John Woodhall wrote:

"adder" wrote in message
om...

Hi, I'm in the process of purchasing a detached house & in the garden
just yards from the back wall there are two manhole covers half a
yard-ish in diameter & I'm told they're for the foul/sewage drains.

Should I be concerned about this? The covers are quite unsightly -
what can I do about it? They're in the paved patio area which I was
thinking of changing so can I redo the patio to cover over the covers
with a removeable slab?

If I ever wanted to extend the house out the back, in general would
the drains themselves be deep enough or would they have to be
re-routed? The house is on a slight left-right slope if that makes
any difference. Can I find out this info from any plans anywhere??



Hi Steve, forget the extension they would need to be re-routed, mega bucks.

Not mega bucks, a few thousand at the worst. Possibly less than a grand
actually. Drains are not a huge problem - a mini digger, and a man with
a spade and gravel is all it takes.

I have heard you can put airtight covers on them though but not sure if I
would be happy if they blocked and overflowed **** into the living room.



You MUST have access by building regs. Every time a pipe deviated from a
straight line, or another joins it you MUST HAVE ACCESS.