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Tell me aout shared drainage please


Delicatedave

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So we bought half a cottage which had been separated in the 90s. The toilet got blocked and our nab told us it's a shared drainage, something she failed to reveal when we was buying form her ? but ha ho ! she a nice lady and good nabs are hard to find. Anyway that seems to have put the nybosh on my idea for a onsuite in the bedroom I think. But I thought I would you lovely people on your thoughts, problem in the future, if I should investigate going it alone so to speak with regard digging up the bathroom which is downstairs in the middle of the house.

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Are we talking about a shared pipe leading to mains drainage, or a shared septic tank or treatment plant?

 

I still don't see why it won't stop you adding an en-suite.  Having an extra toilet won't increase the amount of waste, it just means you have a choice of which one to use.

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I also can't see what the problem is. 

 

It's pretty common for attached houses to share a single foul drain, and also fairly common for two or more houses to share a private sewage system (be that a septic tank or treatment plant) if they are off mains drainage.  I'd have thought that if you shared a private sewage system then that should have shown up during the purchase, as usually there are conditions included that define who pays for what in terms of maintenance etc.

 

If it's just a shared foul drain that leads to a main sewer, then the run of pipe to the main sewer from the house may well be the responsibility of the water company anyway.

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What might your problems be ... how long have you got?

In a nutshell, our neighbour has behaved with spectacular, documented, public rudeness. No point going into  detail.

Bottom line ( ? sorry) be careful to be seen to be completely fair about both the responsibility for the shared assets and about paying for its maintenance.

 

Sometimes neighbours move. Just sayin'.

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What might the problem be you all ask. Well I was rather hoping you would tell me but from my own thoughts more use going along a single pipe which only the person next door can fix when it blocks. Also I'm not sure that if the toilet downstairs get blocked and the one upstairs is flushed where is the stuff going to go? on my downstairs bathroom floor maybe?

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41 minutes ago, AnonymousBosch said:

What might your problems be ... how long have you got?

In a nutshell, our neighbour has behaved with spectacular, documented, public rudeness. No point going into  detail.

Bottom line ( ? sorry) be careful to be seen to be completely fair about both the responsibility for the shared assets and about paying for its maintenance.

 

Sometimes neighbours move. Just sayin'.

Say you have got 5 houses in a row, and a soil pipe that runs across your 5 gardens. I believe that the main run, as described above will be the responsibility of the water comp. This i believe was introduced by legislation to prevent Mr Smith who is on the end of the run, (last house) always being the one who ends up having to pay Dyno Rod, because the soil pipe is blocked, but the other four say that there soil pipes are ok. (Because it has not backed up to them yet, and might be coming out of a manhole in Mrs Smiths garden) However, each house will have a trunk off this main pipe, to take the soil from the house to the main pipe. You want to join onto your pipe for a new bog etc, you crack on.

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4 minutes ago, Delicatedave said:

What might the problem be you all ask. Well I was rather hoping you would tell me but from my own thoughts more use going along a single pipe which only the person next door can fix when it blocks. Also I'm not sure that if the toilet downstairs get blocked and the one upstairs is flushed where is the stuff going to go? on my downstairs bathroom floor maybe?

So you have no manhole in your garden ? No way to maintain the sewer on your property ? I'd be digging a hole and fitting one. That's the problem with splitting a house and not doing it properly.

Edited by Big Jimbo
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1 minute ago, Big Jimbo said:

So you have no manhole in your garden ? No way to maintain the sewer on your property ? I'd be digging a hole and fitting one. That's the problem with splitting a house and not doing it properly.

Err! good idea but the pipe shoot of left into the next door. I was all one house you see. No way off doing that with starting a completely separate branch from the street up my drive, into the hall and then into the bathroom. That's about 300 yards of digging and fixing for one bog.

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1 minute ago, Big Jimbo said:

Hope you get on with the neighbour for when your soil pipe blocks, and you have to go next door with the Dyno rod man. Still could, and should have been done when the house was split.

Indeed, the is a fair bit we could complain about, but she's a nice lady and neither of us plan to move again. We love the property and got it for a good price that allowed us to have most of what we had been looking 2 years for. Pretty sure I could convince her to agreeing to any work that needed doing but it's not high on the list. We have a rain water drain that just runs into the front garden and the side of the property flood as the water level rises - now that are important to get fixed soon this isn't ?

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6 hours ago, Jeremy Harris said:

I also can't see what the problem is. 

 

It's pretty common for attached houses to share a single foul drain, and also fairly common for two or more houses to share a private sewage system (be that a septic tank or treatment plant) if they are off mains drainage.  I'd have thought that if you shared a private sewage system then that should have shown up during the purchase, as usually there are conditions included that define who pays for what in terms of maintenance etc.

 

If it's just a shared foul drain that leads to a main sewer, then the run of pipe to the main sewer from the house may well be the responsibility of the water company anyway.

I believe the law changed within the last 10 years so that any drainage pipes serving more than one house became the property of the water companies, even if under a private garden.  I only know about this because of the impact for building over agreements.  But very few of these pipe runs are mapped and known about by the water comapnies in my experience.

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4 hours ago, Delicatedave said:

Indeed, the is a fair bit we could complain about, but she's a nice lady and neither of us plan to move again. We love the property and got it for a good price that allowed us to have most of what we had been looking 2 years for. Pretty sure I could convince her to agreeing to any work that needed doing but it's not high on the list. We have a rain water drain that just runs into the front garden and the side of the property flood as the water level rises - now that are important to get fixed soon this isn't ?

What does your title say?  When the house was split and sold the title would have had to be split.  Was the title splkt before you bought or was it split to allow you to buy the separate house?  Ideally it should cover things like access rights to deal with drainage issues, etc.  Did you solicitor highlight anything?

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15 hours ago, Randomiser said:

What does your title say?  When the house was split and sold the title would have had to be split.  Was the title splkt before you bought or was it split to allow you to buy the separate house?  Ideally it should cover things like access rights to deal with drainage issues, etc.  Did you solicitor highlight anything?

It was split long before we bought it but within the same family. Our solicitor brought up lot of things but not that. Pretty sure access will not be a problem but you never know, I suppose we should look towards getting a quote for out own system anyway. Best to be informed.

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15 hours ago, Randomiser said:

I believe the law changed within the last 10 years so that any drainage pipes serving more than one house became the property of the water companies, even if under a private garden.  I only know about this because of the impact for building over agreements.  But very few of these pipe runs are mapped and known about by the water comapnies in my experience.

I worked ten years for a water company, it really is amazing what they don't know ?

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40 minutes ago, Randomiser said:

You mentioned further up that the pipes 'shoot left into next door'.  Do you mean they go from your house directly in to your neighbour's house without going outside, or that the pipe goes outside your house into your garden and then in to next door's garden?

I think the sewerage pipe does but to be honest I only know that when our toilet doesn't flush next door have to sort it out and I think the inspection lid may be in their back garden.

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