New Home Owners And Snagging Forum

Advice on buying a brand new home => Snagging and defects => Topic started by: Ahewhomeowner on October 29, 2017, 10:01:40 pm

Title: Soil pipe/waste water pipe bend right above the ceiliing of bedroom and kitchen
Post by: Ahewhomeowner on October 29, 2017, 10:01:40 pm
Hi all,

I recently got a problem in my new flat and hope I could get some advice here.

I recently bought a ground floor flat which has a different layout to all the flats above. My block has four floors and all three flats above us has the same layout. Above my bedroom is where the ensuite bathrooms of the flats above and above my kitchen is where the toilets of the flats above.

Because of the different layouts, the soil pipes do not travel vertically from top to bottom. One soil pipe - collecting all wastes from the ensuite bathrooms of all the flats above - takes a 90 degree bend above the ceiling of my bedroom. And another soil pipe with all the toilet wastes likewise bends right above my kitchen ceiling. When anyone above us flush the toilets/using the dishwasher etc, it creates an enormous amount of noise which often woke us up in the middle of the night.

I raised the issue with the developer and they opened the ceiling and realised that there was no lagging at the bends. So they put on lagging and in our bedroom they even made a box in order to contain the noise. However, the situation has not improved much. When anyone above us flush the toilet, it just sounds like a thunder.

The developer said they now abide to the regulations and nothing further they could do. Are there any regulations in relation to the noise level of the pipes? Could I push the developer further? Or do I have to find a plumber to see if there is a better solution?

Thank you very much in advance for any advice!

P.S. One lesson learned - never buy a flat that does not share the same layout as all the flats above!
Title: Re: Soil pipe/waste water pipe bend right above the ceiliing of bedroom and kitchen
Post by: New Home Expert on October 30, 2017, 09:25:15 am
Who is the housebuilder?

First of all, all soil vent waste pipes should be wrapped in sound deadening quilt, not just the bends. I think the bends actually make the water more noisy but I can understand why this has been done.

Even worse for you, is the fact that all waste pipe bends must be accessible in the event of a blockage. That could mean taking down your ceiling every time the pipe gets blocked.

It could be that the housebuilder has now done everything they should have done but it is still not enough for your peace.  I can only suggest you pay for an extra layer of sound insulations across the whole of your bedroom ceiling and new sound insulating plasterboard fixed to resilient bar.

That should make a big difference.
First of all I would get a sound engineer to do an acoustic survey and take some measurements.
Title: Re: Soil pipe/waste water pipe bend right above the ceiliing of bedroom and kitchen
Post by: Ahewhomeowner on October 30, 2017, 01:43:02 pm
Thank you for your reply!

The builder is Willmott Dixon.

Just out of curiosity, is there any reason why a soil pipe is designed to bend? Shouldn't the architect/builder realise that there might be a problem with noise? Especially in my case the wastewater come from all the flats above.

I have an app on my phone that measures decibel (I know it is very likely not accurate) and the noise could go up to ~55-60db. I am buying a proper sound meter to get some more accurate measurements.

Title: Re: Soil pipe/waste water pipe bend right above the ceiliing of bedroom and kitchen
Post by: New Home Expert on October 31, 2017, 07:00:03 am
It is not unusual for a soil waste pipe to be moved as it is not always possible due to design layout etc for these to drop perfectly vertically.

I would agree, a good architect would stack flats of the same type vertically to avoid this issue though.
Problem is most of the so-called architects are "CAD Jockeys" - technicians not architects.