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Neighbours drainpipe now draining on our garden

25 replies

SareBear87 · 26/08/2022 11:38

Not sure if this is the right place to put this so apologies in advance.

Background- Semi-detached house, my conservatory is attached to neighbours extension.

Our neighbour recently replaced their fence. In order to fit the last panel they removed some of the guttering on their extension. The guttering was then replaced save for the downward pipe to the drain in their garden. The old pipe was a dog leg which ran down the boundary of their extension to the top of the fence, turning into their garden and continuing down. The replacement fence is a lot higher than the old shoulder height one and due to the new design, is slightly further into their garden (by about 5-10cm).

We don't have any issues with the fence.

The problem is they claim they now can't fit a downward pipe due to the new fence so the guttering just drains into straight over into my garden. This is causing absolute carnage. All the rain water from their house roof and extension roof now drains exclusively into the flower borders in my garden. Given the recent down pours the soil has turned to mud and due to the height the water is falling from, is causing an absolute mess (not to mention the loss of some of my veggies as they were essentially water eroded out of the soil). My conservatory looks like it's been mountain biking!

Surely this can't be allowed? I asked if the drain could be moved to the opposite side of the roof but they've just shrugged and said they can't do anything. They're not the best to talk with (due to previous arguments about over hanging branches from their tree) so I don't really know where I go from here.

My guttering goes straight down into the drain as did theirs so I don't understand why this isn't a solvable issue.
I'm concerned that come winter I'll have a water logged garden or worse, flooding in the conservatory. Any advice?

OP posts:
Beamur · 26/08/2022 11:45

No it's not ok.
It will be some kind of legal nuisance. Solicitors letter or can you cap off the down pipe if hangs over your property or rig something up to collect and divert the water back?

Lymregent · 26/08/2022 11:45

I would be absolutely furious about this. Do you have any home insurance with legal you could consult?

BlueRidge · 26/08/2022 11:47

Absolutely NOT OK.
But I'm afraid I'm not sure what you can do about it, sorry.

ChimChimeny · 26/08/2022 12:57

No it is definitely not ok! You must be able to do something, can you break the end off so it doesn't come over your side?

maybe you will have to go down a legal route

Creepymanonagoatfarm · 26/08/2022 13:00

Who is encroaching? Your conservatory onto their extension doesn't sound great!
Shove some expanding foam up the pipe!

HappyHamsters · 26/08/2022 13:06

Cap off their pipe. Of course this is not ok. I would seek legal advice .

Craftybodger · 26/08/2022 13:10

Not acceptable.

Seek legal advice and get a letter sent to get it moved.

Somanysocks · 26/08/2022 13:17

Of course it's not ok, they just need to get some angled connectors and maybe some more lengths of downpipe to reroute it.

RustyBear · 26/08/2022 13:20

Connect a water butt to it?

TheNoonBell · 26/08/2022 13:22

Put a barrel under the pipe and periodically spray their water back into their garden with one of these www.amazon.co.uk/Einhell-GH-DP-Electric-Dirty-Water/dp/B00B18KAFK

MugginsOverEre · 26/08/2022 13:29

It sounds crazy that they think it's okay. Obviously your first port of call is to block the pipe. If it causes overflow from the guttering to your property when it eventually backs up then I'd be either physically pushing their gutter to a different angle sending the water the other way, or feeding the water directly back into their garden whether that's via a pipe and fence gap, a barrel and pump etc.

I'm really curious as to how this looks, is there any chance of a photograph. Bonus of taking a photo is they may see you, think you're getting serious about this and take action to sort it before they're legally made to. For now they think you're just going to bend over and take it.

Sprig1 · 26/08/2022 13:34

Absolutely not OK. Tell them so in writing and let them know that you will be sending them a bill for the inevitable damage to your property.

walskdb · 26/08/2022 13:39

Can you cap off their end of the pipe and just drain the water from your conservatory roof into a water butt.

Christmasiscominghohoho · 26/08/2022 14:07

Block it ?

Surtsey · 26/08/2022 14:12

Cut a nice round hole in the fence, poke some pipework through it, and connect it up to their downpipe.

Seriously though, maybe contact the planning department at your local council, because as far as I am aware, it is not legal to allow runoff from your building to go onto someone else's land like this.

MrsSplendiferous · 26/08/2022 14:21

Put it in writing and if nothing happens Id get on to my house insurance after I'd taken photos

jjimjam · 26/08/2022 15:37

Wouldn't the council help with this? Environmental Health?
I'd mention it to neighbours first though. It's so obviously unacceptable.

SareBear87 · 26/08/2022 15:55

Thanks all!

I wasn't sure if I was overreacting! (Currently 30 weeks pregnant so high possibility!)

I'm not sure where the boundary exactly is, just always took the fence and concrete posts to be it. The old fence used to line up perfectly with the white paint, and was a different style so hence the move over slightly. The neighbours are aware of the paint as the previous fence was about 1.5m so clearly visible - they've never commented on it so I assumed it was a historic agreement.

Not sure what came first the conservatory or their extension (we've only been here 4 years and the conservatory is 15+ years, extension looks about the same age). We've not altered a thing externally so all is in place from the previous owners (who lived here for around 35 years). We didn't request/discuss a new fence. They just told us a week before workmen arrived that they were replacing it with something different (which is completely fine).

My guttering hasn't changed and theirs was removed and replaced in the same position. I just don't understand why another dog leg junction can't be added back in!? There's plenty of space!

Neighbours drainpipe now draining on our garden
Neighbours drainpipe now draining on our garden
OP posts:
QueenOfThorns · 26/08/2022 16:02

Can’t you just attach something like this to it and point it in the direction of their garden: www.drainagesuperstore.co.uk/product/floplast-68mm-black-round-downpipe-925dg-offset-bend.html

SareBear87 · 26/08/2022 16:07

@QueenOfThorns that's basically what I was thinking but I don't want to be accused of trespass or criminal damage. They did that when we cut the large overhanging branches from the tree visible in the pictures, the irony being we cut them as they were hanging over the conservatory roof and banging constantly/blocking our guttering 😖

OP posts:
Soontobe60 · 26/08/2022 16:18

Go back to them, explain what has been happening then tell them either they fix the problem within the week or you will and send them the bill.

Hyperion100 · 26/08/2022 16:22

The fence looks very deep/thick.

If for example you were to flip the panel, would that then drain in to their garden?

MoonGeek · 26/08/2022 18:06

I think this is an issue for building control, not planning. Contact the council, it is not allowed.

SareBear87 · 26/08/2022 18:47

I suspect if the panel was flipped it would drain onto the fence from our side and would run down into the garden still. So just slowly rot their fence.

The previous pipe bent 90 degrees at the top then ran down flush with old fence on their side.

The concrete posts and concrete barrier on ground level (not sure if that's the right term?) are still in place so they haven't changed the boundary as such, just decided to fence in front of the concrete (possibly to make it look nicer from their side?)

OP posts:
OneFrenchEgg · 26/08/2022 18:58

Is it technically draining into their property ? As in the end of the brick work?
I get that it's a disaster as it's uncontrolled but it looks like they've lost a few inches via the fence?

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