I've built my garage over a public sewer

[Morrisman]

I've spent the last six months building a garage in my garden, 6m x 5m, of concrete block and tile. I contacted the counicl to ask what I need to do, such as planning permission, building regs etc. They basically told me I can build wqhat I like.

On the property deeds it shows a sewer running under the property from front to rear, apparently under an inspection hatch on the rear patio. The garage is a couple of meters away from where I thought the sewer ran.

A couple of weeks ago I moved some old slabs that were laid by the fence to the neighbours garden, and I found another sewer hatch. I've lifted the big heavy thing and found a 10" sewer pipe that points directly along the end wall of my garage!

It appears the information on the deeds is about 25 feet out of line with real life.

I've done some websurfing to find more info on 'overbuilding' sewers and I get the impression I am in deep deep s**t.

Several people have told me not to worry about it, but I am not the sort of person who can just dismiss the sort of potential problems this could cause if the sewer collpases.

If I call the water board what is the worst likely scenario?

 

[breezer]

what is the worst likely scenario?

knock the garage down

 

[Morrisman]

what is the worst likely scenario?

knock the garage down

Thing is, there is already a brick garage built over it, attached to the main house, been there years for a guess, and our neighbours two story house extension almost goes over it.

Looks like there might be a whole lot of knocking down going on if the water board come a visiting.

 

[breezer]

well dont worry then, since your neighbour has more to lose than you

 

[Richard C]

quote="Morrisman"]

Thing is, there is already a brick garage built over it, attached to the main house, been there years for a guess, and our neighbours two story house extension almost goes over it.

Looks like there might be a whole lot of knocking down going on if the water board come a visiting. [/quote]

You should really have made sighted checks of the sewer run before building the garage but now it's done, unless you really want to knock your new garage down, I would be inclined to forget about the problem until it actually becomes one.

The water authority will never visit unless something goes wrong; in spite of numerous advices & a change of owner (me) in the last 12 years, my water authority still refuses to accept my property is on mains drainage! If it does all go wrong, produce your OK letter from the council, your deeds & act ignorant. If, as it seems, you’re not the only one with a problem, probably the worse that will happen is you & your neighbours will have to pay for a re-routed sewer but you can argue about that as & when!

 

[Morrisman]

Thing is, there is already a brick garage built over it, attached to the main house, been there years for a guess, and our neighbours two story house extension almost goes over it.

Looks like there might be a whole lot of knocking down going on if the water board come a visiting.

You should really have made sighted checks of the sewer run before building the garage but now it's done, unless you really want to knock your new garage down, I would be inclined to forget about the problem until it actually becomes one.

The water authority will never visit unless something goes wrong; in spite of numerous advices & a change of owner (me) in the last 12 years, my water authority still refuses to accept my property is on mains drainage! If it does all go wrong, produce your OK letter from the council, your deeds & act ignorant. If, as it seems, you’re not the only one with a problem, probably the worse that will happen is you & your neighbours will have to pay for a re-routed sewer but you can argue about that as & when!

Sorry, I keep saying that the sewer route is marked on the deeds, but it is actually the search result from the water board, obtained by the solicitor when we bought the place, that shows the route, so it makes it even more 'their fault' I guess.

If I had approached them beforehand would they have actually come out and found their sewer, charted its exact route, or just relied on the paperwork they have already sent me?

 

[Richard C]

Sorry, I keep saying that the sewer route is marked on the deeds, but it is actually the search result from the water board, obtained by the solicitor when we bought the place, that shows the route, so it makes it even more 'their fault' I guess.

If I had approached them beforehand would they have actually come out and found their sewer, charted its exact route, or just relied on the paperwork they have already sent me?

Even better! Unlikely they would come out to re-survey unless you actually pointed out to them their map was wrong; are you sure the sewer your looking at is a live one & not an old defunct one?

 

[Morrisman]

Sorry, I keep saying that the sewer route is marked on the deeds, but it is actually the search result from the water board, obtained by the solicitor when we bought the place, that shows the route, so it makes it even more 'their fault' I guess.

If I had approached them beforehand would they have actually come out and found their sewer, charted its exact route, or just relied on the paperwork they have already sent me?

Even better! Unlikely they would come out to re-survey unless you actually pointed out to them their map was wrong; are you sure the sewer your looking at is a live one & not an old defunct one?

It is live, there is water flowing down it when I lift the lid.
I'm not sure if I'm more worried about them knocking my garage down, or what will happen if the sewer collapses from the weight and the whole street has no toiletry for a week

 

[Robert too]

Dont worry , you wont get a visit from the water board and its highly unlikely the drains will collapse .



Some silly sod on another forum called Pistonheads has exactly the same problem as you

 

[Morrisman]

Dont worry , you wont get a visit from the water board and its highly unlikely the drains will collapse .



Some silly s** on another forum called Pistonheads has exactly the same problem as you

He must be a right 'royal' clown too then

 

[fastneattrowel]

have a look for **** flowing down it ,could be a soak away pipe

 

[Nige F]

10inch sewer.......is less likely to collapse than 4 inch pitch fibre I know nothing about the calcs. but it makes sense to me.......I would get calculating loads etc of what`s been built and sewer depth etc . anything can be done with maths and computers .......let me know if my "guess" is right.....I`m hopeless @ both maths + computers

 

[noseall]

there are no allowances for building directly over (in line) a sewer or any other channel for that matter, no matter how strong the pipe.

one of the main reasons; you're building upon disturbed or non virgin earth.