Water From Next Doors Property Coming Into House.......what To Do?

[HughJass]

before I begin please accept my apologies for the lousy picture attached

the guy next door to my g/f built a big house approx 5 years ago.....g/f parents house is a modest small house built about 30 years ago

the houses are divided by a wall but my g/f house is a metre from the wall and the neighbours about 5 metres

the neighbours roof empties its water onto the floor and he has angled the cemented area to let the water run away from his house towards the dividing wall

the water then sits against the wall then seeps down and comes out at the lower level of my g/f house

she has problems with flooding into the kitchen at the back of the house and paint coming off the base of walls adjacent to the flooding

digging down at the side of the house shows the earth to be permenantly wet underneath

this encroachment is damaging the foundations in my opinion

the neighbour is a total A Hole so there is no use reasoning with him

I believe the g/f approached the moobaan boss some time ago who spoke to the neighbour but nothing was done

so I believe that the local chanote office may be the next step?...........I was also told by a friend that it is an offense to allow water from your property to affect another persons property..is this true?

has anyone any advice on how to proceed against this neighbour to get this issue resolved....thanks

[I Like Thai]

Just inside your boundary wall, dig a large trench about 6 to 10 feet deep and the length of your property. Fill it half way with stones, then cover it with soil. This should help the water drain away

[Crossy]

I don't think you're going to fix this without at least some cooperation from next door (it's his wall), if it's not going to cost him anything maybe he'll be amenable.

How about this:-

At the point where the water pools deepest on his side (lowest point) core through the wall at his ground level to form a drain hole. This will get the water to a known point on your side and not allow it to soak in. Then you can channel the water above ground to a suitable drain point.

Of course, he could then accuse you of stealing 'his' water

[lemonjelly]

Just inside your boundary wall, dig a large trench about 6 to 10 feet deep and the length of your property. Fill it half way with stones, then cover it with soil. This should help the water drain away

dig and fill as you proceed, or your wall might collapse.

[Crossy]

Just inside your boundary wall, dig a large trench about 6 to 10 feet deep and the length of your property. Fill it half way with stones, then cover it with soil. This should help the water drain away

dig and fill as you proceed, or your wall might collapse.

Yes, I think the trenching route could be dangerous to (his) wall and (your) sanity.

[candypants]

why 6-10 foot deep?

why not just put in a shallow french drain that very gradually slopes off towards the street or similar?

[Crossy]

why 6-10 foot deep?

why not just put in a shallow french drain that very gradually slopes off towards the street or similar?

From our OP's description the water is seeping under the wall, no indication how deep the foundations of said wall are. I still reckon stopping it seeping in in the first place is the way to go, but it's going to require some cooperation form the neighbour.

[jocko]

Your neighbor sounds like a guttersnipe.

I agree with crossy a hole through the wall at the deepest point if your neighbor agrees .

[HughJass]

I don't think you're going to fix this without at least some cooperation from next door (it's his wall), if it's not going to cost him anything maybe he'll be amenable.

How about this:-

At the point where the water pools deepest on his side (lowest point) core through the wall at his ground level to form a drain hole. This will get the water to a known point on your side and not allow it to soak in. Then you can channel the water above ground to a suitable drain point.

Of course, he could then accuse you of stealing 'his' water

This is a great idea and the water could then be channeled into the small concrete sided klong about 20 metres away...........thanks

would also like to know what the law is regarding him allowing this water to come into the next door property..in the UK the planning dept would be all over him like a rash but of course TIT

Edited March 1, 2013 by Crossy
fixed the quote :)

[Crossy]

There is certainly legislation regarding water from roofs coming on the adjacent property, but I'm not sure about what is effectively ground water.

[Delight]

There probably is a legal route to solve this problem.

However , the question is –Will it work?

I suspect not.
I attach a sketch of one possible technical solution.

The new guttering need only be low cost . Better to spend here than to give it to a lawyer.

You will of course need to find a suitable drain for your neighbours top water.

Alternately
can u find a use for it?

The good news is that rain fall total is not high in Thailand.

The bad news is that when it does rain typically a short

term deluge has to be coped with.

[Crossy]

Oi Delight, I claim copyright on that idea (see post #3).

Seriously I think this is our OPs best route, cheap and effective

[NeverSure]

I don't think you're going to fix this without at least some cooperation from next door (it's his wall), if it's not going to cost him anything maybe he'll be amenable.

