Roofs and flat roofs
What should you ask if a downpipe aims at a gulley that sits higher than the pipe?
Ask whether water can enter the gulley. If the rim, the grating or a silted trap is higher than the shoe of the downpipe, rain spills beside the wall instead of going into the drain, even when the brackets are sound, and this is not a pipe that simply ends on open ground. A home survey sees the levels if they were visible and does not lift the gulley or test the underground drain.
Last reviewed 24 October 2026. Written for buyers in England and Wales unless this answer says otherwise. No named surveyor has signed this page. It is general guidance, not a report on your house, and not legal advice.
What is the fuller explanation?
The fault is often a new patio, a grating set proud, or a gulley that has silted until the water line is above the pipe. The downpipe is doing its job and still missing. Splashing then wets the foot of the wall, which can be written up as a damp problem when the first repair is to lower the inlet or extend the shoe so it discharges properly into the trap. A dry day hides the splash.
Keep the drain test separate. A home survey does not camera the run because a shoe is high. If you instruct a drainage firm, show them the level difference so they do not only jet a clear pipe. There is no standard price for resetting a gulley. Do not install a new plastic downpipe and leave it short of a high grating. Ask the surveyor which elevations showed this and which gulleys were hidden by decks or bins.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Which pipes finish above the gulley they are aimed at?
- Is the gulley silted, or is the paving itself higher?
- Are you separating this from a pipe that has no gulley?
What are the typical next steps?
- Photograph the shoe and the grating together.
- Do not dig the gulley out on a viewing.
- Ask for the shoe to discharge into the gulley before you discuss damp-proofing the wall.
Costs vary with the building and with who you instruct. Where this page does not cite a published figure, ask the surveyor, a relevant specialist, or your solicitor for a written quote. Do not treat a forum average as the price.
Also asked about this
What if the pipe goes into the gulley but the grating is blocked?
Then the blockage is the grating, which is related but not a high rim. The survey should say which it saw.
Does a soakaway change this?
Only if the pipe is supposed to reach a soakaway and does not. The survey does not prove a soakaway works.