Damaged pipe repair?

[108pb]

Hi all

Apologies if this is not the right place to ask, but I'm hoping you can help me with the problem I have. We have hired a gardener for some landscaping work. Yesterday while he was using his kango to remove some concrete on the floor where we want a gravel path instead he damaged a drainage pipe. I am not sure what pipe it is exactly, but it looks like a major one, being around 4.5" diameter. The hole, which you can see below (the grey stone on the left is the bottom of our outside kitchen/utlity room/bathroom wall), is about 1.5" long and .7" at its widest.



I have 2 questions:

1. The gardener himself claims that the hole was already there. This seems extremely unlikely to me, since there was a layer of concrete right on top of it, and we haven't had any problems with the drainage in the 2 years we've lived here. Also, the standard of his work in general has generally left a few things to be desired, so I am just not sure he really knows what he's doing. Is there any way that a qualified plumber would be able to assess whether the damage is recent or has been there for a long time? The reason I am asking this is that if a repair is costly, I will try to get some compensation from the gardener if an expert can tell me that the damage is recent.

2. What sort of repair is likely to be needed? Can this sort of thing be patched up or will we need a new pipe?

Thanks very much in advance for your advice!

 

[Soulman]

Looks like your main drain pipe that eventually leads to the main sewer. You should be able cut a section out with an angle grinder to get 2 clean faces and piece it through with 2 of these [DLMURL="http://www.wickes.co.uk/Wickes-Clay-To-110mm-Black-PVCu-Drain-Adaptor/p/430042"]Wickes Clay To 110mm Black PVCu Drain Adaptor | Wickes.co.uk[/DLMURL] and some 110mm waste pipe [DLMURL="http://www.wickes.co.uk/Wickes-110mm-Terracota-Drain-Pipe-Length-3000mm/p/432001"]Wickes 110mm Terracota Drain Pipe Length 3000mm | Wickes.co.uk[/DLMURL] You dont need to cut alot out, just enough to get the 2 adaptors on, and a short stub of pipe.

Once you have cut the section out and repaired it with the above items, test it. Make sure its water tight. If so, now you can back fill with pea gravel [DLMURL="http://www.wickes.co.uk/Wickes-10mm-Gravel-Major-Bag/p/220128"]Wickes 10mm Gravel Major Bag | Wickes.co.uk[/DLMURL] make sure you push the gravel underneath the pipe and completely cover it on top.

But just remember, whilst your cutting this out, dont let anyone use the toilet......:90:

 

[plumben]

Its hard to tell weather the damage was already there, was there soil then concrete or just concrete on top

Is the pipe plastic or clay?

What was be using to remove the soil/concrete

That hole looks about the same size as a pick

 

[ShaunCorbs]

Its hard to tell weather the damage was already there, was there soil then concrete or just concrete on top

Is the pipe plastic or clay?

What was be using to remove the soil/concrete

That hole looks about the same size as a pick

looks to be plastic to the left and clay to the right

and concrete breaker

 

[REDSAW]

looks like iron to me and an old hole not clean?
cant see its his fauld as its hidden beneath the concrete you asked him to remove!!


i can see various ways of patching that with 50p worth of materials and an hours labour.

 

[108pb]

Thanks a lot guys. It looks like the repair won't be that expensive then, which is a relief of course, also since given the gardener's attitude I suspect I will end up paying for it myself.

Its hard to tell weather the damage was already there, was there soil then concrete or just concrete on top

I'm not sure, as the concrete is now all gone and I wasn't around when he removed this particular slab.

Is the pipe plastic or clay?

The piece with the hole in it feels like plastic (rubbing off some of the dust I see that it's got that typical reddish brown colour); the piece coming out of the wall seems to be clay.

What was be using to remove the soil/concrete

He used a sledgehammer for most of the path, but a kango for the bits against the wall.

That hole looks about the same size as a pick

Yes, or a kango...

 

[REDSAW]

cant you clean the pipe and fit a half section 'patch' over it and glue it on then concrete over?
or put a rubber coupling slip over it!

 

[Rckape]

I reckon the slip coupling is the best option. It looks like it's right up against a wall. Not a lot of space to work with.

I'd agree that it's old, the chipped part of the pipe would be clean if it was fresh damage.

 

[lame plumber]

didnt you tell him there was a pipe under the concrete, did you ask him to check for pipes, elec or water pipes first before digging? As always its rather hard to apportion blame if you hire in someone, probably cheaply and then things go wrong, if he isnt insured them its a waste of time chasing him really.

 

[108pb]

Thanks again all. The gardener in question is also a general handyman, and it turns out that he's prepared to repair the damage. Whether or not he has caused it is irrelevant to me at this point, as I think this is a fair solution. For the sake of completeness, he is on traderregister with quite a lot of reviews (which is how we found him), and is not especially cheap.