Old property - 1837 vicarage with attached cottage, which used to be a stable, but is now a two-bedroom cottage.
Damp patch on the landing suggested water ingress through stone exterior...discovered that a cast iron down pipe was overflowing about half way up, where there is a bracket attaching it to the wall, and, I assume a joint between the upper and lower lengths.
The gully into which this flows was completely blocked with soil and roots, which have also backed up into the downcomer itself (and which I can't seem to be able to clear).
But in any case, the gully, once I'd excavated the soil and roots in the chamber, doesn't seem to be connected to any of the drains in the courtyard in front of the property. I've lifted all the manhole covers, and there are no inlets which could correspond to this rainwater gully. I can't test it, as it is still blocked up at the entrance to the pipe, and I can't rod it as it is right next to the wall. I was going to clear it from the other end...but can't find another end!
Given the age of the property, could this possibly just be feeding into a soakaway somewhere now hidden by the tarmac of the courtyard?
Also any idea how I could clear both the gully and the downcomer. As a last resort for the latter I was thinking of just cutting off the last couple of feet and replacing with plastic.
Damp patch on the landing suggested water ingress through stone exterior...discovered that a cast iron down pipe was overflowing about half way up, where there is a bracket attaching it to the wall, and, I assume a joint between the upper and lower lengths.
The gully into which this flows was completely blocked with soil and roots, which have also backed up into the downcomer itself (and which I can't seem to be able to clear).
But in any case, the gully, once I'd excavated the soil and roots in the chamber, doesn't seem to be connected to any of the drains in the courtyard in front of the property. I've lifted all the manhole covers, and there are no inlets which could correspond to this rainwater gully. I can't test it, as it is still blocked up at the entrance to the pipe, and I can't rod it as it is right next to the wall. I was going to clear it from the other end...but can't find another end!
Given the age of the property, could this possibly just be feeding into a soakaway somewhere now hidden by the tarmac of the courtyard?
Also any idea how I could clear both the gully and the downcomer. As a last resort for the latter I was thinking of just cutting off the last couple of feet and replacing with plastic.