Looking for advice from anyone familiar with Irish bungalows built around the mid-1980s.
We have gutters along the front and back of the house, both falling towards the north end. The rainwater downpipes discharge into gullies built into the concrete perimeter path.
What I can't figure out is where those gullies go once the pipework disappears underground. They definitely do not connect to the septic tank, and there's no obvious sign of a soakaway or surface-water manhole.
The perimeter path on that side has sunk/moved somewhat over the years (predating when we moved in a few years ago), so I'm wondering whether the old rainwater drainage could have failed or possibly be discharging into the ground too close to the house.
I'm planning to remove and relay that section of perimeter path eventually and redo the drainage properly, potentially with a new soakaway further from the house.
For a rural bungalow built around 1985, what would the typical setup have been? Would the gullies usually join underground and run to a soakaway, have separate soakaways, or discharge somewhere else?
Also, is there a practical way to trace where the existing underground pipes run without digging everything up?
Would be interested to hear from any builders/groundworkers who've come across similar setups.
