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Leaking pipe causing property damage
Comments
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Yeah. My own house does the same, as do many, many houses I have seen. New ones probably don't.
She didn't have a drain survey done as part of the survey. A previous drain survey was limited to lifting the manhole cover and saying: looks fine.
The whole thing is a clusterf*ck. The mains supply comes up out of the ground, is routed along the outside of the building and enters behind a kitchen cupboard. Although no drain survey was done, I am wondering if this should have been noted by the survey.
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Brush the gravel back, and wait for the WB's intro letter.
(Except you've told them about lead replacement?)
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The shared waste/rainwater gulley is no longer permitted, but I doubt they can or will retrospectively force a change - we have two downpipes doing this on our 1930s house, but have soakaways on the new garage and extension.
Bottom line - don't 'worry' about this, but start doing your research. Contact your WB. Get a local recommended builder to discuss the best new mains route, and to check the 'void' and gulley. Plan to add water butts to the DP so rainwater to sewer is easily minimalist (just do this 'cos it's the 'right' thing to do). Get quotes for new mains using the two methods. Find a local man-with-minidigger. Get a local drain specialist. Get the info, and come back on here to discuss.
If the property is served by a combined sewer system then there is no issue with the existing arrangement. If the property has a separate surface water sewer connection then there are ways the water company/local authority can compel the owner to change existing/historic arrangements so all surface water goes to the surface water sewer, but in reality this is only likely to happen if there is some kind of sewer flooding issue and requiring households to change their arrangements was a viable solution.
Adding water butts is a good idea for keen gardeners, but there's no need to be doing so as "the 'right' thing to do". Unless the water butt is (partially) empty when it starts raining it will make no difference to the total amount of runoff. (Though being a keen gardener might be a good reason not to have a water meter, if possible)
Unless this is a misconection of a sink to a surface water sewer I would do the very least possible - i.e. a like-for-like replacement using modern materials. Doing more than that is likely to trigger the need for building control involvement.
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Seriously?! That is the mains water supply?!
The render under the 'dash above looks pretty new. Is it?
If so, then almost certainly the previous owner was 100% aware of this unacceptable issue. I wonder why they put down chippings...?
Tho' whether there is any chance of a claim is unlikely.
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How do you know if the property is Edwardian or Victorian, the OP didn't tell us.
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I agree with the chipping. I am sure that's why. It i am sure there is no way to prove this.
It is devastating because my partner just managed to escape the High-Rent-But-No-Mortgage trap with a Skipton 100% mortgage. Meaning she has no savings, despite her lower mortgage payments finally giving her the chance to actually start saving money. She just doesn't have it available upfront. I have bought 3 houses without drain surveys and never had any issues. None of my friends have either. It's just sad.
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Sending the rainwater to other than the main drainage for many places did not start to become commonplace until well into the 50s, the 2 large 1950's estates where I grew up all fed into the same system.
Never associate with idiots on their own level, because, being an intelligent man, you'll try to deal with them on their level - and on their level they'll beat you every time.
Being hated by idiots is the price you pay for not being one of them.
Jean Cocteau 1889-1963
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Not sure if mentioned before or you have done it but have you turned off the the stop tap in the pavement or just inside your boundary and drain the taps inside and leave it for hours to see if it leaks near the gulley.
I was wondering if the gulley was damaged and leaks or can you see the mains pipe leaking?
That is a complete mess in my opinion.
The pipe that goes to outside tap where does it enter the house as I can't see from the last photo.
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Dutchcloggie - are you capable of doing some work here yourself? Ie, dig and expose the pipe around that area - once you lift the broken pieces of concrete, the soil will likely be soft underneath. Try and find the leak, and then get a fitting that you can put on before that leak - cut and by-pass that section, and get the water supply returned to the house.
Or, at least expose it, and call a plumber. That will take the pressure off you for the proper fix.
If the current situation means your neighbour also cannot have water, then make the WB liable for this - tell them you cannot keep the water running as it's causing damaged, but when you shut it off, the neighbour loses their supply - surely that's a WB issue?
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Yeah. I turned the main stop off in the street now. Turns out next door is SHARED with that stop. Next door is an Airbnb and the guests were not impressed or really prepared to have it turned off overnight. Eventually they agreed it could be off between midnight and 6:30. They left at 10. Turned the stop off then.
Plumber has been for emergency fix. At least we can relax a bit now it's no longer leaking. We will review the situation and see what we can do to improve the whole thing.
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