I've been working on a new patio/side return surface and at the same time whilst everything is up looking to change my main water pipe which has given issues inside the house. Upon lifting the rather strong concrete mix down previously I found a bog to greet me which I could make significant imprints into the ground with only my trainer (I'm not very heavy). On digging a bit more I found my clay drains to be in a poor state, so I've replaced part of them with new plastic, and I'm looking to do some more, but then I've run into the problem of next door. This is their lateral drain running under the yard dividing wall, which then joins a fork with mine and given the Victorian era of construction becomes a public sewer which then runs under my house:
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dug this out on Sunday lunchtime when it looked fairly dry, and the photo was taken this lunchtime, with no rain in-between and so the puddle around the joint has arisen since then, and given the oil/soap tints in the water I assume is a result of their toilet/sink/shower use. Judging by some of the joints in the clay I have replaced it would be highly likely the spigot of the pipe has cracked at the point it touches the bell, especially given the weight of the wall on top of it (I don't know this for sure though, I didn't know about the others till I actual removed the pipes and saw the black slim down the breaks and the compost/worms beneath). Now my understanding is it is up to next door to repair this, but knowing their love for bodges they will probably tell me it is fine, do people here think it is in need of repair? Has anyone had experience of getting next door to cough up for laterals to be fixed? I would really like it fixed properly, i.e a lintel in the wall to make a proper drain path, is it reasonable/within my rights to insist on this, I gather the council can come in as a last resort? I'm just looking for a bit of backup to my opinions before approaching them on this, especially as the house has had problems with damp, I'd like to sort it for once and for all.
As an aside, I thought I'd share with the group why I think it is a good thing we don't build things like we used to, this is the corner of the kitchen:
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they cleverly routed the drain underneath the foundations of, and to make room chipped away the corner of the bell:
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it is now redundant given last weekends efforts, and it looks like underpinning is coming up on the schedule.
Thanks in advance for any comments.