Drainpipes and Drains

One of the important last jobs was to sort out the cast iron drainpipe from the bathroom - the one that takes the grey water into a hopper and then via 8ft of downpipe and a shoe into the gully at the bottom.  Having lowered the ground level by about five inches beside the house, the recessed gully was now too high; I was not happy with the condition of the downpipe anyway, but since lowering the ground the earthenware had become broken and so water from the bathroom was going all over the ground.  In fact it was quite surprising to see just how much water was being used by the shower - I always thought that they were economical with water but now I wonder.

Hence I decided to gather all the necessary bits together so that I could do the whole thing in one day.  The new 2.5" downpipe and the hopper were actually a renovation of the remaining good bits of the rainwater system which was all replaced over a year ago with 3" (without hoppers).  A thorough job was done with hot air and a scraper, followed by a wire brush and then a couple of coats of black Hammerite (photo right).  All the old shoes were all past it so I had to buy one of those brand new (£££) as well as some coach screws and galvanized washers.

Although I was totally happy to respect the house and comply with all legalities by using cast iron downpipe etc, the gully trap was clearly going to be a new plastic one - and a decent quality OSMA one at that.  Colin the groundworker would never speak to me again if I had bought a W****s own brand!  I then needed an annoyingly short piece of 110mm soil pipe to connect to the main sewer at the inspection cover.  This was really annoying because I needed less than 3 feet of soil pipe but you can only buy 3 metre lengths!  I know it's not expensive (probably just a waste of £10) but just what do you do with the useless piece 2 metres long?  Anyway, I asked both Colin and Steve the plumber and was given a spare bit for nothing, which was just the right length.  The final item was some pea gravel on which to bed the new pipe and gully.

Hence, after all possible preparation, it was time to do the job.  The drainpipe was rather more securely attached to the wall than I had expected, but eventually it gave way to my persuasion (hence the bare bit below the white plastic pipe at the top of the later photo, left).  One of the pins securing the hopper resisted to the end and, sadly, the hopper flange broke leaving a bent pin still in the wall to be ground off later.  I took the drainpipe (2 sections plus a shoe) down carefully in one piece; later, I thought I would try to see if I could separate it, and the first thing I did caused it to break into four pieces!  However, it was quite gratifying to find the pre-existing ('cos they are already rusty) cracks in it, one of which extended lengthwise down the entire six foot section of pipe (see photo right).  Another old crack was 80% of the circumference of the pipe near the collar.  Yes, it was all scrap.

Then it was the turn of the gully and the pipe which was encased in concrete.  It was with a slightly heavy heart that I took my sledgehammer to the earthenware but, within a minute, I had done the deed; happily I could stop feeling guilty as there had clearly been a long-standing leak between the trap and pipe.  After that, it was pretty plain sailing to fit all the bits of the complete new system, starting with the pipe and gully, then working up the downpipe from the shoe to the hopper.  I did find that some of the drilling for the coach screws seemed to be too much for my (fairly new) drill - I think the bricks are VERY tough but perhaps the (not old) drill bits are now knackered as well. Finally I cemented the new soil pipe in the old hole under the frame of the inspection cover, ensuring that the pipe had a very slight fall on it.

Here's a photo of the finished job (compare to the one at the top):

Emboldened by this success, I decided to tackle the new inspection cover (at the back of the extension) which is mounted on some 230mm pipe about 18" high.  This had been left uncut when Colin fitted it so that I could choose the ground level later.  I cut this down to size by sawing about 15" off it, so now I have a trip hazard but at least the level is right, about 3" above the hardcore.  However, since I want to sort the ground fairly soon, it shouldn't be a problem for long.

The next thing to sort will be the pathway alongside the house, between the house and the elevated garden.  I want to make it like a sort of Devon lane instead of how it was during the excavations (right)!  Having lowered the ground level I am loath to refit a path right up to the house again (as if!) and would like to keep the extra four or five inches of wall as breathing space - it definitely all helps.  I have found some heavy duty iron gratings (27" x 9" x 2") at £15 each (which sounds expensive until you find out what old church gratings cost, if you can find them).  If I can work out how to support these (they are probably about 15-20kg each) then I will fit them beside the house wall, and the path surface will then be 9 inches away from the wall.  The path surface will be either concrete or paving slabs or self compacting gravel as successfully used on the drive (or a mixture of all these in different places).  I also need path edging near to the garden wall as I want to have a narrow flower bed at the base of the garden wall.  Plenty of time for that this summer...

Meanwhile, 'Er indoors has just used the newly installed washing machine for the first time.  Happiness indeed!