I have a terraced house with a cellar. For 2 years it has been dry
with an occasional slight smell of damp. About a month ago it filled
up with about an inch of water. Over the weekend I dried it out
completely, but this evening water has started to flow in through the
party wall, about 4 or 5 litres in half an hour. I went next door and
asked the lady if her cellar is dry. She went to look on her own and
pronounced it dry. I'm not sure if I believe her.

What do I do? The water is definately coming from the party wall on
her side. Will the buildings insurance investgate this? What does the
party wall act cover?

"avocado" wrote in message
ups.com...
I have a terraced house with a cellar. For 2 years it has been dry
with an occasional slight smell of damp. About a month ago it filled
up with about an inch of water. Over the weekend I dried it out
completely, but this evening water has started to flow in through the
party wall, about 4 or 5 litres in half an hour. I went next door and
asked the lady if her cellar is dry. She went to look on her own and
pronounced it dry. I'm not sure if I believe her.

What do I do? The water is definately coming from the party wall on
her side. Will the buildings insurance investgate this? What does the
party wall act cover?

I used to live in a victorian terraced house where one of the drain pipes (I
forget whether it was rain or bathroom) was actually concealed within the
party wall, creating a small lake under the neighbour's floor when it
failed. Lucky for me it didn't get in my cellar.

avocado wrote:
I have a terraced house with a cellar. For 2 years it has been dry
with an occasional slight smell of damp. About a month ago it filled
up with about an inch of water. Over the weekend I dried it out
completely, but this evening water has started to flow in through the
party wall, about 4 or 5 litres in half an hour. I went next door and
asked the lady if her cellar is dry. She went to look on her own and
pronounced it dry. I'm not sure if I believe her.

Check gutters/downpipes for leaks, or blocked rain water drain.
The water board can test to see if it's tap water. I guess they check
the fluoride or something

What do I do? The water is definately coming from the party wall on
her side. Will the buildings insurance investgate this? What does the
party wall act cover?

On 29 Jan 2007 14:12:02 -0800, "avocado"
wrote:

I have a terraced house with a cellar. For 2 years it has been dry
with an occasional slight smell of damp. About a month ago it filled
up with about an inch of water. Over the weekend I dried it out
completely, but this evening water has started to flow in through the
party wall, about 4 or 5 litres in half an hour. I went next door and
asked the lady if her cellar is dry. She went to look on her own and
pronounced it dry. I'm not sure if I believe her.

What do I do? The water is definately coming from the party wall on
her side. Will the buildings insurance investgate this? What does the
party wall act cover?

This happened to me many years ago but the reason was that we shared
the drain with the neighbour (it ran on the neighbour's side of the
boundary between our 2 plots) ) and the rat trap got blocked (by my
builders rubbish!). There was a gully in the cellar and the foul water
started to back up through this. I did not have a party wall with the
neighbour because the houses were Victorian semi-detached, but the
point is that all sorts of reasons may be to blame for the water
presence.

Maris