Downpipe to Nowhere?

[datarebal]

Id go with you Ian on this.. not everyone is a DH

 

[Jo Gan]

Can you actually see the end of the downpipe? If not have a careful dig around the base of it and see whats been done.
There still maybe a make shift gulley or even an elbow under the surface that might need a clear out.
If not then a soak away needs to be dug. Watch out how you dig. looks like a meter box is near by..

Yeah, I can see the end of the downpipe. It looks like the previous owner may have concreted the whole front bit over and covered the gulley. I might just get a chisel and see what's under the concrete because looking at all the houses on my road, there should be a gulley where that drain pipe ends. A slight concern is if I do find a gulley I might be opening up a whole can of worms as I have been discovering that the previous house have been doing some real shody diy/renovation/additions.

Is this a manhole? That will do.

Not sure actually. I thought the original owner had a tree there or something as it seems like there's just some soil and weed. I'll dig into it and see if there's a manhole underneath that.

I would have expect someone 'proper' to give them a written report with before and after cctv and still photos.

I think that's gonna be a problem. I don't know what I don't know. And even if inspections are done you still need an element of trust that the inspections are done properly.

Thanks for all the replies guys.
I'll probably investigate and see if there's actually a gulley that the previous owner have covered up and if so and the gulley is patent then life would be much easier.
Alternatively, I could do what woody has recommended and just remove the downpipe and divert the flow elsewhere which may involve raising the gutters a little bit.
If it all fails then I guess I'd have to bite the bullet as Ian has recommended and get a shovel and start digging. Will probably get someone to do it though as I'm guaranteed to muck it up being pretty inexperienced with these sort of things.

 

[Ian H]

If there's a gully covered over it will probably just be full of crap off the roof. Get the marrigolds out

 

[Jo Gan]

Just a quick update, I've taken the simple route of just removing the downpipe and re-angling the gutter so that they flow to another downpipe. It's been a month and things seem to work fine. No puddles of water in my front yard and no flooding in my neighter's gully either so it's all good.