Drain pipe leak - council wants to dig a hole
Discussion
I've got an end of terrace 2 bed house house that I let out.
This morning I had a call form the letting agents that there is a blockage/leak in the drains somewhere. The council has already had a look at the drainage system and claim there is mud in the drainage water which normally means there is damage to the pipe underground.
They want to dig a hole outside the end wall of the house (where the drainage pipe runs down from upstairs into the ground) and see if they can get to the pipe that way. Alternatively the whole concrete floor will have to be dug up in order to get to the pipe or.. a new pipe run on the outside of the end wall.
I'm not sure how they have established that the exact problem is within my property boundary and not along an outside 'council' pipe.
They did say they were happy for me to come and have a look when they had dug the hole so I don't think they trying it on as it were. They needed my ok to go ahead so it looks like I'll be footing the bill for all of this
I just wondered if anyone on here has any experience with this kind of thing. Presumably if the damage to the pipe is outside of my property's boundary then its the responsibility of the council?
As the property is let out the house insurance extends to buildings/fire only. I guess that would not cover any drainage issues..
Cheers all.
This morning I had a call form the letting agents that there is a blockage/leak in the drains somewhere. The council has already had a look at the drainage system and claim there is mud in the drainage water which normally means there is damage to the pipe underground.
They want to dig a hole outside the end wall of the house (where the drainage pipe runs down from upstairs into the ground) and see if they can get to the pipe that way. Alternatively the whole concrete floor will have to be dug up in order to get to the pipe or.. a new pipe run on the outside of the end wall.
I'm not sure how they have established that the exact problem is within my property boundary and not along an outside 'council' pipe.
They did say they were happy for me to come and have a look when they had dug the hole so I don't think they trying it on as it were. They needed my ok to go ahead so it looks like I'll be footing the bill for all of this
I just wondered if anyone on here has any experience with this kind of thing. Presumably if the damage to the pipe is outside of my property's boundary then its the responsibility of the council?
As the property is let out the house insurance extends to buildings/fire only. I guess that would not cover any drainage issues..
Cheers all.
sleep envy said:
have they CCTV'd the drainage run?
I honestly don't know as its all come as a bit of a surprise to me when the letting agent called me this morning. I called the engineer at the council and he mentioned the mud. He did say they would be able to run a camera tomorrow when they dug the hole.. so I guess they haven't?esselte said:
Is the drain shared by the other houses in the terrace? If so,shouldn't they shoulder their share of the costs?
Its possible, there are only 3 houses. Couldn't be sure though. I'm going to attend the digging tomorrow and see what's going on. I'm hoping they can get to any potential pipe breakage by digging just outside the end wall (the pipe runs just inside of this end wall) Apparently the ground has 'moved' on a number of properties in the area, many of which has had the same problem. Sods law says the breakage will be the corner point of down pipe 
Bebs said:
sleep envy said:
have they CCTV'd the drainage run?
I honestly don't know as its all come as a bit of a surprise to me when the letting agent called me this morning. I called the engineer at the council and he mentioned the mud. He did say they would be able to run a camera tomorrow when they dug the hole.. so I guess they haven't?how would they know where the collapse is otherwise?
sleep envy said:
Bebs said:
sleep envy said:
have they CCTV'd the drainage run?
I honestly don't know as its all come as a bit of a surprise to me when the letting agent called me this morning. I called the engineer at the council and he mentioned the mud. He did say they would be able to run a camera tomorrow when they dug the hole.. so I guess they haven't?how would they know where the collapse is otherwise?
When was the house built? If it was (from memory) before 1934 all drainage is the councils responsability.
In our place we have the communal drain for 4 house run through our garage & the few times it's got blocked we've just called the council out to rod it. We've even had them put cameras down there to find out the cause as it was getting to be a weekly occurance. Turned out it was a brick wedged & with a copious bit of rodding it was freed.
In our place we have the communal drain for 4 house run through our garage & the few times it's got blocked we've just called the council out to rod it. We've even had them put cameras down there to find out the cause as it was getting to be a weekly occurance. Turned out it was a brick wedged & with a copious bit of rodding it was freed.
Baron Von Alders said:
When was the house built? If it was (from memory) before 1934 all drainage is the councils responsability.
In our place we have the communal drain for 4 house run through our garage & the few times it's got blocked we've just called the council out to rod it. We've even had them put cameras down there to find out the cause as it was getting to be a weekly occurance. Turned out it was a brick wedged & with a copious bit of rodding it was freed.
Doesnt apply sadly. Buildt early 1980s. In our place we have the communal drain for 4 house run through our garage & the few times it's got blocked we've just called the council out to rod it. We've even had them put cameras down there to find out the cause as it was getting to be a weekly occurance. Turned out it was a brick wedged & with a copious bit of rodding it was freed.
Gassing Station | The Pie & Piston Archive | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff