- Thread starter Nomad
- Start date
Nomad
Member
- Messages
- 2,300
- Location
- North Devon (for how long?)
Today the house had all furniture moved outside before the floors were scrubbed with disinfectant.
Looking around, the water has been under every piece of furniture but everything is on 7mm "legs" - and the water didn't reach 7mm so the bottom of the units didn't get wet which is a massive relief.
Reshaping the ground outside is the best solution but unfortunately it's not an option.
I'm in the middle of 4 cottages and we have a 12ft wide footpath outside.
The far side of the footpath was a dry stone wall with a gate for humans and cattle (and access to the local smallholding) until the land was sold off 5 years ago to developers.
The gate in the old stone wall was removed by the developers when they made a continuous brick wall, rendered and painted white.
Flash floods in the past would come downhill from behind the cottages, around to the front then continue downhill into the smallholding gardens / fields.
With the new wall in place there's nowhere for the water to drain to.
A higher front step would be be an option but if the water is at that level, it's higher than the floors inside the house. The shower cubicle drain is lower than the floors - sealing the front door would still allow water to rise up through the shower drain and flood the house from that direction.
I need to have a trip to the council and ask what they can do - I'm not even sure if adding a drain outside my house would help as flash floods here are severe and cause problems with drainage everywhere...
The developers won't reinstate the gap in the wall as that piece of land is now a driveway to the underground carpark they built and they won't want that flooded.
Looking around, the water has been under every piece of furniture but everything is on 7mm "legs" - and the water didn't reach 7mm so the bottom of the units didn't get wet which is a massive relief.
Reshaping the ground outside is the best solution but unfortunately it's not an option.
I'm in the middle of 4 cottages and we have a 12ft wide footpath outside.
The far side of the footpath was a dry stone wall with a gate for humans and cattle (and access to the local smallholding) until the land was sold off 5 years ago to developers.
The gate in the old stone wall was removed by the developers when they made a continuous brick wall, rendered and painted white.
Flash floods in the past would come downhill from behind the cottages, around to the front then continue downhill into the smallholding gardens / fields.
With the new wall in place there's nowhere for the water to drain to.
A higher front step would be be an option but if the water is at that level, it's higher than the floors inside the house. The shower cubicle drain is lower than the floors - sealing the front door would still allow water to rise up through the shower drain and flood the house from that direction.
I need to have a trip to the council and ask what they can do - I'm not even sure if adding a drain outside my house would help as flash floods here are severe and cause problems with drainage everywhere...
The developers won't reinstate the gap in the wall as that piece of land is now a driveway to the underground carpark they built and they won't want that flooded.
There is a device that you let into the floor base that has a float operated flap that seals off any back flow from outside it's used for both toilet and waste water products . I recommend you have an air tight man hole cover over it just incase you do need access in the future for some reason or other.
This eBay item appears identical to many priced at twice the money
eBay item number:286416169699
gaz1
Member
- Messages
- 20,516
- Location
- westyorkshire
its up to the cottages to create your own drains now
via either a french drain run into the drains system or via drainage channel into the drains system
council wont do a thing as its on your land and the pathway is access to your land but if you do inform them expect issues with drains and you will need tests to be done
if you dont tell them and fit your own drainage system in you can do quick tests to make sure its water sealed and cover straight over again
dobbslc
Forum Supporter
- Messages
- 13,520
- Location
- Hertfordshire UK
Surface Water Runoff Law UK | BLB Solicitors https://share.google/DUuapDbQ7raM0erfL
Flood and water management act 2010.
Flood and water management act 2010.
Nomad
Member
- Messages
- 2,300
- Location
- North Devon (for how long?)
Thanks for all the info, I should have said - the cottage is in Portugal so l need to see what the laws are here.
The problem isn't that someone has diverted floodwater here - it's that the developers have blocked up what used to be a gap in their boundary wall that used to let surface water flow downhill from my land onto the property they bought / developed.
Fitting a drain or french drain isn't an option, it would need to be over 200ft long and cross several neighbours properties...
The 12 ft wide footpath is an odd situation, the half nearest the house is my land, the other half isn't (presumably it used to be a public footpath for the last cottage but they use access from the other side). My neighbours won't go for a drain as their houses are above the flood water level.
I'm not confident that a one-way valve in the sewer or shower drain would be 100% effective - it will have to hold water for several hours so even a slow leak would allow the shower tray to flood the house.
Fitting a higher front door step is pointless without fixing the shower.
The problem isn't that someone has diverted floodwater here - it's that the developers have blocked up what used to be a gap in their boundary wall that used to let surface water flow downhill from my land onto the property they bought / developed.
Fitting a drain or french drain isn't an option, it would need to be over 200ft long and cross several neighbours properties...
The 12 ft wide footpath is an odd situation, the half nearest the house is my land, the other half isn't (presumably it used to be a public footpath for the last cottage but they use access from the other side). My neighbours won't go for a drain as their houses are above the flood water level.
I'm not confident that a one-way valve in the sewer or shower drain would be 100% effective - it will have to hold water for several hours so even a slow leak would allow the shower tray to flood the house.
Fitting a higher front door step is pointless without fixing the shower.
Thanks for all the info, I should have said - the cottage is in Portugal so l need to see what the laws are here.
The problem isn't that someone has diverted floodwater here - it's that the developers have blocked up what used to be a gap in their boundary wall that used to let surface water flow downhill from my land onto the property they bought / developed.
Fitting a drain or french drain isn't an option, it would need to be over 200ft long and cross several neighbours properties...
The 12 ft wide footpath is an odd situation, the half nearest the house is my land, the other half isn't (presumably it used to be a public footpath for the last cottage but they use access from the other side). My neighbours won't go for a drain as their houses are above the flood water level.
I'm not confident that a one-way valve in the sewer or shower drain would be 100% effective - it will have to hold water for several hours so even a slow leak would allow the shower tray to flood the house.
Fitting a higher front door step is pointless without fixing the shower.
Knock a hole in the wall!
Nomad . crazy thinking whilst I slept .
I know you have spent time and dosh doinG up the place ..sorry to hear of the water ingress.
Now , how about drawing a line say 10 inches from the outer walls around the whole inside of the room. Screw a guide board to the wall side of the line and disc cut as deep as you can , go along all lines avoiding services etc . Protect the main floor area inside the cut area with a decent masking tape or taped down hard board etc . .
Then pop it out & clean the trench to a depth of say 15 inches . in the bottom of the trench lay in a 100mm perforated land drain wrapped in garden g=fleece ( to stop sand entering the perforated and take both ends to an air tight water proofed sump under the main door mat .
Put a float operated electric sump pump in the sump and bring the outlet up the wall ( Boxed in ? ) & through it say 1mtr above the door bottom , so when the sump is pumped out automatically the outlet is well above any likely water level .
Fill this French drain to six inches from the main floor slab top with 4 mm grit or pea grit , then lightly fill and smooth over the top with grit in mortar. When it’s dry, give both sides and the bottom of the now lined trench two coats of waterproofing paint. Once that has cured, reinstate the concrete and floor screed.
Along the disc-cut flooring And the wall edge insert long 10 mm cork strips and in fill the rest with a complementing different coloured floor covering , which if in wood could be at right angles or 45 degrees to the wall .. T'would make a nice conversation piece too..
I know you have spent time and dosh doinG up the place ..sorry to hear of the water ingress.
Now , how about drawing a line say 10 inches from the outer walls around the whole inside of the room. Screw a guide board to the wall side of the line and disc cut as deep as you can , go along all lines avoiding services etc . Protect the main floor area inside the cut area with a decent masking tape or taped down hard board etc . .
Then pop it out & clean the trench to a depth of say 15 inches . in the bottom of the trench lay in a 100mm perforated land drain wrapped in garden g=fleece ( to stop sand entering the perforated and take both ends to an air tight water proofed sump under the main door mat .
Put a float operated electric sump pump in the sump and bring the outlet up the wall ( Boxed in ? ) & through it say 1mtr above the door bottom , so when the sump is pumped out automatically the outlet is well above any likely water level .
Fill this French drain to six inches from the main floor slab top with 4 mm grit or pea grit , then lightly fill and smooth over the top with grit in mortar. When it’s dry, give both sides and the bottom of the now lined trench two coats of waterproofing paint. Once that has cured, reinstate the concrete and floor screed.
Along the disc-cut flooring And the wall edge insert long 10 mm cork strips and in fill the rest with a complementing different coloured floor covering , which if in wood could be at right angles or 45 degrees to the wall .. T'would make a nice conversation piece too..
The float one way waste vales are very good , do a bit of research ask questions about back leakage , see my other post about a sump that could also be the answer for the drains .Thanks for all the info, I should have said - the cottage is in Portugal so l need to see what the laws are here.
The problem isn't that someone has diverted floodwater here - it's that the developers have blocked up what used to be a gap in their boundary wall that used to let surface water flow downhill from my land onto the property they bought / developed.
