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Hi,
I've recently noticed leaking water in the garage wall during or just after someone is taking shower. I checked it out and found that it comes out from the gap between the house wall and the concrete arc-shaped entrance of the drain pipe. It looks like it is a standard NZ drain pit system. There are several discharging tubes gather to the drain pit entrance on the base level. The drain pipe is below the ground level by 0.2-0.5m. But above it there are several arc-shaped parts. They are fixed on the drain pipe and form a wider entrance for the discharging tubes.
I suppose that a small gap between these arc-shaped parts and the wall may be normal because the water should never go higher then the real drain pipe entry end. So the problem seems not because of the gap. What if the drain pipe is clogged.
There are two drain pits around my house. And what I found that the level of water in one of them is 30-40cm higher than in the other. Of course the higher level is in the drain pit where the problem was found ;)
Can someone give me advise how to manage and fix that problem. Can I call a plumber or can I do it myself?
PS Sorry in advance if something is unclear. The English is my second language Just ask me and I explain:)
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Hi Alex, it sounds like you need a drainlayer. Can you post a picture of that pit you r talking about?
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Hi!
The pictures of the pit are attached. I dug it a little on the side to check out the gap. Though it is not visible in the picture it is right between the wall and one of the arc shaped part. The second picture is how it looks inside.
I'll appreciate for any valuable advice :)
Alexey
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The pit you are talking about is the overflow relief gully, by looking at the images it seems the riser was made in-situ. there should definitely not be a gap or opening into the building envelope from the inside of the gully. I would suggest getting a drainlayer to either completely replace the gully riser or reseal/epoxy the gaps. Note the gully overflow point must be 150mm below your lowest fixture, again a drainlayer will be able to advise whether what you have there now will work in an event of blockage.
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Hi! Thanks for advice. I tried to call a couple of drainlayers. All of them said it would be first investigation what is the condition of drains including CCTV and other special stuff. That would be all right but the price :o $350+ And that is only for investigation cause they did not talk about the price for the real work to fix yet :)
Finally, I decided to check myself as much as I could. I pump out the water from the gully using an usual siphon made from the hose. I found that there is something soft on the bottom. Later it turned out mixed of mud and sand. I made a small bail with a long handle. I took me half an hour to take out about 1L of that mud. Then I took a plunger and pump water several times inside the gully while gradually draining the water from the bath. I noticed that the level of the water in the pit became much lower. Good sign!
Nevertheless I decided to seal the gap between the base and the relief gully. I did it with the mixture of the cement and sand. So now I am waiting how it will work after the cement getting hard. But already now the shower can work and the level of water does never rise up to where the gap was before.
Nevertheless, it is too early to talk about the final result, so will write in one week.
Alex
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(That would be all right but the price $350+ and that is only for investigation)
Hi, alexeiko welcome to the world of `PGD Board ‘driven costs of employing `plumbers/gasfitters/drainlayers `if you don`t agree with the charges complain to Maurice Williamson who is the minister who rubber stamps the rules made by the `Board ‘and changes the law if tradesmen don`t like them. Make sure that you don`t do any of this work yourself or the `Board` will take you to court and you will be fined. And by the way, tradesmen get charged an absorbenant amount for practicing licenses to be able to do this work and also so the `Board` can prosecute the likes of home owners who do any of this work, cheers
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Hi Karma. That is why I asked for advise in here. Well, I do not think that anybody needs to have a license or special knowledge to use a plunger to clean blockage of the drain pipe or to take some mud out from it. I wouldn't call this kind of work as a repair. It looks like maintaining of the system and no more. It should be done from time to time by everybody who cares about the house. Do you think the Board will take everybody to court for using a plunger and cleaning pipes? Sounds like nonsense.
I agree the job including disassembling or fixing pipes, gully etc should be done by a specialist. And as a skilled job it has a price that you have to agree with.
Merry Christmas,
Alex
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I think you should call a professional plumber and take advice from them.The plumber will analyze the whole situation and tell you what the exact problem is and what to do.