Neighbours guttering

ccluedo

IAMIAM said:

If you have just moved in and they might have asked the previous owners if they could do it. Why don't you just get civil and knock on and ask them what it is and why. Like normal neighbours. What is wrong with people. 

The op says no one lives there 

TadleyBaggie

Houses look pretty connected to me...

TheGardener

Looks like the neighbour's central heating boiler condensate pipe to me - not a drain as such. 
There is no obscured glass upstairs so I'm guessing the bathroom is actually the one with obscured glass on the ground floor to the left of the photo - that would be the usual place for a bathroom in a terraced house like that. 

TadleyBaggie

TheGardener said:

Looks like the neighbour's central heating boiler condensate pipe to me - not a drain as such. 

Agreed, clearly a boiler located above the drain.

Brie

TheGardener said:

Looks like the neighbour's central heating boiler condensate pipe to me - not a drain as such. 
There is no obscured glass upstairs so I'm guessing the bathroom is actually the one with obscured glass on the ground floor to the left of the photo - that would be the usual place for a bathroom in a terraced house like that. 

So why would someone arrange for that to drain into the neighbours gutter?  Surely they have their own drain that could be used.

Bendy_House

IAMIAM said:

If you have just moved in and they might have asked the previous owners if they could do it. Why don't you just get civil and knock on and ask them what it is and why. Like normal neighbours. What is wrong with people. 

Has there been anything to suggest the OP won't do that?

It IS the right thing to do - AFTER you have gleaned the facts of the situation.

Bendy_House

TheGardener said:

Looks like the neighbour's central heating boiler condensate pipe to me - not a drain as such. 
There is no obscured glass upstairs so I'm guessing the bathroom is actually the one with obscured glass on the ground floor to the left of the photo - that would be the usual place for a bathroom in a terraced house like that. 

Good call - that's what it looks like.

And fitted by Mickey Mouse.

They were looking for a plastic drain, I guess, rather than send it down their tiled extension. But that layout is bizarre, and I personally would be expecting them to remove it.

How to oblige them to, tho', I don't know.

Who 'owns' that alleyway, OP? Is your part possibly a flying freehold? Does this neigh possibly believe they have a 'right' over it?

I can see no valid reason why that pipe isn't being fed into what looks like a soil vent pipe close by. Is access difficult due to these extensions?

But, man, that's an oddball route.

OP, do you have LegProt on your new house insurance? They can provide advice and guidance should it be needed. 

Brie

Bendy_House said:

How to oblige them to, tho', I don't know.

No one lives there.  Ladder over fence, rearrange pipe to drain onto their roof?  Deny all knowledge if asked.

TheGardener

Brie said:

TheGardener said:

Looks like the neighbour's central heating boiler condensate pipe to me - not a drain as such. 
There is no obscured glass upstairs so I'm guessing the bathroom is actually the one with obscured glass on the ground floor to the left of the photo - that would be the usual place for a bathroom in a terraced house like that. 

So why would someone arrange for that to drain into the neighbours gutter?  Surely they have their own drain that could be used.

I haven't a clue. The OP would need to ask. I'm guessing it was the easiest way  - the pipe could run down the neighbour's extension roof but would be less likely to freeze up in cold weather (a common fault in combi-boilers) if it hugs the building.  

I don't know if the OP owns or rents the house but it's not uncommon round here for landlords to own several houses on a street - maybe someone owns both houses? 

Section62

Bendy_House said:

But, man, that's an oddball route.

 

Not really.

The ideal may have been taking it in the opposite direction, but perhaps that downpipe belongs to the other neighbour and they refused permission to connect to it, or maybe access is too difficult.

Discharging the condensate onto the roof would be a bodge, and make a mess of the tiles/slates.  It also isn't clear what is going on with that parapet wall/gutter - and what condition the lead is in.  I wouldn't choose to discharge condensate onto a roof with that arrangement if there was another option.

The condensate drain could be piped down the roof, but that leaves a not particularly well supported 40mm pipe which could get damaged or knocked.  And there's still the issue of the parapet wall to contend with.

Running the drain along the house wall as it is means it can be securely fixed at an appropriate rate of fall, and will benefit from some degree of warmth/shelter from the house.  The chosen alignment is relatively neat and unobtrusive.

The only issue is whether the owner got permission to discharge into the gutter.  Which is an unknown at the moment.  And that does assume permission was needed.