Flags on concrete with manhole and drain - Flags on concrete with manhole and drain

[sheylings]

Hello all,

New to the forum, so please bear with me.

I live in a basement flat and have a courtyard at the front of the house. The surface is concrete and it has a manhole cover (likely inspectionary cover) and drain grate, both flush against the concrete surface which is some 3-4 inches below the floor of the flat.

I would like to lay sandstone flags and plan to do the work myself. My queries are:

- Is it okay to lay flags over concrete?
- How can I raise the manhole cover? What is the cheapest and also easiest way of doing this? I would ideally want to place flags into a recessed drain cover, so the 'sides' of the drain need raising...
- How can I raise the drain grate? Are raised grates available to buy? I haven't seen any from searching on the internet...
- The grate is in the middle of the courtyard. Would adequate drainage be acheieved by angling the sandstone flags into the drain?
- Anything else I should be aware of?

Many thanks in advance.

Steve

[lutonlagerlout]

- Is it okay to lay flags over concrete?

not really steve,you may cause issue with damp if your patio becomes too high,also if the concrete fails so does your patio

to raise covers you need to remove them (kango etc) lay brickwork to new levels and reinstate them

by the sounds of it you have the inkling of an idea but you really need to sit back,grab a coffee and read this site from front to back

theres people on here who have DIYed their patio to good effect but its easy to noise up
LLL

[sheylings]

LLL

Thanks for your reply.

I am confident the new level wouldn't be above the damp proof course, so damp shouldn't be a concern, so it comes down to the hassle of taking out the drain cover and raising it and the manhole to a higher level...

As you say, probably one to think on...

[lutonlagerlout]

your finished level needs to be 150mm below DPC
LLL