Conservatory over drains advice

[Andy]

I=92m thinking of having built a fairly cheap and cheerful conservatory down part of the side of my house. This would be lean-to, bespoke, around 4m x 2.5m, and separated by an outside door from the rest of the house. The structure would be predominantly glass, with dwarf walls of either brick or something lighter (e.g. wood) if poss. As far as I'm aware, planning consent and building regs wouldn't apply.

My foul and surface water drains lie partly under the area and so I need to build it to avoid damaging these and to allow access should they need attention in future. I believe the drains are quite deep (1.5m - 2m) where the conservatory walls would cross them.There is a manhole, which would be located within the conservatory. I don=92t particularly want to have to dig deep foundations to bridge them, so am looking for a lightweight construction, with some form of =91raft=92 base if possible.

Grateful for any advice.

Thanks, Andy

[Roger Mills]

Are these private drains which serve only your property, or are they public sewers which are maintained by your water board? If the latter, there are lots of hoops you have to jump through before building over them (like having before and after CCTV surveys done at your expense) - irrespective of whether or not the building is subject to normal building regs. You'd also have to take your foundations down to invert level, and bridge over the pipes with lintels.

If they're private drains, and if the soil hasn't been disturbed for a long time, I'd ignore them and just build over them. If the manhole in the conservatory provides access to a foul sewer, you'll need a bolted-down sealed lid on it. Overflowing sewers are not very pleasant - I know, I've had a few!

[Broadback]

I built a garage (detached) over a manhole cover, it is essential to have an air tight cover installed, not just the smells but flammable gases!

[Chippy Roy]

'Andy[_16_ Wrote:

Hi Andy,for a start, if you are thinking of heating the conservatory from your house central heating then you need planning permission otherwise you will not. About the depths of drains etc. I would phone and ask your local building control office and ask them what would be required. About the drain cover then this will need to be replaced with a 'screwed down double sealed' cover because it will be inside and you could get smells coming into the conservatory. The min. fall for drains I think is 1 in 40 so if you know the depth of your inspection chamber then you should be able to see which way it falls and work out the levels from that. I built my conservatory late last year and the rain water pipes run through the walls so I had leave spaces around the pipes, about 100mm all round and build in releaving lintels over them with pea shingle around, leaving space over the top. If I was you I would go for a strip footing with a brick or concrete block wall, a DPM and concrete oversite to stop dampness getting in. In the winter months I leave a greenhouse heater in there which switches itself on when the temperature drops below 5c which keeps the windows clear of condensation. If we are going to sit out there and it is cold then we use an Halogen three bar heater which we found quite good, both are really cheap to buy. I have been on forums where people have come up with different ideas about heating but they say that the cost works out about the same. I hope this helps in some way. Roy

[Andy]

The drains are my own and the manhole is for the foul. The soil hasn't been disturbed for at least 13 years so maybe OK, though I need to do a bit more investigation to guesstimate depths and runs.

Thanks very much for advice.

Andy

[<me9]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

ITYM building regulations approval. The heating must be on a separately controlled zone as to the rest of the house.

[Andy]

Thanks Roy, this is helpful info.

I wasn't thinking of heating it from the house CH, just standalone heating when cold.

I may be back to pick your brain again if plans go further.

Thanks, Andy

[Ian_m]

My foul and surface water drains lie partly under the area and so I need to build it to avoid damaging these and to allow access should they need attention in future. I believe the drains are quite deep (1.5m - 2m) where the conservatory walls would cross them.There is a manhole, which would be located within the conservatory. I don?t particularly want to have to dig deep foundations to bridge them, so am looking for a lightweight construction, with some form of ?raft? base if possible.

Grateful for any advice.

I would move the drains, if yours and do a "propper job".

My next door neighbour finally moved the drains from inside his self built conservatory after the 2nd time they flooded and filled his conservatory to about 4 inches deep with yucky water. He had fitted a cover with a rubber seal but under the pressure of water it just escaped around the edge of the cover and top layer of bricks. Whilst moving the drains he discovered why it blocked easily (and self cleared !!) a cracked joint allowing tree roots in capturing disposible nappies flushed down by someone further up the row of houses......

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[The Natural Philosopher]

Sooner or later drains *always* need attention.

Its no big deal if they run under, but it is a big deal if they TURN=20 under. You need to be able to rod and that means a turn needs a manhole=20 cover.

If thats what you have, get digging. It really is NOT that big a deal,=20 whilst there isn't a conservatory there.

With drains, they need to run straight under the building to an outside=20 manhole cover, were at least if the Turd Army attacks, its outside.