The best strides to drains pipes fitting
The best strides to drains pipes fitting
Before you undertake DIY plumbing and drains work it is essential to understand the national rules and rules formulated by the local authority.
If you are considering altering your existing drainage, or installing a new sewage 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 don’t need to inform them if you are just replacing some damaged parts.
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. In a system combining both functions, the rainwater pipes clear out into the dirty water drains through the gully traps that prevent fetid air from sneaking out of the drains. However with the new sewage systems, the foul and the surface water can be kept apart. It is extremely important to ensure that you do not connect foul water to a surface water drainage system. If you are unsure about the sewage system around your house get advice from the Building Control Department before you start any work.
Before you begin, you will need to plan the route of the waste pipes. Sewage pipes must be aligned as straight as possible, with inspection chambers at short intervals. You must avoid making your pipe runs too steep. Use a surveyor’s leveling tool to set out the slope of the drain trench. By establishing a datum point and using a hosepipe filled with water to establish levels you can calculate the fall from the datum in a situation when do not have one of these measures available.
Be very careful not to excavate too close to your building, as you may undermine the foundation and cause a structural collapse. Similarly, take care of the foundations when laying a drain pipe that runs alongside the building.
While installing a new drainage system make sure that you do not dig too long before laying the pipe. Excavate a part of the sewage system, install and test the pipework, and then back fill and compact the earth before moving on to the next part.
You may need to provide some support to the trench depending on the soil in that area and the depth of the trench. You should avoid any risks with this project. It is better to provide support to the trench walls than allowing the trench to collapse. The excavation should be only as wide as required, but should also permit the fitter to work conveniently. Ensure that the ditch bottom is flat and free of stones, tree roots and soft spots. If the existing soil is too weak or clayey, you should place and compact a layer of firmer soil at the base of the trench to prevent later sinking.
Never use bricks and/or other hard materials to support the pipe in the ditch. This will damage the pipe and must never be used as temporary or permanent support. The bedding should be properly compacted with hollows made to accommodate the joints in the pipes. The entire drain pipe system has to be uniformly supported by the soil bedding.
When designing your drainage system, it is important to make all parts of the pipework reachable via a set of drain rods should a blockage occur. This need for drain rod access can be easily achieved by keeping the pipeline straight and in short sections. Inspection chambers have to be provided at any abrupt changes of direction or level, so that drain rods can be inserted easily.
DIY plumbing and drainage is certainly within the limits of most DIY enthusiasts.