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Well,it could well be that, red-flagging or not, I might have to upset Liverpool Victoria and make a claim.
DynaRod turned up this morning and worked away for a few hours. They cleared the blockage. As the Thames Water rep said, the 4-in drainage channel appears to go underneath the extension next door. It then joins an 8-inch channel that comes from we know not where, before heading down to the main sewer at the bottom of Lewisham Hill.
Thames Water continues to deny any liability, despite it being a shared connection. Since the connection appears only to be between number 2 and number 4 (numbers 6 and 8, being larger houses and differently designed, have their own pipes travelling in a more logical fashion down to the main sewer pipe), legally the area appears to be as grey as the water.
The Dynarod guy said I shouldn't even bother trying to fight the case with Thames Water -- "better people have tried", he said, before saying that council tended to do fuck all in fighting the consumer's side in cases such as this. That meant that Thames Water would probably win. In any case, the stress involved there would hardly be worth even fifty grand.
The reason I am mentioning all of this is that, about 15 feet into the pipe, there appears to be a blockage, and that blockage (from the colour of the water coming out in the inspection chamber in front of the house next door) appears to be clay.
That probably means a cracked pipe, quite deep, possibly underneath the extension next door.
A camera guy from DynaRod is coming round ASAP (because the guys reckoned the whole thing would block up again in a week or so) to get the precise layout. Then they could give me an estimate for the cost of fixing it. And that cost could run from a grand to twenty grand -- the latter being because, if the pipe needs to be replaced, the houses would need to be underpinned before any work can start.
It's a lose-lose scenario no matter what. Even if I go to my insurer (which I will probably have to) there's the horrific question of where liability lies. I'm either looking at a lot of money going down the toilet (in more senses than one) or a lot of time filling out forms and talking to solicitors or the CAB or the council or the insurers or, indeed, all four. Time which, really, I don't have. In fact it's the time and stress, rather than the money, which is bothering me.
In a sense I am lucky. All problems are solvable if you throw enough money at it. And for most people it would be the money that would be the most worrying factor (and with good cause). But you can always get the money back, through economizing elsewhere, or working harder, or whatever. You can't get time back.
So, generally, it could all be better, but I suppose it could be worse. And, although it's a lose-lose scenario, it might not be a worst-case lose-lose scenario. Let's just hope.
_____________________
DynaRod turned up this morning and worked away for a few hours. They cleared the blockage. As the Thames Water rep said, the 4-in drainage channel appears to go underneath the extension next door. It then joins an 8-inch channel that comes from we know not where, before heading down to the main sewer at the bottom of Lewisham Hill.
Thames Water continues to deny any liability, despite it being a shared connection. Since the connection appears only to be between number 2 and number 4 (numbers 6 and 8, being larger houses and differently designed, have their own pipes travelling in a more logical fashion down to the main sewer pipe), legally the area appears to be as grey as the water.
The Dynarod guy said I shouldn't even bother trying to fight the case with Thames Water -- "better people have tried", he said, before saying that council tended to do fuck all in fighting the consumer's side in cases such as this. That meant that Thames Water would probably win. In any case, the stress involved there would hardly be worth even fifty grand.
The reason I am mentioning all of this is that, about 15 feet into the pipe, there appears to be a blockage, and that blockage (from the colour of the water coming out in the inspection chamber in front of the house next door) appears to be clay.
That probably means a cracked pipe, quite deep, possibly underneath the extension next door.
A camera guy from DynaRod is coming round ASAP (because the guys reckoned the whole thing would block up again in a week or so) to get the precise layout. Then they could give me an estimate for the cost of fixing it. And that cost could run from a grand to twenty grand -- the latter being because, if the pipe needs to be replaced, the houses would need to be underpinned before any work can start.
It's a lose-lose scenario no matter what. Even if I go to my insurer (which I will probably have to) there's the horrific question of where liability lies. I'm either looking at a lot of money going down the toilet (in more senses than one) or a lot of time filling out forms and talking to solicitors or the CAB or the council or the insurers or, indeed, all four. Time which, really, I don't have. In fact it's the time and stress, rather than the money, which is bothering me.
In a sense I am lucky. All problems are solvable if you throw enough money at it. And for most people it would be the money that would be the most worrying factor (and with good cause). But you can always get the money back, through economizing elsewhere, or working harder, or whatever. You can't get time back.
So, generally, it could all be better, but I suppose it could be worse. And, although it's a lose-lose scenario, it might not be a worst-case lose-lose scenario. Let's just hope.
_____________________
