Browse Forums Outdoor Living 1 Jun 05, 2013 11:20 pm Hi We have found our dream property but I have one worry about it. In the backyard there is a slope to the land where about 1m squared slopes downwards and ends in a grate that was maybe 40cm x30cm. What is this? Is it likely to overflow? Is there a way I can find out? I'm in QLD so we get pretty heavy rain at times. Thanks Re: Stormwater (maybe?) Grate on property 2Jun 05, 2013 11:27 pm Not sure about QLD, but in Vic you can contact your water supplier and for a small fee they will provide a property plan indicating all the underground plumbing contained within... should help to identify the grate and what its connected to. Then maybe someone else on here can provide additional advice... Re: Stormwater (maybe?) Grate on property 3Jun 06, 2013 6:52 am All drainage systems 'may' overflow in certain conditions. Its much safer for your house if an overflow does occur if the overflow is at the bottom of your garden than around your house. The grate you describe helps drain the garden and helps to prevent flooding around the house. I wouldn't worry about it. The Harder You Try - the Luckier You Get ! Web site http://www.anewhouse.com.au Informative, Amusing, and Opinionated Blog - Over 600 posts on all aspects of building a new house. Re: Stormwater (maybe?) Grate on property 4Jun 10, 2013 11:47 am Thank you. We are going to look into it further with council/Unitywater. The house is not very old so I'm hoping it was put in to create good drainage rather than because the drainage was so bad. Re: Stormwater (maybe?) Grate on property 5Jun 10, 2013 12:13 pm Sounds like a stormwater easement to me. Re: Stormwater (maybe?) Grate on property 7Jun 10, 2013 1:41 pm The drain is not conclusive evidence of an easement as the easement could be in an adjoining property. At least 50% of Properties have some sort of easement. ((see this link for more info (http://www.anewhouse.com.au/?p=409) The Harder You Try - the Luckier You Get ! Web site http://www.anewhouse.com.au Informative, Amusing, and Opinionated Blog - Over 600 posts on all aspects of building a new house. Re: Stormwater (maybe?) Grate on property 8Jun 10, 2013 8:41 pm Developed or undeveloped property? If it has a house on it, everything would have been built and taken into account. If you are going to build you will need to find out if it is an easement or not and more importantly where it is located. Really depends on the slope of the land, generally they are put there to allow stormwater that can't necessarily flow to the street. Yes most houses these days do have easements for some reason or another. A grate would suggest water to go down it allowing for overland flow also. The general rule is that an easement gives right of access to the company who own the easement. You are restricted by what you can do over it. No permanent structures. Even if you have a drain there will be some part of the easement in your property or there would be no drain. Sometimes it could just be a corner of your block where it starts or stops or can run the distance of your property. There should be a plan you can view through whichever land agent is selling it. Or if established the easement will be on the title. Again, different in each state so this is just my experience and may not relate exactly. Re: Stormwater (maybe?) Grate on property 9Jun 10, 2013 8:43 pm Sorry, just read it is established. All considerations should've been taken into account in build. Check title or with council. Overflow is a good thing in heavy down pours, your own stormwater can only do so much. Re: Stormwater (maybe?) Grate on property 10Jun 13, 2013 2:48 pm thanks for your response. I got some plans from unity water and the council and they show a stormwater pipe in the back corner running onto and through the neighbouring property. The council lady said she could see on their plans a stormwater pit that was partially under the back of my yard. She said there were no easements. I'm a bit confused because although the plans I saw show a pipe they don't show a drain like the one I can see. Am thinking of getting the property drainage plans (for a cost) - will they show more? Is a stormwater pit under part of the yard bad? Thanks. Re: Stormwater (maybe?) Grate on property 11Jul 31, 2013 2:10 am If the house is fairly new I wouldn't be to concerned. The draftsman have to meet council regulations and they are pretty strict these days. It should be of the daft mans drawing with all the specs of the system. Had a new driveway installed with a 6 metre long 150 x 150 channel drain and have since found out it has 4cm of water sitting at the bottom below the side pipe… 0 4502 Plumbers 'can be' plumbers, made all the worse by self certification which the building surveyor invariably accepts as proof of compliance! The good thing is that you know know. 3 4175 Grab a hose, insert it at the top of the inlet/down pipe and turn the water on and see where the water is escaping from. Then you'll know. 3 7495 |