Drain Repairs In Southwell

Before we quote, we confirm who owns the pipe. Shared and lateral drains in Southwell are normally Severn Trent Water's responsibility, so we won't ask you to pay for a repair that isn't yours. If the damaged section is yours, many buildings insurance policies cover accidental damage to underground pipes, and our report and photos support a claim — speak to your insurer before work starts.

Relining avoids digging up drives, patios and gardens, and suits pipes that are cracked, leaking or root-damaged but still broadly in shape. Where a pipe has collapsed, our groundworks team excavates, replaces the section and reinstates the ground. Find out more about no-dig drain relining.

A lot of Southwell's drainage runs beneath protected buildings. The town has 202 Grade II, 4 Grade II* and 2 Grade I listed buildings, most of them in the historic centre around the Minster, according to the revised Southwell Neighbourhood Plan. Its conservation area was first designated in 1968 and extended in 1970, 1993 and 2022, when it grew to take in land south of Westhorpe, the area around Greet Lily Mill and much of the former medieval deer park. When an old pipe runs under a listed house, a walled yard or historic paving, fixing it from the inside is usually kinder to the building as well as cheaper to put right.

The ground is the other half of the story. On the British Geological Survey's map, most of the town sits on mudstone of the Mercia Mudstone Group, with the Radcliffe Member around the Minster and the Gunthorpe Member further east, and alluvium along the valley floor. The BGS notes that parts of this mudstone change volume with their moisture content, and over many years that slow movement can open the joints of old clay drains. The town is built on a slope as well: the neighbourhood plan describes land rising from under 50 m beside the River Greet to more than 80 m on the western side. Most newer housing went up from the 1960s onwards, outside the historic core, so pipe ages vary a lot from street to street.

We put a camera through the drain first, then quote for a patch, a liner or, if a section has collapsed, excavation. Drain repairs start from £250 + VAT, with the quote in writing before work begins.