Soakaway advice

[funstuie]

We recently purchased a bungalow in west sussex which needs extensive works doing to make it liveable. This work is well underway and it's costing a lot of money so had planned to do nothing to the outside of the house till next year when funds allow. But having been down there in the rain I was alarmed but the amount water coming back out the top of the downpipes!

I ended up having to dig out the crazy paving in the front garden as it was a complete mess and just laid on soil. While doing this I decided to dig out the pipe to the soakaway, my neighbour informed me that the pipe used to be asbestos (it's been replaced into the ground with PVC pipe) so I took extra care not to damage the pipes. I eventually (after back breaking work) discovered the pipe and chiselled out the concrete around the pipe. I then removed the downpipe and it was full to about halfway up with muck, silt and dirt.

I decided at this point that it's probably easier to just lay a new pipe alongside the current one and dig a new soakaway. What pipe should I use? I will need a new downpipe into a shoulder into the ground (this section will be concreted back in) then a length of suitable pipe (approx 5m)_ to the soakaway.

I can't afford the plastic crate things for a proper soakaway so I am going to build a 1mx1m hole and fill with a load of the rubble which I have a lot at the moment. The ground is free draining chalk and a few neighbours have their downpipe just running straight into their garden with no soakaway but this looks a bit naff.

 

[funstuie]

Sorry I clicked into the wrong forum. This is probably in the wrong section,

 

[Static]

And in 5 years you can dig another one when that one silts up?!..
Surely digging out and un-silting the old one has to be cheapest solution?

 

[noseall]

We install trapped gullies at the bottom of all downpipes to collect the crud.

Eventually the gully will block but then you get your hand in there and remove the soup. It is the same primordial soup that all life on Earth evolved from so it will be rich and smelly.

Better to be able to access the shoite than to allow it to block up the pipe.

 

[HERTS P&D]

It is the same primordial soup that all life on Earth evolved from so it will be rich and smelly.

Just like most of the forum users on this site.

Andy

 

[funstuie]

And in 5 years you can dig another one when that one silts up?!..
Surely digging out and un-silting the old one has to be cheapest solution?

That would mean having to demolish a wall which I don't have the time or funds to do right now.

Today i smashed up the old teracota pipe 4m of it was completely solid with dirt, leaves and silt. It was also going uphil!! It's like everything in the house, put in on a Friday after lunch.

But my local screw fix didn't have any lengths of underground pipe so I had to settle for digging a trench and laying pea shingle on the bottom. I have also half dug the new pit for the soakaway but about .5m dOwn it's chalk and enough of it to redo the walls in the house. Digging through chalk with a shovel and pick axe is not pleasant.

 

[noseall]

It is the same primordial soup that all life on Earth evolved from so it will be rich and smelly.

Just like most of the forum users on this site.

Andy

 

[funstuie]

We install trapped gullies at the bottom of all downpipes to collect the crud.

Eventually the gully will block but then you get your hand in there and remove the soup. It is the same primordial soup that all life on Earth evolved from so it will be rich and smelly.

Better to be able to access the shoite than to allow it to block up the pipe.

Something like this:

http://www.screwfix.com/p/floplast-debris-gully/25121

or this:

http://www.screwfix.com/p/bottle-gully-circular-grid/28956

??