We moved into a new house in March and one of the problems we were aware of was a pretty derelict lean-to/conservatory. Yesterday I got to destroying it and I'm now left with 2 layers of bricks that it sat on and the patio it sat on.
While destroying it I noticed that the patio we have is way higher than I think it should be. We have a Wimpey No-Fines house and the patio is up to the render so it's flat to the ground when walking out of the back door. Also, some of the join to the render, which looks like mortar, has broken away. Towards the grass end of the patio, some of it is crumbling too.
I have looked at a few other houses in the area, from a bedroom window, and some have patios at the same height as ours and some have it about 1-1.5 bricks lower down. By asking neighbours and the poor state of the lean-to, this patio has been there a very long time. We also have no damp on the walls or floors. I can see that the wooden doorstep under the back door appears to have totally rotted away and the door frame is soft for about 3 inches, although above that feels very solid. The skirting inside the room are perfectly solid.
I pulled up some of the patio near to the grass and a small trench to see what was happening. It seems to be "decorative" slabs on top of 2 or 3 layers of bricks and then a concrete/cement base. The patio also 3 drain pipes going through it; a sewer pipe, a gutter down pipe and the pipes from the sinks. There is also a brick built barbeque, which I'd like to keep but I'm not that attached to. The grass is about 2 inches dropped down from the patio, so it too is quite high, although not that high compared to what neighbours seem to have. The grass also has a water drain hatch that is almost flush with the grass, so I assume that this may be the expected height for the garden, despite it being higher than I would expect. The patio is maybe 7 x 21 feet.
Our use of the garden is:
- We have 3 young children, they like to play. A patio is great for them to race around on bikes, but this would be any good for that anyway.
- We like barbecues but hardly ever have them and actually a friend of mine always holds barbecues so I have little need. While I like the idea of having a brick barbecue, it's not a thing I'd use much.
- We like to grow things like sunflowers, vegetables, chillis, tomatoes, pumpkins, etc.
- My wife wants a shed at some point.
Anyway, I am trying to work out what I need to do. On the "leave it" side I have obviously it has caused problems to a door frame but that appears to be all, others have similar setups (not that it makes them correct), it's less work, I'm not "rocking the boat". On the "remove it" side I have, it's damaged a door frame, it's crumbling, it has gaps in the cement/mortar to the house wall, I have to remove the 2 layers of bricks from the conservatory anyway and it's ugly.
I'm just looking for advice on:
1. Should I be getting rid of it?
2. Do I need to get rid of the concrete base or just the slabs and the 2/3 layers of bricks? I'm concerned about what might be under that, damaging house foundations and I'd prefer not to attack it since it's so deep. I do not know what slope it is though.
3. How do I break the stuff away from the render where it is still secure?
4. How high should my garden be? Is it 3 bricks below the render level? And if so, what about the drain cover that is nowhere near that?
5. What could I replace it with? I was thinking of removing the stuff and then working through the mud we have in the garden already to fill in the hole and generally lower our whole garden, but I don't know if that's the best idea. If I need a bit more soil then I can buy it.
6. If I replace it with grass to a lower level, will I need to put in a gravel channel around the house? Is this just a dug trench filled with gravel or is there something more to it?
7. Will drainage be an issue if the original concrete base is left in place and is not at the right slope? (Assuming I cover it with soil or something else).
8. Is the patio actually protecting us from damp or problems in some weird way? Would removing it actually be bad? It's not in a good condition though.
9. Will lowering the garden by an inch or two cause problems with fencing?
10. Am I doing the entirely wrong thing? What should I be doing?
I've tried to be thorough with what I have, what we use it for, what problems we are having/not having. Sorry if I have missed anything.
Thanks in advance for any help or advice
Matthew
