltration system where practicable.
3.3 Discharge to a watercourse may require a consent from the Environment Agency, who may limit the rate of discharge. Maximum flow rates can be limited by provision of detention basins (see paragraph 3.35).
3.4 Where other forms of outlet are not practicable, discharge should be made to a sewer.

https://www.planningportal.co.uk/info/200135/approved_documents/71/part_h_-_drainage_and_waste_disposal

One alternative to a traditional soakway is a "rain garden" - Basically, a depression lined with a geotextile and filled with gravel. Planted with suitable moisture loving plants, it can be both practical and an attractive feature.

chrisw

It looks like it's an older property in which case it's possible that the area is on a combined foul and surface water sewer. You need to speak to your local water company but there's not usually an issue putting surface water from an extension or similar into a combined sewer.

jimjam83

Hi all, thanks for your comments. I lifted all of the fake grass and was very happy to find a perfectly working drain beneath it! There’s a bit of a slope and the rain from both drain pipes seems to make it there with ease 🙂

Jeepers_Creepers

Perfect!

Phil4432

jimjam83 said:

Hello all, I’ve noticed that 2 of our drainpipes out the back drain directly onto the ground. Is it a coincidence that the ground is soggy-wet at the back door?! I’ve also noticed some mould on the inside of the back door...I’ve included an image (first one) below. 

Also - I’ve noticed a section of the guttering seems to be missing. I’ve been quoted £100 for repair...I presume the repair would be a new bit of gutter cut to size and some holding...does the quote seem reasonable for such a minor job?!

You should never have your gutters discharging directly next to your house, and its no coincidence that you have had issues in that area.  There's even the potential to cause subsidence. 

That water needs to be discharged 5M from your house, as long as the land isn't sloping towards your house.  Or just have it connected to a drain.

fezster

If you are in any way DIY oriented, do the guttering yourself if it's at first floor level. It's very, very simple.

As said above, all surface water should be discharged to a soakaway 5m away from the house to meet current building regs. However, a lot of (older or not!) houses do discharge into public sewer, and water companies often add a "surface water drainage" charge to account for this. 

Jeepers_Creepers

He's found a drain next to the outlet :-) 

I agree - jimjam, fix this missing gutter yersel' :-)