Advice to give our landlord??? - Brick paving - no drainage

[nicola]

Hi builders and house-knowers:

We have just moved in to a cute and very old house, however the outside courtyard is paved with bricks that pool and also slope towards the house. There is no obvious drainage except the dirt below the bricks and some small patches of garden on the corners (but the water doesn't drain toward them). There is a step down before the patio doors. The wooden doors are rotting away and during heavy rains the water seeps through to the carpet.

I believe, though I'm no expert, that there are serious drainage issues here and I'd like some opinions on what to do or say to my landlords.

The rental agency is great and the landlords are new owners, so that's not the problem. I just want some advice so I know what i'm talking about when I approach them, as the last time they sent a handyman to do something that he wasn't an expert in, so I'd like to offer them a bit of guidance on the problem.

Here are some pics of the brick work and the rotting doors -

http://www.flickr.com/photos/99379492@N03/

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!

[lutonlagerlout]

it looks like it has been that way for a long time
its not an easy fix
you can explain it to him/her and ask them to fix it
or you can move out
needs some sort of drainage across that threshold
LLL

[nicola]

it looks like it has been that way for a long time
its not an easy fix
you can explain it to him/her and ask them to fix it
or you can move out
needs some sort of drainage across that threshold
LLL

Thanks for your reply,

Do you have specific ideas on what the fix might be? Or is it too hard to tell just from photos. What sort of drainage can you recommend?

The owners are new owners and we are new tenants. There's a potential that they just don't know the repercussions of this kind of drainage issue. So far they've been really responsive to our requests, but I'd like to know what I'm asking for before I ask them. Because it's a big job, I'd prefer to push for an expert, not just a handyman?

[lutonlagerlout]

well it needs some excavations and a linear drain connected to a suitable soakaway or drain
it looks like it might cost a fair bit
without seeing the site in person its hard to say , but you need someone qualified to do the work
cheers LLL