| Non-motoring > Drains and cctv | Miscellaneous |
| Thread Author: Crankcase | Replies: 13 |
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New Fri 13 Jul 18 08:53
Drains and cctv - Crankcase
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We have a damp/wet internal wall. It's proving be hard to ascertain the cause. The current weeks of dry spell hasn't resulted in it drying out very much, if at all. Perhaps a little. Water board looked, declared it not from their pipe work, but suggested an internal pipe behind a wall was the problem. But trusted plumber says there is no such pipe in that position (and he knows the house). None of the other pipes we know about seem to be leaking, and he's done various tests. Water meter, when all is turned off, seems to show about 50-100 litres a week vanishing, so a leak. But then on other days, it doesn't move at all, so no leak. Can't pin it down. Anyway, before starting to strip plaster in random spots just in case, there is a gully and outside drain that might possibly be an issue, both think. So, Mr Google suggests there are companies that can cctv drains for about £150, and if there's a break, possibly repair it with an inflatable patch for about £1500 ish. Before I start ringing random companies I know nothing about, does anyone have any experience or thoughts? |
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New Fri 13 Jul 18 09:10
Drains and cctv - Duncan
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The CCTV people will need access to the drain, probably from a manhole. Is there access? Do you think it is a foul or surface water drain that is/may be the culprit? It is not normal practice to run drains under a building. At a wild guess, I would suggest the cause of the problem is elsewhere. How old is the house? What is the construction? |
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New Fri 13 Jul 18 09:17
Drains and cctv - Zero
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Random selection of thoughts. follows. I assume condensation has been ruled out? The plaster is going to have to come off be replaced anyway after the cause has been isolated. How and where was "all turned off" CCTV the drain? What drain is it and what drains into it? Where is the damp patch Why is the damp spot not appearing on the outside if its a drain. Have you mapped using a damp meter. |
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New Fri 13 Jul 18 09:31
Drains and cctv - bathtub tom
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I had a damp patch that for weeks we put down to the dog shaking itself when it came in wet. Eventually traced to a leaking join where the dishwasher was connected to its feed a couple of metres away, the other side of the wall. It was forming a drip about once a minute! |
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New Fri 13 Jul 18 10:52
Drains and cctv - Fullchat
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Might not help your issue but I found the videos quite interesting. Youtube - 'Wally Damp Man' As we have had such a prolonged spell of dry weather the cause should be easier to narrow down. It appears to be damp from an area that is constantly being topped up with water from some source. You say you have had the water company round. Do you trust them? Do you know the route of the main water pipe into the house? If you have floorboards it may be worth having a look. You say you are losing up to 100 Ltr. of fresh water. That might tend to indicate its not a drain issue. You can listen to water flow by putting a rod on the meter and to your ear. If everything is off in the house you may detect the leak. Old pipes, back boilers. There could still be pipes there. Last edited by: Fullchat on Fri 13 Jul 18 at 10:55
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New Fri 13 Jul 18 15:01
Drains and cctv - Crankcase
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Gosh, so many questions! The CCTV people will need access to the drain, probably from a manhole. Is there access? One drain is the downpipe outside the backdoor, the other is a pipe that runs along an outside wall, with just a paving slab over the end. Goodness knows what that's all about, but a camera could be put down there. Neither are against the wall in question, but on the other side of the house. Both water board and plumber thought, though, that water might be running under the house to the wall in question. How old is the house? What is the construction? Old. At least 1840. Construction is single skin brick, lime mortar, though the wall in question has had sand and cement put on it at some point before us, as have other walls. This I know is a bad thing. A repoint of the whole house in lime would be thousands, though, and no idea if that is the cause or solution to the issue, so not doing that at this stage. I assume condensation has been ruled out? I think so. its down in one corner and along the bottom of the wall, not the whole length of it. No sign of condensation anywhere else in the house. The bricks you can get at, just under the suspended floor, are wet or damp to the touch. There is are unobstructed airbrick in the right places, and the damp course on the external side of the wall (slate) isn't bridged. How and where was "all