UKC

Two questions:

1) How much would installing a new soil pipe and connecting to an existing sewer be? Any answer better than comments about string helpful.

2) My new house has a basement about 2m below ground level with a drain in the floor. Is this likely to connect to proper drain (pipe, sewer etc), or be a soak away of some form? It seems a long way down and makes me worry about the feasibility of 1).

Combined sewer if that helps.

In reply to MG:

Re 2, get some drain dye from Jewsons and see if you can track it to a nearby manhole. Failing that, try CCTV.

In reply to Submit to Gravity:

+1. Also try whacking the manhole in the road with a lump hammer and see if you can hear the echo up through the drain in the cellar. I know in Halifax the cellar drains go into a rider sewer that taps into the main sewer at some point. (If there's a brown tide line up the basement wall that's a good, if worrying, indication...)

In reply to Ridge:


Interesting approach! I'll wait until no ones around, perhaps.

In reply to MG:

We've had a few run-ins with drains at home. It's a long and not very pleasant story and so i shall spare you.

In the first instance, find and open every manhole cover on or near you property and start to work out which loo and drain connects to which. There should be manholes at fairly regular intervals - ours has them at every intersection. Dye is one way of findng out what goes where - the other is coloured loo paper which is a lot easier to acquire. Conduct a few experiments. A soakaway inside a building would be unusual, but perhaps not impossible.

As a start, work out which external manhole lies between your house and the main sewer and work back from that. You should have at least one 'private' manhole. Have a look, and see which way the pipes appear to go and go and find another manhole.

As far as costs go - digging, connection charges possibly. The cost of digging up and repairing a damaged sewer in our road and reinstating the road surface was £8,000 six years ago.

Video surveys cost about £700 IIRC

In reply to MG:

Use milk instead of drain dye,(an old irish trick) if its more convenient.

Do you have any inspection chambers on your property?

Allan

In reply to nniff:

Many pre war properties don't have any inspection chambers/manholes at all.
That's when it gets fun!

Allan

In reply to MG:


Haha, first thing that came to mind by the time I got to your question mark was "How long is a piece of string?".

You need to consider the prices of material and labour... I.e. how much pipe and fittings will you have to use? Will you need to dig a trench?

Seriously, get a quote/advice from a professional.

In reply to vincentvega:

1888 house. .. There is one chamber with a lid that looks like it weighs two tonnes. I'll try the milk idea. Clever.

In reply to MG:

The cost will be hugely dependant on the depth of your underground drains and how far the closest underground drain is to connect to.

Good luck in lifting that lid!

Allan