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Sunken sewage drain - maybe rat access point

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  • 22-04-2018 9:13pm
    #1
    daymobrew
    Registered Users Posts: 6,494 ✭✭✭


    Late last year there was a rat in my attic and kitchen. Traps were put down but it seemed to disappear after that.
    About a month ago the downstairs toilet was blocked and when I opened the outside sewage drain I saw a lot of stones in the drain. Removing these fixed the toilet.
    A week ago I checked the drain again and saw new stones there. I then noticed that the bottom portion of the drain was detached from the upper portion. I think that this may have been the access point for the rat.

    When I put a hose into the gap, I can easily push it a few feet towards the square paving stone at the fence. I sometimes see a hole made under the fence. I suspect that a rat is making this hole.

    What is the easiest way to sort this? Should I carefully put concrete into the gap?


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    #2
    whizbang
    Registered Users Posts: 1,924 ✭✭✭whizbang


    What's far more important, is to work out is why the drain junction has sunk.

    It may be simply badly fitted, but quite often there is a break or disconnect in one of the incoming pipes, upstream of the junction. This water flow is eroding the ground under the junction allowing it to sink.

    ideally needs a cctv survey.


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    #3
    my3cents
    Closed Accounts Posts: 9,764 ✭✭✭my3cents


    Thats not detached because I don't think it was ever attached.

    If the access junction base has dropped then it wouldn't be running correctly and probably have a build up of water in the bottom as the levels for the flow would have been messed up. Its also unlikely to have evenly dropped the 70mm or so evenly along with the pipes that are joined into it.

    Ideally cut out the cover part and get a riser (needs cutting to the correct size) and then concrete it all back up.

    You might even find you can ease the top half out of the concrete make it a little bigger with a grinder and replace it with the correct riser/extender fitted. Even if you smash it out the cover fittings aren't that expensive.

    There is no reason really you can't do what you suggest and put cement all around the gap. I'd probably take a bit more gravel out so I could get plenty of cement in. tbh I think smashing the old cover section out making the hole a bit bigger and doing it as it should have been would be easier - depends if the cover base lines up exactly over the access junction base.


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