Patio and dpc - Dpc levels

[daniel80]

Hi new here so bare with me.
We moved to a chalet bungalow about a year ago. The patio at the rear was old so we had a new patio laid on top. The slabs were laid sloping away from the house and down from top to bottom. The only worry I have is that the top of the slabs to the dpc at the top end is 50mm which
drops to 150mm by the time it reaches the other end of the property. Should this be ok, no problems yet. The only reason I ask is that I have read that the dpc should be 150mm high. Thanks for any advice.

[seanandruby]

Why would you overlay onto an existing patio and compromise
the 150 rule ??? You can get away with slightly less than 150
but 50 ml is taking the piss a bit.

[daniel80]

Builders idea also it was cheaper. Put down mortar bed on old slabs and laid new ones on top.

[Carberry]

Builders idea also it was cheaper. Put down mortar bed on old slabs and laid new ones on top.

Not sure if it would make any difference what we tell you. The time to ask this question is when the cowboy is telling you it will save you money when in reality it will make him more money and cost you more money in the long run.

[lemoncurd1702]

The time it's most likely to cause problems is when you come to sell the property and the buyers surveyor picks up on it. In reality you are unlikely to have any damp issues, that is what the dpc prevents.

I'm not advocating what the contractor has done but pointing out that if rising damp breaches the dpc then there is a problem with the dpc.

You may however have a problem if the area where the slabs are 50mm below dpc is liable to flooding particularly if there is a threshold in that area.

[seanandruby]

Dan it's not a question of the DPC being high because it's at a set level. It is more a question of the patio being high. The building regs' have a 150 rule to be in compliance with them. But it is bendable to a small degree.
Your builder should of pointed this out at the outset, because as the lemoncurd kid says: it will be pointed out on a survey when/if you come to sell. These rules are in place for good reason. As Carbery said " the time to ask questions..." :;):

[daniel80]

Bit harsh Carberry the builder is not as you say a monkey. I have known him for years and know a lot of people he has done jobs for, all happy. I don`t think I explained enough. Before he started we spoke about the different ways of doing the job and because the dpc was high we decided on laying on top. What I did not say is that the 50mm is only for about 2 meters rising to 100 meters and then back to about 150 meters. All slopped away from building so there is no build up of water. I appreciate what people say about the survey if selling but I really don`t see this as much of an issue. When I first mentioned this I thought it was 50mm along the whole length of the house.

[seanandruby]

You come on here at your own risk of getting ribbed. It's not csrberry's fault you gave a lack of info'.

[daniel80]

Fair point seanandruby lesson learnt.

[lutonlagerlout]

dan the clue is in the name
paving *expert*
its the blokes like us who get called out week in week out when people have taken short cuts

my local building control will allow 100mm minimum from DPC to finished patio height if it falls away

have a look here mate

http://www.pavingexpert.com/dpc01.htm

cheers LLL