Hi all
Anyone know what the best way is to permanently block off a toilet soil
pipe?
The house is ex council approx 60 yrs old. Secondary toilet is in a
concrete floor 'outhouse' and never used. I'm ok to remove the pan,
etc, just not sure about best way to seal off the soil pipe. Want to
knock the walls through to make one large utilty room in the outhouse,
so ultimately must end up with smooth floor ( sealing off below floor
level) and no nasty niffs.
Advice appreciated
Chaz

"clang2005" wrote in message

Anyone know what the best way is to permanently block off a toilet soil
pipe?
The house is ex council approx 60 yrs old. Secondary toilet is in a
concrete floor 'outhouse' and never used. I'm ok to remove the pan,
etc, just not sure about best way to seal off the soil pipe. Want to
knock the walls through to make one large utilty room in the outhouse,
so ultimately must end up with smooth floor ( sealing off below floor
level) and no nasty niffs.

I did this in our first house over 20 years ago. Incorporated the outside
privy into the kitchen.

Removed pan etc & dug down to about 6" below the required floor level.
Blocked of the soil pipe with a sheet of thick plastic & concreted over the
whole lot. Building inspector was happy with it.

Dave

clang2005 wrote:
Anyone know what the best way is to permanently block off a toilet soil
pipe?
The house is ex council approx 60 yrs old. Secondary toilet is in a
concrete floor 'outhouse' and never used. I'm ok to remove the pan,
etc, just not sure about best way to seal off the soil pipe. Want to
knock the walls through to make one large utilty room in the outhouse,
so ultimately must end up with smooth floor ( sealing off below floor
level) and no nasty niffs.
Advice appreciated

You can get double-sealed manhole covers which are approved for use in
habitable rooms, they have a recess so you can put in a cover piece of
matching flooring. As it's a utility room in an outhouse I think I'd use
one, or some other form of screw-down cap, and retain the soil pipe as a
floor drain, with a slight incline in the floor down to it. Handy if
washing machine floods, or for hosing down the dog, etc.

Owain

Thanks for the reply
sounds easy enough then, I assumed you would have to fill the pipe with
chicken wire and mortar or something, but from what you are saying so
the pipe doesnt really need to be sealed as such, just as long as the
area above it is?
Did you remember if your soil pipe went straight downwards a long way
or immediately off at an angle? ( I've never seen in one before so
don't know what to expect!)

Part H of the building regs is available online and specifies exactly
the requirements in your situation:

Quote:
Sealing disused drains
B.17 Disused drains or sewers provide ideal nesting sites for rats. In
order to prevent this disused drains or sewers should be disconnected
from the sewer system as near as possible to the point of connection.
This should be done in a manner which does not damage any pipe which is
still in use and ensures that the sewer system is watertight. This may
be carried out, for example, by removing the pipe from a junction and
placing a stopper in the branch of the junction fitting. Where the
connection was to a public sewer the sewerage undertaker should be
consulted.
B.18 Drains or sewers less than 1.5m deep which are in open ground
should as far as is practicable be removed. Other pipes should be
sealed at both ends and at any point of connection, and grout filled to
ensure that rats cannot gain access.
B.19 Larger pipes (225mm and above) should be grout filled to prevent
subsidence or damage to buildings or services in the event of collapse.
End quote

In practice the drains should end up water and air tight so I think you
really do need to cap them properly. I recently removed our downstairs
loo, blocked the pipe with loose newspaper some way down (to stop the
mortar going further down) then filled the rest with about 20cm of
mortar to give a flush floor level. Dead easy.

Hope that helps.

Thanks everyone for the advice, thats great. Although still not too
keen on doing the messy job,....at least I'm more confident about what
to do now!