Drainage and septic tanks
The downpipe stops short of a gulley that sits proud of the paving so water misses the grate. What foundation splash is that, before anyone calls it subsidence?
It is foundation splash: roof water missing the grate and landing on the paving beside the wall, where it can soak the ground at the base. That is a rainwater fault, and it comes before anyone calls it subsidence. The downpipe stops short of a gulley that sits proud, so the discharge never enters the grate. The survey has seen that miss. It has not investigated the foundations, and it has not diagnosed ground movement from a wet patch.
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?
A proud gulley rim stands above the paving, and a short downpipe dumps beside it instead of into it. The water then splashes the wall base and wets the ground the foundation sits in. Repeated wetting is a moisture path. Subsidence would be the foundation moving because the ground has shrunk or washed. One missed connection does not prove that movement. Cracks, distortion and a level survey were not the finding. The finding is water in the wrong place.
Ask a roofing or drainage contractor to extend the downpipe into the gulley or to reset the gulley so the water enters, and keep that as a rainwater repair. Tell the solicitor the survey has not called this subsidence. Do not open a ground-movement conversation on a pipe that misses a grate. If cracks exist elsewhere, they need their own evidence. This note does not supply it.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Where does the downpipe discharge relative to the proud gulley?
- Why is that foundation splash rather than subsidence?
- Did you investigate the foundations, or only the missed grate?
What are the typical next steps?
- Describe the miss as splash at the wall base, not as subsidence.
- Ask for the downpipe to be extended into the gulley, or the gulley reset.
- Do not open a foundation claim on this note alone.
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
If the paving is stained, has the foundation moved?
Staining shows water has landed there, which fits the splash. It does not show the foundation moving. The survey saw a short downpipe and a proud gulley, not a foundation investigation. Call it a rainwater miss until someone produces evidence of movement, which this report has not done.
Does a full gulley pot somewhere else cancel this one?
No. Another gulley that works does not catch the water this downpipe is missing. The splash is local to the proud rim and the short pipe. The survey has not averaged the drains into a pass, and it has not called the miss subsidence.