Drain Blockages

[susanxx]

My friend has recently moved house and her new neighbour has asked her if the previous owner 'told you about the drains'? The answer was no and it would appear that every 6 months or so, my friend has to have her drains rodded as there can be a back up in her toilet if she doesn't! He claims the problem is due to the drain on his property that has, I can only presume from my friends description, collapsed or dropped somehow thsu causing this problem. My friend is willing to pay half towards the necessary remedial work but gets the impression from the neighbour that as he has his own rods and it clears the problem for him, he is reluctant to have the work done. Any ideas as how to move forward as this issue has put a dampener on my friends house purchase?

[woofgang]

what kind of house survey did she get? was there any mention of this in sny of the legal search paperwork?

[ummmm]

How old is the property?

[Maydup]

Our survey referred to potentially blocked drains in an area of the garden where there were no drains! If they were mentioned in the survey i'm sure your friend would have queried it. The survey is usually a very light touch as far as drains are concerned.

I suggest your friend pays for an independent drains inspection to determine whether there is a collapse and confirms the route. Take it from there.

[Canary42]

My brother has a similar issue, and he regularly has to call out the Water Company to clear it, which apparently they are legally bound to do free of charge. They (the Water Company) claim it is due to fat accumulation (not from my brother's house, but someone else on the shared drain) and that there is no fault in the system. (Incidentally they clear it from a manhole several properties further down the road).

[Canary42]

P.S. It requires more than simple rodding, but the use of a very powerful washing device.

[susanxx]

property is approx 50 years old, apparently some houses in the street have had subsidence issues, it is built on old farm land and is approx 1/4 from the shore(the recent high tides have brought the sea to the corner of her road about 25 metres from her driveway) and the west coast mainline is within 100 metres of the property. She chose not to have a survey!

[woofgang]

I would suggest that the next step will be to talk to her foul water disposal supplier but she may need to wait until she gets a problem!

[The Builder]

If it's shared, then the drain may have been adopted by the Water Company. Not in every case, but still worth asking.

Water Companies will have a sewer plan they can refer to. Well worth ringing them.

Otherwise, I would wait until it happens again. It needs a few measurements and a bit of detective work to find exactly where the problem is, rather than simply clearing the blockage until the next time. Have an experienced local builder look at it rather than a surveyor in this case.

[Old_Geezer]

After I'd bought my present place a neighbour at the time told me something similar. Must affect others first though since I've never had issues, and only twice has someone knocked on the door and asked if they could lift the cover on my drive to clear an issue. (The last time they put the cover back 180° out and it's looked wrong ever since.) So in my case the board must have accepted responsibility for whatever the issue is.

[gingejbee]

As the Builder has said....if this drain is shared (more than one property's effluent passes through it) and is in England (and Wales, I think!).. the drain is now (from October 2011) "owned" by your water supply company and they are responsible for all problems with it...including unblocking, relaying...even the chambers and the covers. Your friend will not have to pay.

[gingejbee]

Just to add, you can find out more about this (little known-about) legislation by searching "Water Industry (Schemes for Adoption of Private Sewers) Regulations 2011...("the Transfer Regulations").
If you are affected...it can save a small fortune!

[Sycamore3House]

You can take out a policy through British Gas for I think Dynarod it is about £10 per month. 6 months after I moved into my property the drain collapsed in the back garden. Phoned Dynarod & was advised to take out the policy and the work would be covered. I let the policy run for a year about £120-£130 all the work was done. Could be a solution all round.

[gingejbee]

....as I have said....if this is a shared drain (and it certainly seems to be from the OP)...there is no need to pay anybody anything!

[maggiebee]

I reckon either me or one of my neighbours has to call out Scottish Water every six months or so to clear a blocked sewer. There is no charge for this and I check the manhole every couple of months to see if it's running clear.

[susanxx]

thanks for all the suggestions, I shall pass them on to my friend and hopefully she can get the problem sorted with not too much cost to herself.