How about this:-

At the point where the water pools deepest on his side (lowest point) core through the wall at his ground level to form a drain hole. This will get the water to a known point on your side and not allow it to soak in. Then you can channel the water above ground to a suitable drain point.

Of course, he could then accuse you of stealing 'his' water

This is a great idea and the water could then be channeled into the small concrete sided klong about 20 metres away...........thanks

would also like to know what the law is regarding him allowing this water to come into the next door property..in the UK the planning dept would be all over him like a rash but of course TIT

Just because you drill a hole at what appears to be the low point doesn't mean that his ground isn't leaking elsewhere. From the drawing, it would appear that there is a roof drip line all along the wall.

I would far rather have a rather shallow but proper French drain running the whole length of it all, and then draining into that Klong you mentioned. The perf pipe for the French drain merely has to be lower than the floor of your house you're trying to protect.

Also, a French drain doesn't show, where a pipe from one point would not only show, but always be vulnerable and a bit of a nuisance.

[xen]

It is in a Moo ban right? and the area surrounding the fence or /and the house is tile/concrete or other hard surface then a dish drain will be best. If it is turf or other soft surface then then French drain or other sub-surface drain maybe best. A wide surface dish drain if the surface is hard (concrete or tile etc) would mean you don't need to excavate more than 200 mm deep ( say 100mm concrete and 100mm drain below surrounding surface , but can make it deeper) and your fall does not need to be that much to keep the water flowing and it can always be kept clean by running a push broom down it. Easy maintenance.

Weep holes or drain holes in the wall are always a good idea so the pressure/weight of the water does not move the wall but they need to be cleaned regularly otherwise there is no point in them . A series of weep holes are better and then drain them into the dish drain.

[NeverSure]

Typical fall (slope) to make water run off or through a pipe is 1 inch fall for every 10 feet of run. I guess that's about 25 mm fall in 3 meters distance?

[Khun Jean]

this encroachment is damaging the foundations in my opinion

the neighbour is a total A Hole so there is no use reasoning with him

I believe the g/f approached the moobaan boss some time ago who spoke to the neighbour but nothing was done

Sometimes you just have to be the biggest A Hole to get things done.

If it was me, i would bother him and the moo bahn 'boss' every single day until it is solved.

With a big smile off course.

It is totally unacceptable, and the one who has to solve it is the neighbour, unreasonable A hole or not!

[Delight]

Neversure states:

I would far rather have a rather
shallow but proper French drain running the whole length of it all, and then
draining into that Klong you mentioned. The perf pipe for the French drain
merely has to be lower than the floor of your house you're trying to protect.

Also, a French drain

doesn't show, where a pipe from one point would not only show, but always be
vulnerable and a bit of a nuisance.

I agree that the French drain is a more ‘professional’
solution.

However it needs to be located on the neighbour’s side of

the wall.

In which case the Khun Jean approach is probably the best.

With this drain as you suggest –then the water has to pass under

the wall before it reaches the drain.

This could undermine the wall foundation over time.

Wiki has an interesting article on French drains. That took
me to U –tube . U tube explains all.

[kennedy]

The problem has to be fixed on the neighbors side of the wall. For what it's worth my wife said that your gf should file a complaint at the police station because it is illegal run off. Something you wouldn't do in the west, but this is Thailand.

[hhfarang]

The law won't help. You would be tied up in court for years and the cost and stress would be prohibitive imho.

The same thing happened to my mother-in-law's house. Because of new village wealth from rubber farms, all the homes around hers (sides and behind) were torn down and rebuilt on filled land putting her home in a hole as the lowest point on the soi. Her house now floods. We have tried talking to the neighbors and village leaders to no avail. We've finally decided that our only recourse is to tear down the home, fill the land even with the neighbors and rebuild.

[mccw]

The law won't help. You would be tied up in court for years and the cost and stress would be prohibitive imho.

The same thing happened to my mother-in-law's house. Because of new village wealth from rubber farms, all the homes around hers (sides and behind) were torn down and rebuilt on filled land putting her home in a hole as the lowest point on the soi. Her house now floods. We have tried talking to the neighbors and village leaders to no avail. We've finally decided that our only recourse is to tear down the home, fill the land even with the neighbors and rebuild.

Should go a half meter higher than the neighbours