The Brew Cabin

I have a house which is about 2 years old on a new estate. The position is west facing. The soil is heavy clay! It is very very wet and waterlogged. A couple of people have suggested a "french drain". What do you think? Could this be done? Should it be done? Can we do it ourselves? Would it be expensive?

Hi Babs,

a French drain is a 'catch-all' term for a land drain. In the trade, there are quite a few different types of land drain, but a French drain is, correctly, a Fin Drain, and you can read about them on my site.

However, what you actually need is probably a collector drain. Have a look at the pics on the Land Drainage page and you'll see what I mean.

It can be done, it's relatively simple, as long as you're fit and active and don't mind hard graft, and you will save a fortune by DIYing as contractors are not overly keen on coming in to residential properties to do this type of job, unless there's more than 50m or so.

Have a read of the page mentioned above, and post back if you've any further queries. :)

Ok, thanks for that. I'll have a look at what you suggest and come back to you no doubt!