Drain Test

[Deleted member 12282]

Hi

I am new to this forum so let me introduce myself. I do general property maintenance such as tiling, plumbing, kitchens, bathrooms, decorating etc. I am also in the process of building some houses which are almost complete and have a problem with the best way to carry out the necessary drain tests for Building Control.

Following their advice this is simply done by blocking the soil pipe at the manhole and also any open vent. Then slowly pour water into say an upstairs toilet pan and the level should not drop as an air tight seal has been created. This worked in one of the houses as the stack has a durgo. The other houses have internal boxed in stacks terminating through the roof. While I can bung the manhole I cannot easily get to the top of the stack to cap that, as it is set back and the roof is made of slate which I can't clamber about on. Also the loft space is too tight to access the pipe and block it internally. I thought of capping off the waste to the downstairs sink in the kitchen and then filling the whole stack with water up to first floor toilet level to see if it held. The problem is that there is a 21-22mm condensate pipe from the combi boiler in the kitchen connected to the downstairs waste. If I fill up I presume this will overflow. How do I block off this pipe.

Any help and advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[REDSAW]

welcome.
turn of boiler, cut it test and glue back on.

 

[oldplumber]

if you fill an upstairs loo up to ensure the stack is full, i expect nay guarentee that youll be mopping up in the downstairs loo!!!!!!!!

if you want to test a new underground drain, block at the anhole and fill via basin/sink until ground floor wc level rises and then stop and onitor the level, this what your buildings inspector will want to see. if its the outside soil stack your testing, then youll need a drain test kit to air pressurise the stack involved and you lwill need to seal the stack top and bottom. have fun oh you shouldnt have to worry about the combi trap as the air pressure test shouldnt dislodge the water seal in the combi

 

[Deleted member 12282]

Thanks for your replies

The downstairs loo is on a separate stub stack to the manhole so no need to worry about as tested that and it's fine Already filled up the main stack to ground floor level i.e. kitchen basin and that holds water, but building inspector wants the whole stack tested to upstairs level so I need to be able to make sure the upstairs loo holds a raised level of water. Building inspector actually advised against using drain test kit as he had seen so many test failures due to faulty kits. That's why he is happy with a visual check of the level in the pan over a period of time. As mentioned it is going to be a right pain to get to the top of the stack. Other than the overflow pipe to the boiler I can cap off all lower level outlets. Is there a cap available that can be glued in place on the overflow pipe if I cut it low down?