Water from downpipe onto pavement - whose responsibility?

[Laurence WMF]

The downpipe at the front of my house ends about an inch above the pavement. There is a channel under the pavement - it would clearly improve matters if the pipe went into the channel. The water from the pipe is probably responsible for some damp in my property.

Is this the council's responsibility or mine?

Many thanks,
Laurence

[Mrs Mug]

Do you own the property or are you a tenant?

[Laurence WMF]

I own the property

[Mrs Mug]

What are the downpipes like on the other nearby properties?

[Wannadonnadoodah]

If it's attached to your property and to your gutter taking water from your roof I can't see it being anyones responsibility apart from yours.

[Interlaken]

If it's attached to your property and to your gutter taking water from your roof I can't see it being anyones responsibility apart from yours.

Not quite so easy! In a lot of older housing stock areas rainwater downpipes discharge onto the pavement or sometimes a metal or concrete gully then into the gutter of the carriageway. The pipe attached to your property is your responsibility but any channel in the footway and further away is the responsibility of the highways department of your local council.

I recently had a concrete gully replaced (courtesy of the council) which takes rainwater from one of my properties.

Next time it rains take a look at the downpipe - I found mine was allowing water to run up the back of the caste iron down pipe and against the wall of the property. I got over this by using a piece of plastic DPM glued on with Stixall to form a 'shoe' and divert the water into the gully.

[Laurence WMF]

So if I own the downpipe but the council own the pavement and the gully, who should do the work to reconnect the two?

I suspect that the pipe did go into the gully until some work on the pavement was done (before I owned the property). Most of the other properties on the street have pipes going under the pavement.

[ram]

1) It's up to you to spend £ 7 on the bottom part of the drainpipe to divert the flow into the drain channel. Don't be such a skin flint. Your property, so do your part in keeping the water coming off your property, causing damp in YOUR property, and divert it into a channel that the council have so kindly placed there for you to use.

2) Don't waste our time in trying to get the answer you want to hear. ( Post one and again post 7 )
But you want an answer desparately it seems, so here it is seeing as you have asked twice )
. . . . Refer to item number 1.

[Laurence WMF]

The channel is under the pavement, I would need to break open the cover of the channel, which is not my property; this is not a straightforward operation.

[Mrs Mug]

Can't you fit something, like in the link below, to direct the rain across the pavement into the gutter.

http://www.wickes.co.uk/Wickes-Black...-Shoe/p/431863

[Laurence WMF]

Thanks Mrs Mug. I've got one of those already. The water that comes out from it doesn't all go in the direction of the road.

[Interlaken]

Then I suggest you get a piece of plastic DPM and make an elongated sleeve from the back of the shoe so the DPM meets with the pavement, concrete or whatever is on the deck. Stick on with Stixall or similar and/or even use a large cable tie to hold it in place.
That way the rainwater should head away from the building unless the camber of the pavement is incorrect - in that case call the highways department of your local council.

[Laurence WMF]

Thanks a lot, Interlaken. I like your practical suggestion.

I think there may be a problem with the camber. The pavement level was raised at some stage and surveyors studying damp in my property have commented that this was done badly and is causing the damp.

The reason for my reluctance to contact the council has been that they may forbid me from doing anything that interferes with their property - channel cover, pavement - but refuse to do any work themselves that involves my property - the downpipe.


Thanks again,
Laurence

[ram]

The reason for my reluctance to contact the council has been that they may forbid me from doing anything that interferes with their property - channel cover, pavement - but refuse to do any work themselves that involves my property - the downpipe.

Is this all about a plastic down pipe. My goodness.

Get your wallet out, go dig out the plastic that was there, fit new plastic pipe in the hole that is there, and stop the damp in your property. Using hammers and chisels if need be, and stuffing rags round the pipe to pavement if that too keeps the water flowing into the channel.

Then tell the council that due to their shoddy work, you have had to do a temporary repair to stop water coming into your house and for them to fix the bodged up repair they did last time.

No one here can give you any more advice if you refuse to contact the council.
We are not your council. We cannot make council decisions for your council.

Get on the phone now, and get a council enviornmental department man to come have a look, but we can't do that for you either.