Mid sold property

Sue04288

Two weeks ago we completed on our new house. It immediately became apparent that the downstairs toilet was blocked. After several unsuccessful attempts, we called the water company who cleared the blockage. Two days ago, they returned to do a drain survey and discovered the toilet was discharging into a rainwater drain and the local brook. They said under no circumstances can we use the toilet.

My husband has mobility issues so a downstairs toilet is a 'must have' but we now have a situation where to rectify the problem we must a) dig up the road infront of our house and 5 neighbouring houses to connect to the main sewer b) dig up the ground floor of the house to connect to the foul drain at the back of the house c)convert the cloakroom to a cupboard and sell the house. All of which are both very expensive and very disruptive

We have reported this to our solicitor who seems very reluctant to pursue further action. Any advice would be very welcome.

anselld

Was anything reported in your survey relating to this?

Section62

Sue04288 said:

Two weeks ago we completed on our new house. It immediately became apparent that the downstairs toilet was blocked. After several unsuccessful attempts, we called the water company who cleared the blockage. Two days ago, they returned to do a drain survey and discovered the toilet was discharging into a rainwater drain and the local brook. They said under no circumstances can we use the toilet.

My husband has mobility issues so a downstairs toilet is a 'must have' but we now have a situation where to rectify the problem we must a) dig up the road infront of our house and 5 neighbouring houses to connect to the main sewer b) dig up the ground floor of the house to connect to the foul drain at the back of the house c)convert the cloakroom to a cupboard and sell the house. All of which are both very expensive and very disruptive

We have reported this to our solicitor who seems very reluctant to pursue further action. Any advice would be very welcome.

Is the house a new-build, or just new to you?

Is there an option d) of adding a new ground floor toilet near the rear of the house to minimise the required drainage works?

Slithery

What did the survey you had before purchasing have to say about the drains?

user1977

Sue04288 said:

We have reported this to our solicitor who seems very reluctant to pursue further action.

Further action against whom, and on what basis?

anselld

(e) fit a macerator.  Not ideal but may open up much easier options to get to the back of the house.

Sue04288

Thanks for your comments. The house is 30 years old, nothing worrying showing up on the survey and the seller had stated on the sales forms that there are no additions to the property. This is a lie as the toilet was added during her time in the house. Can't use a macerator as this too would need to discharge into the rainwater drain. We are looking for compensation from the seller and a solution to the 'illegal toilet ' situation.

ProDave

Who put the toilet in?  If it was only ever used for a pee, the problem could have gone unnoticed.

anselld

The point about a macerator is that it can pump sh*t uphill in a small pipe so you can run it above ground somewhere relatively unobtrusive to the existing soil stack.

Mutton_Geoff

This is why, when making the most expensive purchase of your life, economising on due diligence isn't recommended. At 30 years old, there would be even more justification for spending money on a more in depth report.

"missold" and "compo" are phrases that tend to go hand in hand on this forum but be advised you are going to have an uphill battle ahead.

Sue04288

We are trying to find out the name of the builder. Don't know what it was used for, the water company said the blockage was tissue and wet wipes!! The seller must have realised there was a problem as the toilet took about 2 hours to empty!! The annoying part is, she was aware of my husband's mobility problem and how important a downstairs toilet is to us.