turned off" Plumber's plan. Heating and hot water circuit was isolated by him for three days, and boiler turned off. Once the meter settled after each use of (cold!) water, it was left for as many hours as possible to see if meter moved. If it did, then there would be a leak outside the heating circuit. If it didn't, there would be a leak in the heating circuit. Thus we could narrow it down. That was the plan. In reality, both day 1 and 2 showed no movement in those intervals (ranging from 2 to 7 hours) and day 3 showed movement. So fat lot of use that was for diagnostics. CCTV the drain? What drain is it and what drains into it? Outside downpipe is one, on other side of house, next to kitchen wall. The other also runs alongside kitchen wall, which is not the wall we have damp on, but the kitchen wall does produce "salts" all the time and the plaster has blown in one very small area. Hence they think it's possible it's leaking under that wall and mostly ending up on the opposite side of the house, as who knows what slope is under the floor. Where is the damp patch Along bottom of wall. Plumber says "always look above a damp patch, as a leaking pipe anywhere above it will show marks on the ceiling or room above etc". No marks, no pipes directly above it. Obviously there are pipes upstairs but nothing obvious up there anywhere. So we don't know if it's coming down or rising up! Helpful. Why is the damp spot not appearing on the outside if its a drain. Good point. Have you mapped using a damp meter. No, don't possess one. Plumber used funky damp app thing with a thermal camera, and you can see where the wall is colder/warmer. Just really showed where we thought it was, not in other areas. You say you have had the water company round. Do you trust them? Cambridge Water. "Free basic leak detection service", which turned out to be a nice older man who seemed to know his stuff. He went round everywhere with a listening stick, spent a couple of hours here, checked their pipes in the street and then all of ours, eventually diagnosed a potential pipe above the patch (which plumber said it wasn't as no evidence of water above the patch and no evidence of a pipe there, or ever having been), then offered to return and try again if we got nowhere. Will probably do that but not obvious, anyway. Do you know the route of the main water pipe into the house Yes, or at least we can see where it comes in to the water meter. But neither the water board nor I know exactly where its coming from - it might be under the house and under the problem wall, or it might be under the garden. Clearly been there since Roman times and records are non existent. It just goes into a hole in the ground. If you have floorboards it may be worth having a look. Floorboards by problem wall are up. There is just damp old lime mortar down there, and earth. Not a puddle or anything. Old pipes, back boilers. There could still be pipes there. Certainly true there is a pipe that feeds an external tap that neither the plumber nor the water board man know the route of, but it is in the corner of the kitchen. Right, I think that's the questions, and thank you to all for input. It all makes me think it's more likely NOT to be drains. However, if it ever rains again we can see if it gets worse. I will hold off on the cctv idea until then perhaps. Finding a leak under a sealed brick floor in the kitchen might be a tad expensive, but its starting to feel like just ripping up the entire ground floor until we find it might the only answer. If anyone is thinking of buying an old nineteenth century house full of character, be aware it will be a money pit, and there won't be a 90 degree angle in the place. All the internal doors are manky old 1980s pine things the previous owner probably found in a skip and cut down or tacked bits onto, because none of the doorways, external or internal, are standard sizes, so replacements would al have to be bespoke. Everything you do is always at least £1000. It's wooden sash single glazed windows, and in a conservation area so we're "not allowed" to change them. But we still love it. |
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New Fri 13 Jul 18 18:00
Drains and cctv - Haywain
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Is there a room above the one where the damp patch is located? Water from a slow leak can track in unusual ways. A couple of years ago, I had been assuming that the 'shadow' on the painted wall in the downstairs loo was a spider's web. When I looked more closely, it was a large water-filled blister between the paint and the block-work. I eventually found that the problem was caused by a slow drip from the joint where the water pipe joined the WC in an en-suite directly above the blister. Water had found a way down and, as the pipe had been badly cut, it had been there since the house was built. Something else worth bearing in mind is that copper water pipe can become porous with time. I saw an example of this when we returned to my father's 1960s house to find that it was 'raining' in the kitchen as a result of a porous pipe in the space between the floors. |
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New Fri 13 Jul 18 18:26
Drains and cctv - Duncan
