Following on the dreaded question of new soil pipes on our latest development in Kent...
If you are just tuning in or need some background, please see an earlier post here:
When we made the decision to make a new bathroom out of the box room, we knew we were signing up to a number of unknowns. Was the main sewer line in front of the house or at the rear? (Not enough information on the sewerage survey as usual.) Would we have enough head height to run it through the ceiling? Would it need to go through the ground floor? We had no idea what the existing ground construction was. What if we find things there we did not want to find? And what would this all cost? Could we keep within budget?
Just over a week into the project and working alongside our builders, we found out two things:
1. The existing sewer pipes connect to the rear of the house. (Isn't it wonderful that our new bathroom is at the front?)
2. Not enough head height to run it through or under the ceiling to the existing soil stack.
Which means... we're digging into the ground floor. Bring out the jackhammers and respirator masks, there is going to be some dust. Turns out the existing ground floor is concrete slab on grade. Seems the age of the house is a bit newer than we presumed?
We now have an excavated trench in the ground with a new soil pipe roughed in and ready to be bedded in with pea gravel. Building Inspector came by today and gave us the thumbs up.
We're not sealing the damp proof membrane and closing up just yet - still need to get in first fix and test it. But at least we now have a clearer path moving forward.
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