drains & gullys

[mike151]

does anyone know how 100mm plastic drains seal into those 1ft  square concrete gully things with lids. i'm  presuming you knock out those  cast in holes & fit your pipe. is there a rubber seal or do you concrete them together, or do they use clay pipes?

[Chancer]

The proffessionals run the drain through the "regard"complete without cutting then fill with strong mortar to mid diameter of pipe (making sure pipe is fully suppported underneath) then add some more mortar to bot sides forming a sloping gulley, when it has all hardened they carefully cut the pipe flush with an angle grinder to make a neat open gulley.

If I hadnt have seen afinished one I would still have been faffing around as before.

The pro regards and couvercles have a lip and groove which can be further sealed with thick grease to avoid smells, alternativey you can but cast iron ones which are better sealed "couvercle à regard en fonte".

Good luck

[mike151]

i was more thinking of using them as a collector for my downpipe water, & then taking it via 100mm pipe to a soakaway. at the moment my down pipes from gutters just terminate next to the house & are soaking the immediate area & could be responsible for softening the foundations causing cracks  & bowing in the walls in these areas, so its quite a serious issue.

[Chancer]

Funnily enough I am doing exactly the same thing at the moment amongst some serious terrassement, my property like most of the others discharges straight onto the trottoir at the front and side but I want to improve it while doing the block paving.

When either zinc or plastic downpipes are led into regards they usually terminate in a cast iron downpipe section with a right angle bend, commonly known as "un dauphin" as in the past the discharge was shaped like dolphins head for decorative effect before spilling the water on the trottoir.

Whether you use one or not it is usual to concrete the pipe (although accés de regards are available) into the regard making it impossible to replace if damaged by impact, so for that reason I recommend that you use dauphins. Prices vary enormously amongst merchants dependant on whether they give you any discount, I paid around €22ht but had been quoted over €40ht.

Oh and yes just knock out the sections with a club hammer, I would still recommend the mortar and pipe cutting technique that I described above for the pipe running to the soakaway, it avoids stagnant water sitting around in the gully and makes it much easier to clean and you wont then have to seal the lid against smells, if there could be lots of leaves falling in to your gutters then you may well try and make some sort of gulley trap in the regard but there isnt really enough room to do so.

Of course you could buy all the pvc kit to make a proper gulley trap, an avaloir, rehausse, seau, siphon and grille will only set you back €437!

[mike151]

do'nt suppose you know if uk type gully trapps would fit on? i can get those for about £15 ea. its just i had a couple of those concrete things lying around, ive seen plastic versions in the brico's which i guess are glued on.