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Confusing underfloor leak (Read 2718 times)
PatrickO
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Confusing underfloor leak
Sep 10th, 2017, 2:04pm
 
Hi there,

My next door neighbours are having an extension built with a new kitchen in it. When they stripped back the old kitchen and pulled up the floorboards they noticed a lot of standing water which had rotted their joists. Their ground level is somewhere around three or four foot lower than ours and came to realise that the water was getting into their house through our party wall. When they informed me of this I lifted a couple of floor boards to have a look. I could see nothing obvious so called out someone to check the pipes. As their is a void of about 3 foot under my kitchen, the plumber was able to have a good look at all the pipes and confirmed that they are all sound. Next we checked the outside down pipe to see if that was the issue. We cut and diverted this pipe away from its drain into a flower bed half way down the garden. This has not fixed the issue. I have pulled away some of the mud under my floorboards to make a pool which is full of water but never goes above a certain level. The same is true in the neighbours house, after they mop up the water comes back but never above a certain level. Can anyone suggest what could be causing this? Would a natural flow of water be able to penetrate the dpc but not go above a certain level?
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thescruff
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Re: Confusing underfloor leak
Reply #1 - Sep 10th, 2017, 6:41pm
 
The Water supplier may test the water for you. this will tell you whether it's mains water a spring or rainwater.

Can you tell roughly if the water level is the same as next door.

Where does the rainwater from the roofs go, same with surface water.

Is there a hard standing at the front.

Do you know the water table, your supplier should be able to tell you.
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PatrickO
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Re: Confusing underfloor leak
Reply #2 - Sep 11th, 2017, 7:07am
 
The water has been tested and the neighbours have been told that it is non chlorinated which I believe means it is not from a feed. They have also checked mine and a couple of neighbours meters and they show no abnormalities.
At a guess I would say that their pool is lower than my  pool but not 100% on that.
The rainwater from mine and my neighbours (on the other side) roof is go in into my flower bed halfway down the garden.
I don't know what you mean by a hard standing?
I am not sure if the neighbours have asked about the water table during their investigations. I will ask them when I see them next. Can this change level dramatically over time?
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thescruff
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Re: Confusing underfloor leak
Reply #3 - Sep 11th, 2017, 2:18pm
 
hi first problem, they don't chlorinate mains water in most places anymore, you need to get the water supplier to take a sample from both sides.

Had standing is where they park the cars on the front lawn.

The water table can change with the weather but average is much the same, if you're near a river etc then it can depend on the river level.

are you lower than the main road ?

Have you checked all the inspection chambers, if you suspect the drains you can always get a camera up the pipes to check for damage.

Does your insurance cover the problem if you need it.
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