Second opinion required on a CCTV sewer fotage, video inside

[mrraine]

Hi all,

I have damp running along one wall. the wall is about 8 meters in length. there is a drain running parrellel with this wall. I had a drain / sewer inspection completed and i have attached the video below. The company has provided an estimate for the works but i would love to get a second opinion before i put my hand in my pocket.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYdrJvk73us&feature=youtu.be

Many thanks for your time.

cheers

Burt

 

[Agile]

I am surprised that the camera is so low down and not positioned to be in the centre.

After 4.5m its difficult for me to understand what is happening apart from the fall ( slope ) being wrong and water backing up.

Can you explain what the company has told you is wrong and what they propose to do to correct it?

How deep is the drain and what have they quoted?

Are you quite sure the damp comes from the drain? Usually the drain would be below the damp proof course and not cause damp.

Tony

 

[mrraine]

many thanks for the quick response.

They said that the whole thing would need cleaning (jetting) and then it needs to be lined.

At 1.5 meters in they said that the clog on the right hand side was a breach in the sewer, but its questionable to my very untrained eye?

I am still awaiting the quote to come back, but it did not sound like it was going to be cheap.

Cheers

Burt

 

[Agile]

This lining is a bit of a bodge and quite expensive!

In many cases it would be cheaper to dig up and replace with plastic.

How deep is it?

I would expect replacing a drain at 1.5 m deep might be about £150 per metre run if its at least 5-6 m long and soil on the surface.

Of course it all depends on what is on the surface! If its concrete driveway or ornamental gardens then the lining comes into the equation.

Tony

 

[mrraine]

its in a real problem area. Its in an alley way between two houses. the gap is only about 2 foot wide. Digging in this tight space will be an absolute nightmare. if a repair is needed i would prefer not to engage digging it up.

So what do you think does it look broken in any places?

Cheers

Burt

 

[Agile]

I cannot tell what is broken.

But did the drain co not tell you something?

But it does seem to have subsided as water is pooling.

What is the depth of the drain? ( Third time to ask! )

Digging up is not always as expensive as some people imagine. Best done by a builder not a drain company!

Let a builder decide how difficult it is. I am sure you have never done it before but they have.

Is it only you responsible for it? Usually between houses its shared.

Tony

 

[Hugh Jaleak]

I cant see how lining it will solve a great deal, the liner simply fills the existing pipe and sets to give a rigid lining. It wont solve the problem if the pipe has collapsed and/or dropped! Only solution to that is replacement. At 1.5m it's possibly a bad joint but nothing major to worry about IMO. No evidence of root ingress and on the whole the majority you can see looks in reasonable condition, and appears to be flowing without too much impediment.

Should the drain be shared (i.e. serves more than one property) it is actually now the Water Authority's responsibility. However if it does fall to you to repair I think the problem section needs replacement, lining will not cure a dip in the pipe! A 2 foot gap would be awkward, measure of how much so would also depend on depth of the drain, but not impossible, ask a builder to quote.

Still need to know depth of pipe and some more info about the damp would be useful, this could be a failed DPC which would still causes damp issues even with a repaired drain!

 

[mrraine]

Its about a meter below (at the drain cover at least). The house is around 150 years old. I don't believe that damp courses were used way back then.

I did not think it looked that bad.

Many thanks for your response - appreciated.

cheers.

 

[mrraine]

forgot to mention that it does serve more than one house. its at least three houses from we determined. The company that attended suggested that we do not tell the insurance company until we have the writen quote from them and to not tell them that the drain surved multiple houses as this would lengthen the repair being authorized by the insurance company.

all sounds a bit dodgy to me.

Cheers

burt

 

[RogerBoyle]

Of course they did Yaaahoooo springs to mind with them

From looking at the video you have nothing to worry about
You have some slight settlement on the drain further in causing a bit of pooling but this is negligible and as seen from the front portion of the video ( as its clear) it not causing any problems, There are no broken pipes, Blockages or roots to be seen .

Can I ask Why they were videoing the drain in the first place I.E. what made you think the drain was the problem , Was there any sign of toilets etc backing up , Was there water oozing up even when it was dry ??

This drain will have nothing to do with your damp problem

Something is obviously bridging the DPC and or DPM on a slab floor which is causing your damp. not the drain

 

[mrraine]

Of course they did Yaaahoooo springs to mind with them

From looking at the video you have nothing to worry about
You have some slight settlement on the drain further in causing a bit of pooling but this is negligible and as seen from the front portion of the video ( as its clear) it not causing any problems, There are no broken pipes, Blockages or roots to be seen .

Can I ask Why they were videoing the drain in the first place I.E. what made you think the drain was the problem , Was there any sign of toilets etc backing up , Was there water oozing up even when it was dry ??

This drain will have nothing to do with your damp problem

Something is obviously bridging the DPC and or DPM on a slab floor which is causing your damp. not the drain

As it runs parallel to a wall with damp almost directly above it, it was me that put two and two together (perhaps incorrectly but i thought it might be a good first guess).

very much appreciate your feedback i hate getting ripped off. so if it does serve more than one property i can get a water company to check it?

 

[Hugh Jaleak]

Of course they dont want you to mention the drain serves multiple houses, the insurance would twig straight away it's the Water Co's responsibility!

This explains somewhat: http://www.ccwater.org.uk/server.php?show=nav.1278 Water Co. may take some persuading, and they are unlikely to want to do too much unless it can be proved the drain is causing a problem though.

 

[Dan Robinson]

Name and shame time methinks.

 

[polesapart]

There are better methods of testing drains for leaks.

Stop neighbours using water for an afternoon; plug drain section at downstream manhole, fill drain at upstream manhole, wait an hour or two, observe.


Cheaper than CCTV. Tests what you need to know.

Worked for the Victorians, works today.

 

[CBF]

that vid doesn't tell you what the prob is, as they stopped & pulled back before getting to the blockage or damaged part, looking at the joints some of the drain has moved but still looks intact & doesn't look like it's dropped to me, they or someone else needs to find the cause of the problem by going further down the pipe, but as someone else said I think shared sewers are now your local water boards responsibility