Waterlogged Garage after heavy Rain ..caused by open. ended drainage pipes under the soil

sujsuj

Section62 said:

ThisIsWeird said:

Have you SEEN the rainfall recently! 

And the signs were that sujsuj's garage was one of the least well able to cope with excessive rainfall...

sujsuj said:

Curious thing found is all drainage pipes ends the garden, no tank or storage  just open ended pipe under the soil..!! 

Is this normal..? I was expecting drainage pipes finally ending up in some sort of water storage system..

How many pipes are there? Could you do a sketch showing the layout of them?  It wouldn't suprise me if the pipes had been put in to drain the surrounding ground (with the flow going towards the garage) rather than to take water from the garage to soak into the ground.

From what we've seen before your garage needs a proper drainage system put in around it, with the water piped away some distance (and to a significantly lower point).  Maybe have a nice ornamental pond dug?

sketch getting ready...

sujsuj

over all sketch with numbering showing surrounding open pipe ends I digged and water collection points I found. Some I couldn't find end points which are marked with ?

7 - 'soakaway' end i digged and found using rods from end 6. End 7  takes water from 8 as well which is the rainwater gutter pipe from garage roof which broken and not connected yet. 
point 6 got an open end at top also goes towards tarmac and could not find the end point
Strangely end 2 collects water and soaks near the front of  garage but not connected to 6 that goes to grass soakaway


I could not explore much on end points 5  (which is marked as gas on lid though no gas connection to this rural property) end 5 also fills with water dueing flodding. Major flood is around point 3 which is a large round terrakkotta type pipe..

sujsuj

Pics of end points linked to numbers mentioned in above sketch...

sujsuj

some pipes ends in strange areas and causing more flodding I think...For example one highly  flodded area was around  points 2 & 3 as  they are above surface to collect water. other end of pipe (point marked as 1) buried  just in front of garage causing more flodding into garage !!

sujsuj

Just to be clear flooding is not directly caused by the soak-away pipes that ends below surface in grass areas. I think Flooding is rather caused because  pipes unable to get water to those areas as when rains heavily only flood starts. Normal rains it handles OK. Last 2-3 years I saw flooding 2-3 times only. But so far in this summer already had flooding 3 times that too after my garage  roof repair when I was hoping everything inside garage will be protected ..

Section62

sujsuj said:

Just to be clear flooding is not caused by the soak-away pipes that ends below surface in grass areas. I think Flooding is rather caused because  pipes unable to get water to those areas as when rains heavily only flood starts. Normal rains it handles OK. Last 2-3 years I saw flooding 2-3 times only. But so far in this summer already had flooding 3 times that too after my garage  roof repair when I was hoping everything inside garage will be protected ..

It was fairly clear from your picutes of the garage renovation that water had been a  problem for a long time, and not just from the roof.  I'd guess the pipe from 7 to 6 to unknown was a previous attempt to intercept water running off the grassed area, as well as picking up the gutter runoff.

What you need to do now is to find out where 4 goes to, as that is likely to be the main drainage system.  If that is blocked or otherwise doesn't run freely then you'll never fix the issue.

Likewise you need to find out what happens at 5 and downstream.  My guess would be that pipe somehow connects to 3 / 4 rather than continuing in the direction shown on your sketch.

sujsuj

stuart45 said:

If the ground is heavy clay with a high water table a soakaway will struggle to work properly all year round.

Not sure...but there was a pond behind garage  in a pic I saw of this property 20 years ago, after that pond  disappeared ..may be filled with soil..?

Eldi_Dos

You can hire a Sonde to attach to your rods and with a detector that will make it easier to trace the pipework/ drains and help to work out layout.

sujsuj

Section62 said:

sujsuj said:

Just to be clear flooding is not caused by the soak-away pipes that ends below surface in grass areas. I think Flooding is rather caused because  pipes unable to get water to those areas as when rains heavily only flood starts. Normal rains it handles OK. Last 2-3 years I saw flooding 2-3 times only. But so far in this summer already had flooding 3 times that too after my garage  roof repair when I was hoping everything inside garage will be protected ..

It was fairly clear from your picutes of the garage renovation that water had been a  problem for a long time, and not just from the roof.  I'd guess the pipe from 7 to 6 to unknown was a previous attempt to intercept water running off the grassed area, as well as picking up the gutter runoff.

What you need to do now is to find out where 4 goes to, as that is likely to be the main drainage system.  If that is blocked or otherwise doesn't run freely then you'll never fix the issue.

Likewise you need to find out what happens at 5 and downstream.  My guess would be that pipe somehow connects to 3 / 4 rather than continuing in the direction shown on your sketch.

Yes  finding other end of 4 is key, that is my first task. 

Most curious find for me yesterday was where this pipe 2-1 ends, it in fact collects rain water from concrete area near 3 (gully) and soaks out just in front of my garage!! I found that end under the soil while using drainage rod.   Not sure what is attempted by that pipe?.. I thought that need to be connected to pipe 7-6 some how..?

FreeBear

sujsuj said:

FreeBear said:

If you are talking about drains for downpipes & surface water rather than the drain from your toilet - Yes, it is quite common for the drainage pipes to stop half way down your garden. There should be a pit, often filled with random lumps of rubble & stone, to hold the water until it has a chance to filter away through the surrounding soil. These soakaways have a limited lifespan of 10-15 years before they get clogged up with soil & muck.

Digging them out and putting storm crates in will give them a new lease of life. Done properly, storm crates should last 50+ years.

edit to add - Have a brick lined chamber some 400mm diameter & 2m deep that was constructed back in 1928(ish) for one of my downpipes to drain in to. Still as good as the day it was put in.

Yes talking about drains for down pipes & surface water not toilet. your comments make much sense as this soakaway mechanism might have created many years ago and lost it shape and purpose now.

I am thinking about brick lined chamber as well. But not sure it might need any council approval..?

Don't think a soakaway needs planning permission. But it would be subject to Building Regulations - This will limit how close it can be to a building or boundary along with a minimum size. Up to you if you involve Building Control...