What to do when executing drainage or pipe repairs and installation by yourself

The first thing that you will need to think about when undertaking any DIY plumbing and drainage are the rules issued by your Local Authority.

If you are considering altering your existing sewage, or installing a new drainage system you will almost certainly need to present some detailed plans of the work that you intend to undertake and it will need to be inspected as the work progresses making sure that it complies with the local building rules. In many situations when you are simply replacing damaged parts, there is no need for the local authority to be informed.

If you hear the term ‘surface water’ in any drainage documents this basically means rain. An earlier method was to directly discharge this surface water into the sewage drains, but modern homes use a surface water sewer or watercourse or soakaway to drain or absorb rainwater. Air escape from the drains is stopped when rainwater pipes are discharged into the foul water drains through gully traps in an older combined system. However, the latest systems are designed in a way which separates the foul water and the surface water. If you have a modern system it is very essential that you make sure that you do not accidentally integrate the foul water to a surface water drainage system. The Building Control Department is your first point of contact before you start any work if you are not familiar with your home’s drainage system.

Of course, the first thing you should do is plan the layout of the waste pipes. The basic thing which you have to care about is to keep the route as straight and short as you can while designing the route of a waste or soil pipe, this will help to reduce the likelihood of stoppages. You must avoid making your pipe runs too steep. A surveyor’ site level should be used to work out the fall of a drainpipe. In case you don’t have a surveyors site level, choose a datum point and then a water filled hosepipe can be used to calculate the fall from there.

You will need to see to it that you do not impact on the stability of the house whilst installing your drain ditch. If you are laying a drain run parallel to the home, you must ensure that any foundations are not weakened.

While installing a new sewage system make sure that you do not dig too long before laying the pipe. You should attempt to get the pipes laid as soon as possible and, after inspection and checking, you should back fill the ditch.

Depending on the depth and soil conditions, the ditch may require support. It is advisable to take proper precautions. If you are not entirely confident of the stability of the ditch you should add support. Keep the ditch as narrow as possible, but allow room to work in the ditch. The trench base must be smooth and clean, there shouldn’t be any bricks or protruding stones around. You may have to bring in the right type of material for the bottom of the ditch if the one that’s already there is not proper.

Never use bricks and/or other hard materials to support the pipe in the ditch. This will damage the pipe and must never be used as temporary or permanent support. The bedding should be properly compacted with hollows made to accommodate the joints in the pipes. For the complete pipe length you have to provide a continuous and uniform support.

It is important that all parts of your drainage system are designed so that all parts of the pipework are accessible to a set of drain rods. Thus, a drain route must be as straight as possible between any two points. Inspection chambers have to be provided at any sudden changes of direction or level, so that drain rods can be inserted easily.

Following this guide you can see that DIY plumbing and drainage can be delivered by conscientious DIY enthusiasts.

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