Page 1 of 1
Posted: Sun Sep 05, 2004 6:25 pm
by marievahey
We are looking at buying a 300 year old Mill House where the back of it is built into a hill. The surveyor has advised us to reduce the ground levels, install drainage and tank the back wall of the property.
We can excavate part of it but it is built into solid rock. What sort of drainage system would we need to intall around the house to try to stop the water running down the hill straight through the back wall. Would it be the linear system?
How do you advise we move forward on this?
Marie & Ray
Posted: Mon Sep 06, 2004 9:35 am
by 84-1089053830
Have a look at this thread from a few days ago.....
http://ext.pavingexpert.com/cgi-bin....f=4;t=2
...entitled "Drainage for a Terraced House".
Posted: Mon Sep 06, 2004 1:30 pm
by danensis
[Tony - any chance of getting this into a FAQ - I seem to have typed the same answer several times.]
Many older properties have stone drains at the foot of the walls, formed by inserting a line of flat stones vertically on edge a few inches in from the foot of the wall, and then covering the gap between these stones and the wall with other flat stones. Inside a property the stone drain may be covered by stone flags or quarry tiles.
Over the years these stone drains become blocked by silt, or the outfall is blocked by "improvements" or by contractors installing other services. If it is merely silt causing the problems they can be rodded or jetted if you can find out where they emerge.
In one "back to earth" terraced house I owned, there were stone drains both inside and outside the hillside wall, and stone drains down both party walls. A downhill neighbour, not realising the significance of the stones he found whilst installing a bathroom extension (into the hillside - but that's another story) blocked the drain, then wondered why his house filled with water every time it rained.
Posted: Mon Sep 06, 2004 9:08 pm
by 84-1089053830
It's definitely worth FAQqing, Jon.
I was hoping to get some assistance from a well-known manufacturer of drainage composites, who would be able to provide pphoties and specs, so perhaps it's time to give them a gentle reminder.