POSSIBLE LEAKING DRAINS, SOIL TEST ANALYSIS

[Hazel80]

CAN ANYONE HELP GIVING ADVICE ON SOIL MOISTURE ANALYSIS. WE ARE SURE THAT WE HAVE LEAKING DRAINS UNDERNEATH OUR PROPERTY AND HAVE RECENTLY HAD SOIL TESTS CARRIED OUT(NOT BECAUSE OF THIS) WE NOW WISH TO UNDERSTAND OUR MOISTURE CONTENT EVALUATION. IS THERE A GRAPH/ANALYSIS WE CAN LOOK AT TO SEE IF WE HAVE AN UNUSUALLY WET SOIL?
THANKYOU

 

[gday2uk]

Can't help with moisture content but you can test for chlorine level telling you whether it is ground water or tap water. This is a good test to start with. Also for about £100 you can get a CCTV survey of the drains which would tell you whether they have collapsed etc...
Having unusually wet soil doesn't really tell you anything.

 

[Hazel80]

THANKYOU, BUT I SHOULD HAVE BEEN MORE SPECIFIC. WE HAD CRACKS IN OUR INTERNAL WALLS WHICH OUR INS CO SAID WAS DUE TO POOR/EROSION OF INFILL (HOUSE BUILT 1984) OUR CONCRETE FLOOR HAD SUNK THEY SAID. AS IT WAS INTERNAL WALLS THEN WE HAD TO PAY FOR POLYMER INJECTION. THE COMPANY WHO DID THE INJECTION SURVEYED OUR DRAINS AND SAID WE HAD LEAKS, THE DRAINS RAN IN LINE WITH OUR CRACKS. WE HAVE BEEN BACK TO OUR INSURANCE COMPANY AND THEY ARE SAYING THAT IT WAS STILL NOT THE CAUSE OF THE PROBLEM. THE SOIL TESTS/BORE HOLES WERE DONE IN ORDER TO ESTABLISH THAT THE POLYMER INJECTION WOULD WORK AND STABILISE OUR FLOORS/WALLS. HOWEVER WHEN THESE WERE CARRIED OUT THE PERSON TAKING THE SAMPLES SAID OUR SOIL WAS 'PONDLIKE'. THESE SOIL SAMPLES WERE TAKEN CLOSE TO WHERE OUR DRAINS ARE CRACKED. WE ARE THEREFORE LOOKING FOR EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT THE FACT THAT THE CRACKED DRAINS WERE THE CAUSE OF THE PROBLEM, AND THOUGHT THAT IF THE SOIL TESTS SHOWED VERY WET SOIL THEN WE HAD SOME SUPPORT TO OUR CLAIM? HOWEVER, WE DO NOT UNDERSTAND/CANNOT EVALUATE OUR SOIL TESTS AND CAN FIND NO WEBSITE TO HELP US. ANY SUGGESTIONS/ADVICE IS VERY WELCOME! THANKYOU

 

[NS215]

Upper case is easy to read

just a thought but if the house was built in 1994 aren't the NHBC warranties for 25 years ?????

 

[^woody^]

Who gave you the [silly] idea of soil moisture tests for drain problems?

Get a drain camera survey done. If you have a probelm with a drain, then you want to know what the problem is and where it is. Soil tests don't tell you this

If you have cracked drains, then its a bit obvious that there is a problem, but whether the leaking drains have caused the problems on which you are trying to claim against, would be subject to expert opinion by someone suitably qualified and able to argue your claim

 

[Shytalkz]

just a thought but if the house was built in 1994 aren't the NHBC warranties for 25 years ?????

No, it's 10 years, so beyond the warranty limit.

 

[Hazel80]

Thanks Woody, but we saw the cracks/break in the pipe when the company put in the resin injection, they surveyed our drains prior to injection to locate them. The issue is that the insurance company are still suggesting that this was not the cause of our cracks and that it was due to deterioration of our hardcore. The insurance man who came out just took a 30minute walk inside/outside our house and gave his conclusion. We are just looking for advice/help as to whether the cracked/broken drains could have caused our problem. We thought if the soil test showed excessive moisture then this could have been from the broken pipes, and that the water had led to our concrete slabdrop.

 

[^woody^]

Did we have this discusion before?

The insurance rep who came out was most likely a loss adjuster or similar, with the sole aim of not meeting the claim where possible.

On what authoritative basis can they say that the drains were not the cause?

Get your own expert to report on the situation to back up your claim.

Based on qualified expert opinion, the insurers would find it hard not to meet the claim if the evidence indicates that the cause is in fact related to the risks covered in your policy.

TBH, if a drain leaks then the ground is going to be wetter than normal and all sorts of things happen as a result of that.

If the insurers have not sampled the hardcore, then they just can not say that its deteriation has caused the cracks. Its nonsense

 

[Shytalkz]

Unfortunately, with the "project managed" route that a lot of insurers take these days, the bin-the-claim-and-let-the-insured-argue approach occurs far too much. That is also as much to do with the capability of the adjusters, who generally are not engineers, and who are not qualified to determine cause.

Of course, they might well be correct; but, just like the rest of us, they haven't yet been issued with xray eyes and there are several potential problems that could lie below the slab, some of which are insured perils, some of which aren't.

You need to get an independent SE to look into this for you. Whilst the risk as far as fees is concerned is yours initially, if that investigation determines causation that is accepted by as an insured peril, then those fees will form part of your claim.

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