Old downpipes blocked, go direct into ground

[jonshutt2]

Hi folks,

I'm helping friend with their old (1900?) house, and one of the problems is the gutters appear to be blocked. One was plastic, which we lifted out, and out came a downpipes-worth of leaves, moss and water. We cleared out the drain, and water seems to flow ok into the drain.

All the other pipes are cast iron, and I wouldn't be surprised if they're blocked too. I've made mesh covers to put in the top of pipes to stop leaves going in from now on.

I was thinking two options:

1 cut a section out and replace with a cast iron inspection section - but these aren't cheap, and i don't know how to fit them, or if they help much in terms getting pipes cleared and future clearing.

Or, I thought of cutting them off above the ground, leaving a gap, and putting a collection hopper on the drain. However I'm wondering if the brackets can hold the weight of the down pipe?

To complicated it, it seems every pipe on the house is different! See images.

Wondering if anyone has any suggestions

 

[catlad]

I would dig up the ground were the pipes go in the ground first, I would want to know if they had there own drains or they were just soak aways.

 

[JohnD]

when I had a 1905 house, the iron rainwater downpipes (unlike the soil pipes) had a shoe at the end and discharged onto the iron grille of a gulley. Leaf litter collected on the grille and could be raked off and binned, composted or burned. Building practice may vary by area. Is it possible your yard has been paved over the top of old gullies?

The shape of yours resembles downpipes on shops where they discharged onto the pavement or road, with no drain underneath.

 

[jonshutt2]

Hi there, thanks for your comments. A few extra details.

The gutters at the back (first photo) go directly into a stone ledge that's about 30cm high and 30cm wide that runs most the length of the back of the house.
One of the front ones has a bend at ground level then goes down into the ground (2nd image).
The others go directly downwards into the ground - i will try digging next time I'm at the house to try and excavate more.
The plastic one we pulled up when into directly into a drain, which ran away from the house, not sure where it goes thereafter, this is a newer section so may be different.

One correction to make, the old part of the house is from sometime before 1820, the newer bit no one is quite sure about!