Help needed desperately please, re-routing guttering

The soakaway in front of our house where the rainwater goes has failed due to tree roots blocking the pipe.

We're looking at either a lot of money or a lot of hard work to re-dig the channel for pipework and re-dig the soakaway due to the hedge of conifer trees that have caused the problem. The roots are a nightmare.

As an alternative, can we lose the down pipe, block it off, and re-route the guttering around the house and into the soil stack at the side of the house?

Would this be sufficient as long as the neighbours (semi-detached houses) sharing the down pipe did the same on their side?

Please help, we're at the end of our tethers! The floor in the front room is collapsing due to dry rot (caused by failure of soakaway) but we can't get the work on the inside done until we've rectified the cause.

I've realised I've asked a really stupid question and the result would be really smelly

What on earth can we do though? We're going to have to hire a digger otherwise and the roots go under our drive which has a pressed cobble finish, it's going to wreck it

You cannot lawfully drain into the foul drainage to save a few quid. I doubt it would be that smelly anyway tbh, houses years ago had soil stacks vented at roof level and they didn't seem to smell.

It's not just a few quid though, redigging the soakaway means the roots of these trees have to come out (we've chopped them down) and that will wreck the drive

Any other ideas please?

Hi, Before making decisions, check if a combined system would be allowed in your case. (local council building inspectors will tell you) if it is allowed a trapped gully can be fitted along with a 100 mm pipe into the foul manhole and the rain water pipe discharged into the gully. Also check your building insurance, you could have a pay day. Good Luck

Thanks will be ringing building control anyway tomorrow to see if they have ideas, will mention that.

Insurance is paying out on the dry rot/damage etc inside the house (new floor and joists, the floor is collapsing now as well as having a huge hole in it) but not on the cause, the hedge should never have been planted (we've been in the house less than a year) and the roots were so bad the drainage company that came out last week couldn't get a camera down the pipe to look at the soakaway, it's completely full of roots.

They want £1,400 to replace the soakaway, but say we have to remove the trees and roots first anyway -- the soakaway is the easy bit after doing all that so we'll do it ourselves!

Not surprised the roots got in ...Underground rainwater pipes were Seconds and not laid to same standard as foul drains. Soakaways were filled with all the dross from the site . In one place during the early 70`s we lobbed hundreds of milk bottles from the mess hut nearby . Eco , Schmeeko So you might have a 6 cubic metre hole with only a 3 cubic metre area of free drainage . One good thing is ...... IF you can show your Water Supplier that your " surface water drainage " ALL goes to soakaways .....You get a rebate, and they can`t charge you for it anymore Neat trick to claw a small yearly amount back from them.