Shower pipe discharging under foundations of Victorian terrace

[harrietf1411]

I bought a Victorian terrace house in Bristol last year and have just redone the kitchen. In doing that I cut away some plasterboard next to a chimney breast where the water pipes feed to the rest of the house. I then discovered the shower waste pipe is discharging directly under the house, not connected to anything. It seems to be draining away into the space under the house and not flooding. From the date on the pipe it seems to have been there for 12 years. The skirting is damp, as is the chimney breast but can't see any other problems.

Has anyone else ever experienced this?! Wondering if it could be discharging into an old gulley I can't see.

 

[Stevers]

You are not alone, my sister discovered that her washing machine was discharging into the cavity of the wall of her kitchen. Hard to believe this sort of thing would be DIY, but then what sort of tradesman would do that?

 

[Cubist]

I'm intrigued. The waste water pipe from a shower tray would typically be in the order of 40-50mm in diameter and there should be little difficulty tracking that pipe from an upper floor down to its exit. Given the dimensions of such pipes they are normally hidden inside boxed sections of false wall. How sure are you of the route taken and the location of its discharge?

 

[harrietf1411]

Im sure of the location because some plasterboard has been cut away so I can see exactly where the pipe is discharging directly in to the floor beneath the kitchen. It's down the side of an old chimney breast so yes hidden inside a fake wall, but then I can see down to the mud under the floor where the pipe stops completely

I'm intrigued. The waste water pipe from a shower tray would typically be in the order of 40-50mm in diameter and there should be little difficulty tracking that pipe from an upper floor down to its exit. Given the dimensions of such pipes they are normally hidden inside boxed sections of false wall. How sure are you of the route taken and the location of its discharge?

Im sure of the location and route because some plasterboard has been cut away so I can see exactly where the pipe is discharging directly in to the floor beneath the kitchen. It's down the side of an old chimney breast so yes hidden inside a fake wall, but then I can see down to the mud under the floor where the pipe stops completely

 

[Stevers]

Is by chance the shower en-suite and away from any other plumbing?

It is like it for a reason and one of those reasons is that there is no easy place to run it too.

 

[harrietf1411]

It runs very close to the downstairs toilet and sink so they could definitely have diverted it to join them

 

[Cubist]

Sounds to me that the original intent was to connect that shower waste to either the toilet or basin waste pipe in the downstairs loo or alternatively to the waste under the kitchen sink. Why they didn't do that may be down to simple laziness and/or criminal deceit but provided there are no obstructions that cannot be removed or circumvented it should still be possible to complete the job properly.