Council House Drains

accymel · 06-12-2006, 11:24

Just reported my outside drain being blocked, at least a yearly thing at mine certainly due to leaves/grass etc & the poor quality of drain itself - something i have to get jetted out every year as part of repairs! Well this year its not been too bad as i havent bothered with back garden cutting grass but has happened now due to the high winds & heavy rain blowing right through it!!

Well now rules have changed i will be charged for it now £56.20 to have it jetted if it is no fault of my own err how do i prove that & what does that mean other than no i haven't let kids put tissue paper down or the like ??

MMm notice tho as soon as im now being charged they can send someone up this afternoon rather than in a few days time

So thought i'd let you know of a new charge so u dont end up as shocked as me - now im going to be scared of emptying my bath & sink just in case the outside drain goes again because thats all ive been doing.

Now to take £56.20 out of the xmas budget now

WillowTheWhisp · 06-12-2006, 11:45

How kind of HBC.

Is it possible to fit a drain cover to stop leaves going down?

accymel · 06-12-2006, 11:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by WillowTheWhisp

How kind of HBC.

Is it possible to fit a drain cover to stop leaves going down?

They are loverly for surprising u before xmas LOL. I've got a drain cover on it & secured - still not making any difference really

entwisi · 06-12-2006, 12:02

I thought you rented Mel,the whole point of rental over purchase is that you aren't responsible for the ongoing maintainence of the property. If they are saying that this responsibility passed to you at some point ask them for your signed contract that you accepted the drains in their current state. You can't suddenly change a contract to make it unfavourable to one party without them accepting it.

Get onto your local councillor and the Observer as well.

accymel · 06-12-2006, 12:17

You would think so Ian i do rent the house & as its external drain & not internal then i thought they would have to cover it, i just cant wait for what silly reasons they will give me to justify the charge like hair balls like before.

Where the external drain outlet is situated is about 3-5 inches away from the grass in my back garden starts & being on the side it is enclosed with my shed & side of the house, when it rains the run off from my grass runs down the side of the house near to where drain is but it also brings with it this silty gunk down with it - that even the jetter will not remove from floor surface - total accident waiting to happen cos its very slippery when wet hehehehe & i do beleive thats the biggest cause of the problem. When it does puddle it gets bigger cos the grass soil is clay so thats really rubbish for draining certainly in the bad down pours we've had which then adds to my drain problem further as it runs back to drain.

Its not been a good day so far

i've had my 3 badlucks already in space of an hr & half

chav1 · 06-12-2006, 12:59

how is it that landlords of private properties are responsible for maintainance and repair of their properties but hyndburn homes arnt?

WillowTheWhisp · 06-12-2006, 13:22

It sounds like HBC are trying to get out of their responsibilities as landlords. If you've done all you can do to prevent gunk going down and still their drains can't cope then it surely should be their problem not yours. It's as bad as the twaddle about wheelie bins belonging to the council until they go astray and then they belong to you and you have to pay for a new one.

entwisi · 06-12-2006, 13:55

Yep, sounds like they are trying it on, have a word with CAB as well, they should know what landlords are responsible for and what they can pass on

accymel · 06-12-2006, 14:12

Still waiting for drainman, this is all sounding dodgey to me, its external not internal if it was i could understand, water is draining fine internally, last year i made a complaint to inspectors as the drain man accused me on paper of being dirty purely judgemental & having a go about hair clogging up the external drains - errr i havent got alepicia [sp?] fair enough again if it was blocking u bends but it itsnt - the stuff he pulled out from drain rods were thick gungey stuff with mix of alsorts of debris, but funny enough inspectors then decided to resite my bath external pipe into --------- the toilet main external main pipe which leaks a little underneath anyway as was it going thro the kitchen external was too much flow that it was splashing out rather than into the drain, so me thinks they need to redo do the external drain pipes but we are dealing with the council here

All i can do is await the drain mans opinion as to whether im charged or not & going by last years account i will be, could do with an AW drainperson expert on here hehehehehe

accymel · 06-12-2006, 14:25

Just a thought & if i do get charged i think they should send me a list of things that they charge for in repairs so that then the tennant is aware & also therefore can ring about & get someone in at a reasonable rate & better quality than lining the councils pocket

i think that is fair enough if im 'supposed' to be responsible for it

entwisi · 06-12-2006, 14:27

I 've spent more than my fair share of time unblocking drains (badly moved pipework which feeds into the main manhole which is on my propert)y. It blocks up about once every couple of months. Not a nice job at all. I've had a video survey done so that we can get the work done and everyone who feeds into the drains gets a share of the bill.

You need to know exactly what your contract with teh landlord is so I would recommend getting down to CAB and let their legal peeps have a look.

jimmi5bellies · 06-12-2006, 14:41

Same here, ive got shared drains with Debbie upstairs, we have one that backs up every few days. We have fun unblocking it. I have now left a mop at the side of it so it can been used as a bungee.
We was told we would be charged if they came out to it too. The charging came into effect last year by the way

We have drain covers over them by the way.

accymel · 06-12-2006, 14:46

MMm its not right tho i bet they re did the tenancy agreement as well when they changed over sneaky gets!!! but the thing is only new tenants are properly aware & yeh before u ask me to read the tenancy agreement errrr its round the houses confusing. My last drain re do was before that came into effect hence the shock today - but i dont get why tenants are responsible for external drains, when more often or not its to do with external problems - maybe if they did the drains proper & did adequate fencing - which i've none at the back now so all their crap come straight into mine now grrrrr, still waiting for heating as per mentioned - oh & i hate the council - bunch of fashists!!

accymel · 06-12-2006, 15:26

What did i tell ya ..................... ITS NOT MY FAULT

What clogged it was the leaves silt & debris from the guttering blocking the drain nowt from my internal drainage at all!!! Even so i had to have my guttering fixed as well - sorted!

So i had to sign for the work to be carried out but he is going to put that the blockage was as above & not my fault nor prevention

lancsdave · 06-12-2006, 15:47

Thats good, £56.20 back in to the Christmas pressie fund