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Can you, or someone you know douse/divine? I can, but I have found that it often raises more questions than it answers. It is something else to throw into the pot. |
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New Fri 13 Jul 18 18:20
Drains and cctv - Zero
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>> It's wooden sash single glazed windows, and in a conservation area so we're "not allowed" >> to change them. You can change them, for efficient ones. Its tremendously expensive, a shed load of agro, and takes an age tho. |
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New Fri 13 Jul 18 19:05
Drains and cctv - Crankcase
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We have a low wall in the front garden that borders the street. It used to have railings, before our time. Probably taken away during the war. We asked if we could put some back. Nope. Our neighbours, who may or may not have asked, do have railings. The man over the road, also in the conservation area, has solar panels, which are explicitly forbidden. I guess you can probably do what you want, but I also guess it might come back to bite you on sale, or if you annoy the wrong person. I can't now find online the prohibition on double glazed windows, so maybe I extrapolated from the railing experience. Certainly the neighbours the other side have pvc double glazing. But I was surprised to find the other day he didn't actually know about the conservation area at all, especially as they only bought the house a few months ago. You'd think his solicitor would have pointed it out. Still, he also didn't know about the chain link fence that WE are supposed to pay for along his property, according to a paragraph on a document from the twenties. He did however know that the patch of land he and two more neighbours keep their bins on actually belongs to us. When we moved in, there was still the "right of way for cattle" down our drive and through our back garden, as the housing estate at the back was once a farm. Solicitor sorted that for a quid. Property, eh? |
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New Fri 13 Jul 18 19:31
Drains and cctv - R.P.
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| We had a burst water supply pipe. The pipe runs from the top of our only neighbour's garden (water meter located there as well) for around 60 meters on their property before entering ours. Three weeks last Wednesday we had a shower of rain and later on I noticed that the area outside our drive's gate was still damp ages later. Knew there was something amiss. Turned everything off in the house and went up to the meter (eyeing up our neighbour's beautifully tarmac drive and lawn on the way) - it was still spinning. Called the house insurance and they said they would send someone around, they also advised phoning the water company (Welsh Water) which I did. Great help, they told me what our consumption was this time last year, they then said that they would base this time year's consumption on that figure. They sent out an inspector (young local lad) who said there was a problem with the main stop cock (their side of the meter) and it would be replaced. He also said that WW would also do one free attempt to fix the problem, despite it clearly being on our side (he narrowed down the spot - accurately as it turned out - with his listening stick thing) - Insurance Company guys turned up the next day and confirmed WW's findings. WW turned up last Wednesday, identified, located and fixed the leak after an hour's work. I then provided WW with a meter reading, a further reading will be taken next week and a bill calculated reflecting the losses and usage last year. Brilliant service. No claim recorded by Direct Line Insurance. Saved myself £250.00 excess. Easy to slag off water companies but WW (not for profit company) were really first class. |
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New Fri 13 Jul 18 20:21
Drains and cctv - Crankcase
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Bah. Want to swap? That was an excellent outcome. Nearest to excellent I can get to is that I swapped my car a few weeks ago, and when telling LV, they said "no change in premium but your excess is now zero". Actual renewal came through last week, and amazingly, excess is still zero, and also the premium is cheaper than anything else at the same level for everything on the comparison sites. Given I had a claim last year (not my fault, nothing to pay, all sorted in three days, no increase in premium, though I do have protected NCD), I'm happy with that. |
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New Fri 13 Jul 18 20:24
Drains and cctv - R.P.
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| I've counted my blessings. Looking at a long term solution viz bringing in the supply, either on a shorter route via the lane or through my neighbours field - avoiding the prospect of digging up their lovely gardens.. |
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New Sun 15 Jul 18 21:07
Drains and cctv - MD
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| I’ve just had a substantial property claim (escape of water). LV were and still are the insurer. No complaints of any nature..perfection. |
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