I recently designed a garden for a family friend who then also asked if could build it. Not having a great deal of practical experience, i was slightly nervous about taking it on, but excited by the challenge. I’ve laid a few patios and built a few fences with my dad, but never anything on this scale.
So fair it’s going really well, I’m learning loads and gaining a few more muscles in the process. There’s no deadline to the project so I’m not having to rush and they know it’s a learning curve for me, trial and error etc.
To sum it up, the work involves breaking up some concrete hard standings, laying a new patio at the top of the garden, new path and edgings, some raised planters, and planting. They are now considering having the concrete path to the side and back of the house replaced. They asked me what my thoughts were and I suggested it would be best to get someone with a bit more experience to have a look. They’ve got someone coming to look at it next week. But I thought I’d ask here in the mean time.
I’ve put some photos up of the concrete area they want to replace, as you can see the concrete slopes down back to the house and into to a gully on the right of the picture, this is because there is an inspection chamber (to the left) which is about 120mm higher than the top of the gully, which prevents the concrete falling away from the house. Is this acceptable? The wall does look damp and I can’t trace the line of the DPC beyond the grey pipe (blue line).
My thoughts would be to drop the level of the inspection chamber by removing a layer of bricks, so that when the new paving is laid it can slope away from the house?
Thanks in advance
