When part of the yard stays wet

What a professional will be trying to work out

These are the distinctions a professional makes when they attend. They are questions, not conclusions — and knowing them lets you follow the conversation rather than just receive its result.

• where the area sits relative to the line’s likely route
• whether it persists during dry periods
• whether it has changed in size
• whether any other water source could reach it

What is worth writing down

These details are cheap to record now and impossible to reconstruct later.

• the location relative to the building
• whether it persists in dry weather
• dated photographs

Evidence that would change the next decision

If you are deciding whether something is worth paying for, these are the things that actually move the decision.

• photographs taken during a dry period
• whether the line’s route has ever been located above ground
• the area’s behaviour over several weeks

From a wet patch to a location

The first question is whether the area sits over the line at all, and it is answered by locating the route rather than by opening the ground to see. Until the route is known, a wet patch is a wet patch.

If the route does run under it, what happens next depends on what an inspection of that stretch shows. One defect at a known distance and a line in poor condition along its length lead to different work, a spot repair in the first case and something considerably larger in the second, and the surface does not tell you which of the two you have.