Cracked clay pipe, sewage smell in kitchen. Disaster!?

w12ee3e

So I've been told that the source of a sewage smell in my kitchen is as a result of a cracked clay pipe under the house. Apparently the whole kitchen needs digging up and remedial pipework laid / assessed. If it's not fixed it might back up too all be told.

Worst case scenario is yes, the whole kitchen has to be removed and the floor / foundations excavated. Really? Is there anything else that can be done to salvage the situation. I mean that would be an absolute disaster thousands and thousands I'd assume. Terrible.

Alter_ego

Maybe it's possible to divert the pipe round the building?

koalakoala

Would insurance pay?

Ms_Chocaholic

Can u describe the layout of your home.  We had a mains water leak a few years ago and the pipe ran under concrete floors.  We had a new pipe moled round the outside of the property and although I accept that a mains water pipe is much smaller than a sewer pipe, I'm sure Iread something at the time that they may be able to fit an inner pipe to repair a sewer pipe, I'll try and find the company we used as they were reasonably priced.  It may be tomorrow.

Ms_Chocaholic

koalakoala said:

Would insurance pay?

Our insurance wouldn't pay for our mains water replacement pipe as they classed it as wear and tear.

@w12ee3e I've private messaged you the details of the company we used (unsure where you are in the UK though as to whether they would come to you).

GDB2222

koalakoala said:

Would insurance pay?

Standard home insurance won’t pay for this unless you can show that the cause is subsidence or heave. Even then, you would have to check the tiny print, and there’s usually rather a large policy excess.


Can the existing pipe be lined, without digging it up?

Section62

w12ee3e said:

So I've been told that the source of a sewage smell in my kitchen is as a result of a cracked clay pipe under the house. Apparently the whole kitchen needs digging up and remedial pipework laid / assessed. If it's not fixed it might back up too all be told.

Worst case scenario is yes, the whole kitchen has to be removed and the floor / foundations excavated. Really? Is there anything else that can be done to salvage the situation. I mean that would be an absolute disaster thousands and thousands I'd assume. Terrible.

What does the pipe do?  Is it a public sewer or just your own private drain?

Have they done a CCTV survey to confirm the location and extent of the damage, or is someone guessing what the fault is and wanting you to pay them to investigate further?

If it is your own private drainage then the cheapest/most effective solution is likely to be finding a way of re-routing your drainage so it doesn't go under the kitchen floor.  Relining the pipe is sometimes a possibility, but they would still need access to both ends of the pipe, and the cost of relining is not insignificant.