Drainage / Pipes

[Oxo01]

So I've been posting about getting a landscaper to redo my back garden
Live in a terraced house.

I finally found someone.who visted today to discuss and cost up. Seems nice.

However on discussing drainage i told i have no drain in my garden he said it could be under the decking (which i really doubt as when we bought the house it was a new build with just earth on the ground and we dont recall seeing anything like a drain )

Also I have no pipe coming down from the guttering but my neighbours either side have one in their gardens.

He said he has not come across this so believes its probarly under the decking but if not we would have to ask neighbours to connect to their pipe to allow my drainage to go on my property, then he then can put in correct things and make good ( cant recall name ) .

Is this this common not to have no drain, and pipe from gutters ?
Why would I not have these and neighbours do .

I've read that i can look at property plans to see if on there which i will or contact water company for any records.

I hope i am making sense just a bit worried.

So the gutters just overflow down the walls of the house?
Are there any plans of the estate or house surely they will show drainage. Maybe planning dept have some? Or a neighbour.

So presumably you have gutters at the base of your roof? Where do they empty into? Presumably if you don’t have any downpipes yourself they will connect to on of your neighbours in the terrace. Either that or water must be pouring down the walls in which case you have a bigger problem.
Assuminf the first scenario then no you probably don’t have a drain for the rainwater but you will have a drain somewhere for your house.
Why are you even talking about drains with the gardener? What work are you planning?

There are two different drains, one for water coming off the roof classed as clean and then the ones your internal pipes connect to so the soil stack that is connected to your toilet, sink and bath classed as grey water. Most pipes on newer builds are on the outside of the property as a blocked soil stack internally is boxed in (usually in the corner of a kitchen in older properties) and awful to deal with and clean out.

Water running off the roof is collected in gutters which are often shared in terraced housing so you won't have a down pipe but your gutter will be open to your neighbour's gutter and your water will run down their drain pipe or down pipe. Mine has a rubber seal connecting my down pipes to the water collection to keep debris from contaminating it as we live in a split sewer area, ie two massive pipes in the middle of the road, one with all the grey water, one with the clean water. Older Victorian sewers were combined.

Drains your landscaper is talking about are the pipes underground connecting the grey water system where your poo runs through. When you bought the house new you should have a big Welcome to your New Home folder with lots of information in it. In that you should have a drain plan which will show if you have an inspection chamber in your garden or just the pipe running through it. It might also be out the front. I have none in my back garden, one down the side in the path and two on the front of my property.

It would be normal for people to cover the inspection chamber as otherwise it is a metal disc or square spoiling a garden. Usually these covers can be lifted in case the chamber needs to be rodded if it gets blocked. I think this is what your landscaper means by make good. There are replacement covers that you can put block pavers into to blend into a drive or allow you to cut a patio slab and you just see the outline of the lid rather than a ugly disc.

I live in a terraced house with joined up gutters and no pipe or drain at the rear. They're just the other side of the fence. Rain just soaks away in the soil.
I do have a pipe and drain cover at the front.

If your planned landscaping involves a lot of cement/paving, that water needs to go somewhere. I'd advocate for lots of soil and planting instead, as this is the easiest way to mitigate endless puddles and flooding.

I have lived in terraced houses where the gutters share downpipes. There might just not be a downpipe for your property. Why do you need one? Why is he asking about drainage? Are you getting a patio laid?

Does your garden slope towards the house?

Hi
My kitchen is at the front of house there is a pipe and drain outside front for kitchen sink water etc.

Downstairs toilet is on other side of hallway, so outside front has a pipe from gutters going into ground ( was told by water company its shared with next door)

I have a round drain on my property and they have their own.

The big oblong drain is on the pavement between 2 property's

Back garden
Large decking is directy outside my back door.
Rest is slabs with small boarders going round the sides and back end of garden for plants.

We have thick clay soil I belive.

Plan
To rip up decking replace with tiled patio whole width of garden as per decking is.

Slabs rip up & replace with some lawn and either have raised planters all around or just leave ground level but make them bigger.

I also wanted a retactable pergola or a hard cover covering the patio so I asked about the drainage as neighbours have gutter and pipe for water to run out .

I think he said would need drainage as as clay soil and may be a issue with lawn ( but not sure)

We have lived here over 20 years and never had water issues on walls or puddles in garden etc.

I think he said the garden slopes a bit towards the back end

I think the welcome pack was thrown away just last year but i will double check.

Im going to get the plans out
to see if i can see anything on there but I have a feeling that our gutters are connected to neighbours pipe .

How about a water butt? That's what my neighbours have for their covered patio.

Thanks i am going to check with him Re: lawn and clay soil as he did say about drainage when speaking about them.