Mains to attic using a down pipe

sham1234

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Irish water want to mains to attic using a down pipe up the side of house into attic. Is this suitable would it be an issue during freezing weather
 
It's far from ideal, but retrofitting can be very problematic depending on construction type, route options and internal wall/floor finishes. Irish water will not go to additional risk or expense to route pipes internally in most cases. Their responsibility legally ends at the boundary of your property, so if you want a solution other than the effective good will offered under the first fix free program, you will likely have to pay for it yourself.

Try around a few local plumbers and see what they'll charge you to route it internally and what disruption the work might cause?
 
Awkward as it is you're getting it done free. That's one good thing but as you mention it might become an issue during very cold weather. There's lots of different types of insulating pipes and ducting out there at the moment, maybe you should mention this to Irish Water when you next meet up with them. You never know, you may get very lucky with some new form of pipe insulation or similar to install externally.
 
This sounds to me more like the replacement of a back yard connection rather than a first fix free or it could be for the replacement of a lead connection.
Is your existing connection to a main in the back? If so, and this main is being replaced with a new main in the front then you have to get connected to the new main. One of the options is to connect to the water main in the attic and then back feed down into the house. So instead of the main coming into your kitchen and from there up to the attic to your tank, your feed will come into the attic from the outside and feed down to the kitchen. The false down pipe is used so that the main is not visible. I believe the pipe is insulated but not sure, you could ask them to confirm. The insulation should prevent freezing under most conditions but possibly not a big freeze like 2010/11. Our water supply froze that year and it's buried!. There are other options besides the false down pipe. If you live in a semi-d or detached house they could go around the side of your house and connect into the kitchen at the existing connection point. Another option is to drill underneath the house to the back and again connect at the existing connection point. It depends on the type of house and the ground conditions. You should ask IW what other options are there. If I'm correct about the backyard main then it's likely that the water main is 40+ years old. In that case there's a possibility that your internal piping is lead and should be replaced also. I'm not sure if IW will pay for that also.
 
The water main was to the back off the house and its lead piping. Put I replaced the lead piping from the mains to the house a number off years ago. Now they want to connect from the mains in front of the house going through the attic which I am not in favor. AS a lane way runs 20 within meters to the back of the house. Its a terraced house 4 houses in a block with a lane way to the back.
Thanks for the help much appreciated.
 
Had the same problem - probably the same time last year. I asked a lot of people (builders included) and tried to look up as much as I could. I refused to give them permission to go through the attic as did my neighbours for many reasons - including the pipes freezing and the look at the front of the house. I know however they have done it with other houses in the area. They first tried to mole under the houses - when this didn't work as the soil was so rough they then got a bore (they left us over a month with the front garden in a mess) but it was eventually done and I was so relieved that insisted on going under the houses. Would stick to your guns on this.
 
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