What to perform when doing drains pipes or pipe fixes and installation by yourself
What to perform when doing drains pipes or pipe fixes and installation by yourself
The most significant thing that you have to care about while taking on any DIY plumbing and sewage work are the Local Authority rules which they actively supervise.
If you are considering altering your existing drainage, or installing a new drainage system you will almost certainly need to present some detailed plans of the work that you intend to undertake and it will need to be inspected as the work progresses making sure that it complies with the local building rules. However, you will probably not have to inform the Local Authority for replacement of damaged parts or sections of drainage as permission will have already been granted for the initial fitting.
If you hear the term ‘surface water’ in any drainage documents this basically means rain. An earlier method was to directly discharge this surface water into the sewage drains, but modern homes use a surface water sewer or watercourse or soakaway to drain or absorb rainwater. If gully traps are fixed at the junction of the rainwater pipe and the waste water drain, foul odour can be controlled. However with the new sewage systems, the foul and the surface water can be kept apart. Rainwater and foul water sewage should not be interconnected, however convenient it may seem. The Building Control Department is your first point of contact before you start any work if you are not familiar with your home’s sewage system.
Before you begin, you will need to plan the route of the waste pipes. Keeping the path as straight and short as possible will be the main concept behind the design of the waste passageways or pipes. Steep pipes should be avoided during the path design. A surveyor’ site level should be used to work out the fall of a waste pipe. In case you don’t have a surveyors site level, choose a datum point and then a water filled hose can be used to calculate the fall from there.
The stability of the existing house is of prime importance it should be not compromised while the drain pipe ditch is being installed so check you are not impacting on the existing structure. The foundation of the building should not be undermined by your digging if the drain runs parallel to it.
While installing a new drainage system make sure that you do not dig too long before laying the pipe. You should attempt to get the pipes laid as soon as possible and, after inspection and checking, you should back fill the trench.
Depending on the depth and soil conditions, the ditch may require support. It is no advisable to not take any risks. If you have any worries, you should support to the trench to reduce any risk of collapsing side walls during the building phase. You must make the trench as narrow as possible while leaving enough room to work inside it. Ensure that the trench bottom is flat and free of stones, tree roots and soft spots. If the exiting material is not suitable then you may need to import a suitable material for the base of the trench.
Never use bricks and/or other hard materials to support the pipe in the ditch. In fact they should be never used as support as they can damage the pipe as they will focus pressure into a small area. The base should be tightly packed in the appropriate manner with holes carved out to fit in the protruding pipe connections. A good guideline is that support should be provided for the entire length of the pipe.
The sewage system should be designed in a way that pipework remains accessible to drain rods should sewage maintenance work be required. Thus, a drain route must be as straight as possible between any two points. As a rule of thumb, a directional change in the pipework must have an inspection chamber for rodding access as drain rods do no go around corners.
If you are keen on DIY and follow some basic principles then you will be able to do plumbing and drainage on your own.