Fitting a drain or french drain isn't an option, it would need to be over 200ft long and cross several neighbours properties...
The 12 ft wide footpath is an odd situation, the half nearest the house is my land, the other half isn't (presumably it used to be a public footpath for the last cottage but they use access from the other side). My neighbours won't go for a drain as their houses are above the flood water level.
I'm not confident that a one-way valve in the sewer or shower drain would be 100% effective - it will have to hold water for several hours so even a slow leak would allow the shower tray to flood the house.
Fitting a higher front door step is pointless without fixing the shower.
Depending on the shower plug hole you can sometimes remove the plug hole inner grid and insert a six to 10 inch tube down into it , similar to a commercial restaurants kitchen sinks plug hole over flow tube , your pipe would work in reverse so long as you remember to reinsert it after each shower .Thanks for all the info, I should have said - the cottage is in Portugal so l need to see what the laws are here.
The problem isn't that someone has diverted floodwater here - it's that the developers have blocked up what used to be a gap in their boundary wall that used to let surface water flow downhill from my land onto the property they bought / developed.
Fitting a drain or french drain isn't an option, it would need to be over 200ft long and cross several neighbours properties...
The 12 ft wide footpath is an odd situation, the half nearest the house is my land, the other half isn't (presumably it used to be a public footpath for the last cottage but they use access from the other side). My neighbours won't go for a drain as their houses are above the flood water level.
I'm not confident that a one-way valve in the sewer or shower drain would be 100% effective - it will have to hold water for several hours so even a slow leak would allow the shower tray to flood the house.
Fitting a higher front door step is pointless without fixing the shower.
Nomad
Member
- Messages
- 2,300
- Location
- North Devon (for how long?)
The root of the problem is standing water at the front of the house now has nowhere to drain to so it rises until it floods into my house via the front door and shower cubicle.
The pool of water this week was nearly 200ft long covering the footpath at the front of my house and the nearby road. The water eventually drained away - there are 2 drains about 150ft away from my house - at least 1 was partially blocked with leaves and debris after the floods, Storm sewers in many areas could not cope.
Putting a sump outside (or inside) the front door with a float operated pump would - in theory - work but 2 issues :
There is nowhere to send the water apart from back outside the front door where it came from (I have houses on 3 sides and the new brick wall outside the front door).
The volume of water that accumulates during a flash flood is huge, I'm guessing the pump from a fire engine would be noticeable anything smaller would be a waste of time.
The only solution is to stop the flood water from collecting outside my house but that needs action from the council...
The shower outlet is an oval pipe, an open tube there would stop backfilling from the drains but would also lead to smells and allow wee beasties to come up from the sewers.
A shaped oval "cork" might work but it would need to be 100% watertight, also tight so the pressure from the drains during the floods wouldn't pop it out of place.
Any cork would also stop future flood water draining away down the shower so it might cause more problems than it fixes.
The pool of water this week was nearly 200ft long covering the footpath at the front of my house and the nearby road. The water eventually drained away - there are 2 drains about 150ft away from my house - at least 1 was partially blocked with leaves and debris after the floods, Storm sewers in many areas could not cope.
Putting a sump outside (or inside) the front door with a float operated pump would - in theory - work but 2 issues :
There is nowhere to send the water apart from back outside the front door where it came from (I have houses on 3 sides and the new brick wall outside the front door).
The volume of water that accumulates during a flash flood is huge, I'm guessing the pump from a fire engine would be noticeable anything smaller would be a waste of time.
The only solution is to stop the flood water from collecting outside my house but that needs action from the council...
The shower outlet is an oval pipe, an open tube there would stop backfilling from the drains but would also lead to smells and allow wee beasties to come up from the sewers.
A shaped oval "cork" might work but it would need to be 100% watertight, also tight so the pressure from the drains during the floods wouldn't pop it out of place.
Any cork would also stop future flood water draining away down the shower so it might cause more problems than it fixes.
addjunkie
Member
- Messages
- 14,296
- Location
- Northumberland. Reet oot in the sticks
Move and make it someone else's problem
gaz1
Member
- Messages
- 20,516
- Location
- westyorkshire
i need more info if you could can you draw out what you have via paint or another program
uk or other place as different drains or even cess pitt or even with a french drain
also show house drains and also soil stacks near by as well as the drains about 150ft away
also include your walkway and also the wall for the access path to the property you also have to remember whilst they have blocked up this access gate they have also lost right of access over a certain time as long as it can be proven
