Why Putney properties get drainage faults
Putney runs from riverside mansion blocks and newer flats up the hill to Victorian and Edwardian terraces and larger detached homes towards the heath. Mansion blocks bring shared stacks and communal drainage into the picture.
Repeat blockages almost always have a physical cause. A survey identifies whether that is root ingress, a displaced joint, a partial collapse, a badly made connection or simply a run with too little fall.
The lower riverside streets deal with a high water table and tidal influence, so surface water clears more slowly and any restriction shows sooner. Higher up, mature trees and older clay laterals are the more common cause.
Our approach in Putney
We survey with the end use in mind, whether that is a repair quote, a purchase decision or an insurance claim.
- Clear enough of the line to give the camera a usable view
- Run the camera through the full length of the affected drain
- Record the position and depth of any defect with a locator above ground
- Grade what we find, from minor wear to a defect needing repair
- Provide the footage and a written summary you can pass to an insurer, surveyor or builder
In mansion blocks the drainage is communal, so we work with the managing agent and identify which flat the fault relates to. That avoids charging one leaseholder for a building-wide problem.
Signs it needs attention now
- A drain that blocks again within weeks of being cleared
- Unexplained damp, subsidence concerns or a sinkhole in the garden
- Buying a property with mature trees close to the drain run
- An insurer or managing agent asking for evidence of the pipe condition
- Planning an extension that will be built over an existing drain
What we see most often in Putney
- Communal stacks in mansion blocks restricted by grease and wipes
- Slow-clearing surface water in the lower riverside streets
- Root ingress into older laterals in the larger gardens towards the heath
Putney work covers riverside mansion blocks with communal drainage, family houses up the hill, and a number of managed developments. In blocks we deal with the managing agent and identify whether the fault is communal before any leaseholder is charged.
Equipment and what happens afterwards
We survey with a self-levelling colour camera and an above-ground locator, which together tell us not just what a defect looks like but exactly where it is and how deep. That matters, because a repair quote based on a rough guess at position is a repair quote that changes once the ground is open.
You receive the footage along with a written summary describing each defect, its position and how serious it is. We write it so that a surveyor, an insurer or a builder can use it directly. Where a repair is needed we set out the realistic options, including the ones that do not involve excavation.
What cctv drain surveys cost in Putney
A CCTV drain survey is a fixed £300 plus VAT, including the footage and a written summary of what we found. We confirm the figure before any work starts, so nothing changes once the engineer is on site in Putney.
Areas we cover around Putney
Putney sits within our core coverage, taking in SW15 across Wandsworth. Average response is 75 minutes, and we operate in Barnes, Wandsworth, Fulham and Richmond too, which helps when a drain run is shared between properties in different streets.