Manholes missing?

MissPeachtree

We have lived in our house for 1 year and hadn't thought about access to drains etc until now. We can't find any manholes on our property to access our drains. The nearest manhole is just over the fence in our neighbours' alley. Are we missing a manhole on our property?

Nothing was flagged up during the sale. The drainage and sewage report doesn't list anything and the map which comes with it is useless for this purpose.

An extension was built about 15 years ago - extended out the back and the old kitchen became the laundry room. Double doors onto patio - no manhole. Left side alley down past laundry room no manhole. Neighbours manhole kind of opposite laundry room.

Could someone please explain to me if this is an issue? If it is what do I need to do to fix it and any idea of cost would be very helpful.

Thank you

Section62

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6670087/manholes-missing

If there was a manhole then it may be underneath the extension now. Not necessarily a problem unless you get a blockage which can't be cleared from adjacent access points.

Also, possibly, if the builders were a bit dodgy and haven't sealed up the chamber access properly - if the cover is unsealed then there's a potential risk of smells and/or internal flooding if the conditions are right.

Did the extension get full building control signoff?

molerat

How old is the property ? Manholes are not always put on every property especially in some older builds. Do the other manholes give a clue as to where yours could / should be - maybe under the extension ? Maybe the one in the alley is shared.

grumpy_codger

You can possibly find some information in the extesion building plan in you council.

Failing that, you can pay for CCTV drain survey.

Gonk1967

There are a few possibilities…

It sounds like the extension was constructed prior to October 2011 in which case any drains that were running along the back of the house were private sewers. They could have simply removed the manhole when the extension was built and you've now got blind branches into the pipe.

Another option is that a manhole could have been retained but covered up with floor finishes.

In October 2011, any private sewer serving more than one property was transferred into the ownership of the Water Company.

The issue is if you get a blockage, there is no way to access the pipes without either an above ground access point or inspection chamber.

Don't know how much it would cost but it would be quite a big job.

MissPeachtree

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82014372#Comment_82014372

Thank you for your reply. Yes it got full building control sign off - made sure to check when purchasing.

MissPeachtree

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82014382#Comment_82014382

Many thanks. Extension was done Feb 2011. The way the manhole is done next door, the very edge of it comes into our alley, so we can't physically access it but we can see it exits! As it is the only manhole near our property boundary I assume it is taking the waste from ours out to the many sewer. I also assume that somewhere there was another manhole once upon a time as nextdoor also have an extension with a manhole on their patio.

Section62

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82014398#Comment_82014398

Unlikely to be a major problem then, unless the builder was very dodgy and concealed the drainage issue from the BC officer.

MissPeachtree

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82014374#Comment_82014374

Thank you. I think ours was built around 1930s and extension 2011

Albermarle

If you have good relations with your neighbour, you could ask them to remove their manhole covers and then you flush your loos/turn taps on, and see if it flows through at the bottom of one of the manholes next door. If it does you will know you are on some kind of shared system. If it does not appear, then probably you have your own foul drainage system. Unless it is shared with the neighbour on the other side .

At least it would give you an idea where your foul drainage is going in case of any future problems.

WIAWSNB

Do you have a sewer layout, perhaps from the time you bought the house? If not, worth contacting the WB for one. We got sent one when we applied to build an extension a few years back - the WB sent us a detailed plan, which included the location of inspection chambers, and pointed out we'd need a build-over agreement. Very effluent of them.

I knew the sewer ran across our rear garden, but assumed it was much further down. Nope - it was right where the extension was going to go. Fortunately a CCTV inspection showed it to be in good order, so all we needed was a proper 'build-over' where the founds ran over it.

Once you know the sewer run, you should be able to work out if there 'should' be a manhole somewhere, even if it isn't shown.