Water seeping into the cellar

[kate58]

I have water seeping in through my cellar. When it rains heavy or when using lots of domestic water. I have looked down the various outside drains and they maybe blocked. It is an old house and I have been advised that the rain water and the domestic water go into the same drain. Would rodding the drains be of any use?

I can see also that the drain/grid in the road outside my property is full of water, three feet from the top?

 

[crockett]

It may seem like a blockage, but it could be a cracked clay pipe underground that is letting by, due to tree roots, etc. Rodding them would be the first, and should be cheapest route. Then maybe a man with a drain camera to check for pipe soundness if this doesn't help. Have you had anyone round to check them ?

 

[ianniann]

Even blocked, it shouldn't be leaking a significant amount of water, so presumably a leaking pipe. Visible water in a grid isn't necessarily a problem. Find the rectangular drain cover over the sewer pipe serving your house and lift that. It should be more or less empty, maybe a trickle of water in the bottom. Any blockage usually causes quite a backup of stuff you won't want to examine too closely.

I assume the cellar isn't finished? You might still want to consider some form of waterproofing if there is significant water coming in. Even without a waste pipe leak that is still a source of damp.

 

[kate58]

No rain here for a four days now but still getting water. I cleaned out the drains around the back of the house where the water seems to be coming from, with my hands as far as I could reach. There was a lot of sludge down there. It seems to have slowed a little or that could just be my imagination (there's a song there some where)

The water is smelly but not sewage smelly. In the stairs down to the cellar there are two small vents and it does smell from there. The water is seeping through at the bottom of the stairway.

The cellar is finished and tanked I have been reliably informed

I'm getting the rods tonight and will try rodding tomorrow with help from a mate.

 

[kate58]

Found the manway in neighbours garden, opened it up and it was completly full of what I wouldn't want to examine too closely, about a foot from the top and covering the drains.

Obviously it's my neighbours responsibility, but should he contact the enviroment people or the council to pump out and clean. He's away on buisness until tomorow.

 

[ianniann]

Not tanked very well it seems

Anyway, you can certainly call the council about a blocked drain. If it is their responsibility then they'll usually clear it pretty fast. If not, the situation will depend on just which blocked pipes serve which houses.

 

[kate58]

Could it still be a broken drain

 

[electronicsuk]

Could it still be a broken drain

It could be, but irrespective of that, your cellar isn't waterproof, so it hasn't been tanked properly.

 

[kate58]

Big job yeah?

The smell is worse now , I think the water is still under the stairs and I can't get at it to clean it out, without taking the stairs out or maybe pump it out some way through the small vent in the stairs.

 

[kate58]

United Utilities have been out and cleared the blockage, everything is clear now. Done free of charge because we are pre 1937. Thanks for the help!!

 

[ianniann]

Now that's a nice result