Trying to solve a drainage problem by myself

[Sewbean]

We need to get to our drains to fix a blockage but they were all covered up by someone before our time so we have only a rough idea of where they are.
There are 2 access points, I have managed to locate the one furthest from the house which was buried under a rockery and 18" of soil. I haven't even attempted to find the one closer to the house because from the plans it looks like it might well be under a shed. Surely you wouldn't put a shed on top of a drain access point? I'm hoping the one we have uncovered will be enough to solve the problem.

So I've dug down and found the concrete slab thing which I assume is covering the manhole. I haven't managed to uncover it all yet, as soon as I got to it the hole started filling up with water. I haven't been digging particularly hard so I don't think I cracked anything, it seems to be sort of seeping out round the edge of the concrete.

But I'm not sure what to do now. I guess I have to keep digging till I uncover all of the slab, get something under the edge and lift it up? Even though the hole is filling up.

But will a massive fountain of sewage erupt in my face once I lift the cover? I have no idea.

We're really short on cash right now so that's why I'm trying to do as much of the work myself as possible. I have a drain guy who will come with his jet hose and camera if we need him but he said it would be cheapest if we could get the access right open for him. I have already tapped him for a fair bit of free advice and I don't want to annoy him by asking him any more questions about the digging of the hole.

Any drainage experts out there? Do I just keep digging with a peg over my nose?

And how do I actually lift the concrete slab anyway? So far it seems to be about 12" across and I still haven't reached the edge. I assume it's a square.

The drain guy said "No-one cares about drains, they just want their patio to look nice. The drains go wrong and suddenly everyone cares about them then." How true.

Crowbar.

You can do this!! You go Girl.

Crowbar is your friend

I borrowed a crowbar off a neighbour but I cannot actually bring myself to post a photo of what was under the slab. It was truly foul.

Anyway, the drainage guy came round with his jet hose and managed to get everything running smoothly again. But the manhole is collapsing at the side and is full of tree roots.

So it becomes a bigger problem beyond my abilities sadly. And probably hugely expensive. We've decided to worry about how we will fix it next week, at least it's working fine for now.

Thanks for all your moral support folks.

@Sewbean . You need to get a copy of the drainage plans from the water company. They will demonstrate to you an approximate position of all drains on your property, although approximate is something to be wary of as ours were somewhat away from where the plans show them.

What is important is that you can have a combination of private drains (leading away from your house) which are your responsibly and then public drains which cross under your property that the water company own. Your private drains will be connected to the public drain at some point.

If they are public drains, then it is the water companies responsibility to deal with the replacement if it is falling apart

The manhole is definitely in our garden and so is the tree so I assumed it was definitely our problem. It is further into our garden than the diagram suggests.

It's the drain marked 5 no2 T or something like that on the map, there is another drain further out which I assume would be the water company's responsibility. The main sewage pipe runs under the pavement about 3ft from our boundary wall, big wide pavement.

I will call them next week and ask, I'm just a bit wary of call-out charges if they are not responsible.

Life is never dull....

Does you buildings insurance cover you for any damage to the manhole?

Do give your insurers a call. We had a drain problem when we moved in and they paid for a big part of the cost of fixing it. It was a truly revolting time, you have my sympathies

She's got the drainage plans MarieG10.

When he power washed the problem away was it towards the street?

It is hard to make it out from the plans. It seems you have drains going right around. Your house?

It could be the Public drain is the one accords what I assume is the front of your house but don't assume. Where I live there are huge public drains going right across the rear gardens (manholes with ladders inside) and then they branch down the side of houses as well which causes problems for people building extensions! We have relatively small amount of private drainage as they connect in so closely

Just be careful because DPs mum did her drains herself, was sick as a dog that night and had to call the paramedics. They were mortified she went in drains herself and caught gastroenteritis from not wearing gloves or a mask and said someone else has to do it.

Insurance! I really hope it’s covered. It was for us when we had a similar problem.