arco drain needed and the quotes are in ....(can I do it myself?)

[DSJ_72]

Hello Experts.

I have been quoted £2800 to lay an arco drain along the side of my new house, starting from the left of the white door, and around the conservatory, to join the manhole drain on the other side (pics attached)

The cost could be less as the builders said there was a good chance there is a pipe underneath the conservatory thereby reducing cost by about £450

Is this not something I could do? Or will this be something best left to those with the right tools / skills ?

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Whilst it may be obvious we're gonna start by asking what the problems are and how the ACO will rectify things. And yes you can DIY though technically you're not allowed to connect into the sewers without approval. Maybe upload a fag packet sketch of the layout and where the problems are and where you think the existing drain runs are.

 

[jj4091]

Which door in which pic are you referring to and I can't see any manhole. You appear to already have a channel drain at the bottom of the pinkish render. Where is that draining to? Are the chippings just a soak away and if so how deep do day go?

 

[DSJ_72]

Sorry I think you can see the white framed door in the first picture and yes there is existing drain there but seems to run to shingle but then also maybe finally running under the conservatory and out to the manhole which is pictured in the third photo to the upper right

 

[jj4091]

You still haven't said what the problem is and what you hope to achive by having a drainage channel installed. At a guess I would suspect that you have water collecting by the french doors into the conservatory or the dwarf wall retaining the lawn. You appear to have a soakaway running around it which means it's not doing it's job. You need to do more investigation as it could just be a soakaway or it could be a French drain or something else connected to what ever the white downspout flows into or as you say it could go under the conservatory to the manhole, but you need to establish exactly what you have and why it isn't working as it should. You'll need to get a spade and start digging but I'm surprised that whoever has given you the quote hasn't established what the problem is first of all. It could be a simple blockage somewhere.