DRAINAGE

This Comes in Two Parts Existing and New Conservatory Drainage.

EXISTING DRAINAGE

With modern properties it is very unusual that there are not pipes running beneath the intended position of your new conservatory. These can be either surface water or foul water drainage and it is vitally important that no new structure results in pressure onto any pipes below ground as this would be contrary to Building Regulations.

They either need to be bridged with a steel re-enforced concrete lintel or the new foundations must be deeper than the existing pipes.

Re-routing and dealing professionally with drains can be very expensive and needs specialised knowledge so beware of ‘cut price’ contractors who would not proceed professionally and consequently would leave you with the potential of very serious problems later.

It is not easily possible for anyone to be absolutely certain what is below ground without careful examination of existing pipes and drains or exploratory digging. Often the plans home owners have on file may not truly represent what was originally intended and alterations could have been made since.

NEW CONSERVATORY DRAINAGE

Most models will have one or two downpipes and it is essential that they are fed either into existing surface water drainage or that a new soakaway is prepared. All soakaways should be at least 3 Metres from any building. It may well be that the existing soakaways for your home will fall closer than this to the new conservatory foundation and a new one would therefore be necessary. Soakaways should be constructed to the correct specification and this would depend on the volume of water it is required to disperse.

Correct and matching pipes and bends and couplings must be used and there are very many ways in which people can cut corners if they are not appropriately supervised.

A WORD OF WARNING – inappropriate drainage, broken pipes, or water mains can result in ground around your property becoming saturated and cause problems many years ahead. Subsidence can cost £15,000 or more and the insurance companies surveyors will most certainly not write you out a blank cheque if the problem is not genuine subsidence or similar they will simply refer you back to the builder and if he has behaved unprofessionally you will be very lucky in getting him back if indeed he is either covered by insurance or is prepared to produce that sort of figure from his own bank account to resurrect the situation.

#Also, local councils could well become involved if damage has been done to existing pipework and again the bills could be many thousands of pounds.