The Brew Cabin

Posted: **Sat Aug 13, 2011 5:00 pm**

Driveway flooding

Hello to all
Please bear with me as I am a newbie and may have got all sorts wrong but I would love to hear your thoughts on my dilemma.

I live in a link detached bungalow. To set the scene, my front door is facing neighbours front door across a driveway and there are 2 attached garages that are set back, so in a U shape. Between the two homes are 2 driveways separated by a gravel drainage strip. My neighbours drive is block paved and mine is the original concrete drive. Their part of the gravel drainage strip has been block paved over, so there is only my side with any type of drainage. Part of their block paved driveway has been laid above the height of the original drive and so above the height of my drive. So with all the heavy rainfall lately you can imagine that the my side can be 3 or 4 inches deep with rain water and theirs remains bone dry. Getting in or out of my home can be a very soggy experience.

My neighbours are lovely people but as I live alone I don't know what to suggest or even who's responsibility it is to sort out.
Is it best for me to get someone to come and inspect and report on the reasons for the flooding before I speak to my neighbours?
Or speak to them first and risk being asked to contribute to the cost of resolving the problem?

Thanks for reading and taking the trouble to consider my situation.
Any advice will be much appreciated.

Posted: **Sat Aug 13, 2011 5:20 pm**

I think but im not sure that it is illegal or very wrong to discharge water from your driveway onto someone elses, the water from there driveway should be contained, not flooding yours, if there was no problem before they had their drive paved then i think they are 100% responsible for rectifying the drainage issues.

If the paving on their driveway isnt recent, why is it that water has only begun collecting on yours, has it not always done so?

Posted: **Sat Aug 13, 2011 5:39 pm**

Hi thanks for such a quick reply. I have only lived here for a couple of years and was unaware of the problem until the recent heavy rainfall over the past couple of weeks and once last year. I don't think their block paving has been there long but longer than I have been.

Posted: **Sat Aug 13, 2011 6:45 pm**

Right well there paving should not discharge on to your driveway or cause your driveway to flood by altering the drainage....i dont think. Hopefully someone will be able to clarify whats what in this area. But if i were you id be thinking that they are liable.

Posted: **Sat Aug 13, 2011 7:55 pm**

this could get messy between you and your neighbour. i think if it was me i would probably have a chat and tell them whats happening and that the drainage strip is probably a 50-50 thing anyway. i suspect the only diffrence now is that they are now higher than any flooding where as before it would have flooded both sides in heavy rain. if you are allowed to discharge rain water in to your main sewer ad there could be one close by this may be an option that you could both agree to doing? or perhaps a soakaway somewhere that could handle excessive amounts or rainfall?

im not too sure without looking at your site, but i would say good neighbours are worth their weight in gold

Posted: **Sat Aug 13, 2011 8:02 pm**

have you checked your drains are working correctly?

Posted: **Sun Aug 14, 2011 7:35 am**

A picture would be ever so handy in this case for us to offer advice. Private message me if you have trouble putting a picture up.

Posted: **Sun Aug 14, 2011 7:40 am**

Talk to your neighbour and if they aren't prepared to put it right then build a low wall to act as a bund. Once you have a bund in place then you can put drainage to manage your side.

Posted: **Wed Aug 17, 2011 5:34 pm**

Some pics from Linda illustrating the problem......

Posted: **Wed Aug 17, 2011 9:09 pm**

As Sean said, put a small retaining wall on your land along the length of the drive which will act as a bund as your neighbours drive looks like its shedding water into yours.

Posted: **Wed Aug 17, 2011 10:18 pm**

Linda, by the looks of it, it won't be long before his edge and haunching migrate to your side. I would say the edge course is laid on crap and haunched with crap. Should of been some sort of retainer there. If you dig out the stone his drive will collapse and then he'll blame you. I would build a bund temporarily and then when his drive gives up you can do something about drainage. The gaps in the blocks will get worse and start growing grass etc:

Posted: **Thu Aug 18, 2011 7:36 am**

That "drainage strip" looks like its just gravel to cover earth, maybe dug out and replace with new stone, will need to run off somewhere tho.

The Brew Cabin

Drive flooding - Advice needed