Basement water possibly coming from neighbour's garden drain.

[AboveTheClouds]

Hi,

I just joined this forum.

I own an end of terrace house which is approximately 100 years old. It is connected on one side to another house by a shared wall, and there is also a different neighbours garden directly behind.

We have issues with water running down the back wall of our basement. We believe that there is a drain in the neighbour's garden at the back which is causing this water problem.

I would appreciate advice in terms of what the next step should be to confirm the cause of the problem and to get it fixed. The neighbours seem amicable and are happy to let us gain access to their garden.

Thank you in advance.

[Kati]

Re: Basement water possibly coming from neighbour's garden drain.

Hi AboveTheClouds, welcome to LB!!
I'm sure some knowledgeable Beagles will be along to advise soon.

Kati x

[des8]

Re: Basement water possibly coming from neighbour's garden drain.

Why do you think it is due to leaky drains and what sort of drain do you think it may be, foul sewer, storm drain or French drain?
The easiest way is to examine the drain from inside by using CCTV, or possibly by using dye.

You might find it is just natural drainage and to cure the problem you'll have to put in a land drain and tank up the interior walls.
Hopefully Wales might know about these things and will advise further.

[enaid]

Re: Basement water possibly coming from neighbour's garden drain.

Hi and welcome first off have a read here http://www.ofwat.gov.uk/consumerissu...s/supplypipes/

so maybe an idea to have a peep at your deeds and find your boundries and establish who is responsible for the drains.

Also new regs in 2011

http://www.thameswater.co.uk/help-and-advice/8654.htm

[wales01man]

Re: Basement water possibly coming from neighbour's garden drain.

Have you access to these drains? in most houses you would have mains or private drans and maybe a soakaway for rain water you need to investigate a little unless you can find the source of the water you may have problems.

[AboveTheClouds]

Re: Basement water possibly coming from neighbour's garden drain.

Why do you think it is due to leaky drains and what sort of drain do you think it may be, foul sewer, storm drain or French drain?
The easiest way is to examine the drain from inside by using CCTV, or possibly by using dye.

You might find it is just natural drainage and to cure the problem you'll have to put in a land drain and tank up the interior walls.
Hopefully Wales might know about these things and will advise further.

I don't know for sure. The reason that we were thinking that it might be related to the neighbour's drain is that it seems like most of the water trickles down the walls in an area where we believe the drain goes. Our basement walls are a little damp in other areas but we don't see water trickling down elsewhere.

I'm not too hot on my drain terminology. I believe that the drain is just at the side of the garden and there to stop the garden from getting waterlogged when wet.

If we were to use the CCTV or dye option, who would I get to carry out that work? Would it be a domestic plumber or do I need some kind of drains expert?

We believe that the previous owners painted the inside of the basement with some kind of waterproof layer as a poor man's solution to fix the problem. They then plastered over it, but it failed to keep all of the water out and the plaster started dropping off the walls.

It is quite a small room down there already. It's a long thin house that it only about 10 feet wide throughout. We would be open to tanking it if that is the only way to fix this problem, but are concerned about the cost for such a small room, and also as far as I understand the tanking process, I believe that we would lose even more square footage down there.

[AboveTheClouds]

Re: Basement water possibly coming from neighbour's garden drain.

Have you access to these drains? in most houses you would have mains or private drans and maybe a soakaway for rain water you need to investigate a little unless you can find the source of the water you may have problems.

Hi wales01man.


Thanks for reading my post. So what kind of contractor do I need to contact to do this investigative work? I am a bit of a drainage rookie I'm afraid.

Thanks

[des8]

Re: Basement water possibly coming from neighbour's garden drain.

Have you considered making a claim under your household insurance policy.
It will depend on what cover you have, the wording of the policy, the amount of water ingress etc etc, but the insurers might discover the source for you.

To find out where drains are, look for manhole covers. lift and look in which direction they run. For land drains/soakaways if your not sure they even exist , dig or use a dowser.

[wales01man]

Re: Basement water possibly coming from neighbour's garden drain.

A drain survey company that may cost a bit try to trace the water entering the basement back to its source.
If the drains are not accessible from your property you need the landowners permission

[AboveTheClouds]

Re: Basement water possibly coming from neighbour's garden drain.

A drain survey company that may cost a bit try to trace the water entering the basement back to its source.
If the drains are not accessible from your property you need the landowners permission

Ok......so it looks like water from the gutters in our house run into the drain which is on the neighbours property. And we're thinking that the drain doesn't actually go anywhere but into the ground. So I'm guessing that we are going to need to move this drain somewhere away from our back wall where the water can drain into a proper drain rather than into the ground and back into our basement wall.....Ack! Sounds expensive.

I will call our home insurance company, but as this drain setup is something that has been there since we bought the property then I doubt it will be something they cover.

[des8]

Re: Basement water possibly coming from neighbour's garden drain.

If the downpipe runs into a drain which discharges into a soakaway and is 100 years old, it could be that the soakaway needs digging out.

As the property is end of terrace, is it not possible to lead the guttering round the gable end, connect with the front down pipes and so discharge into front drains?
This will lead your water away from the rear, although if others discharge into the soakaway it might not help.

[AboveTheClouds]

Re: Basement water possibly coming from neighbour's garden drain.

If the downpipe runs into a drain which discharges into a soakaway and is 100 years old, it could be that the soakaway needs digging out.

As the property is end of terrace, is it not possible to lead the guttering round the gable end, connect with the front down pipes and so discharge into front drains?
This will lead your water away from the rear, although if others discharge into the soakaway it might not help.

That's a great idea. I will investigate further to see if the soak away is being used by our neighbours or not too. Thanks!

[wales01man]

Re: Basement water possibly coming from neighbour's garden drain.

You will need to consult building control at your Council before you can reroute the rainwater drain there are rules on drains of all types .
You may or may not be allowed to send rainwater down the domestic drains

[wales01man]

Re: Basement water possibly coming from neighbour's garden drain.

Lots of rules now about rainwater sokjaways you could look on the web at your councils website to find out more