The Brew Cabin

Posted: **Mon Feb 25, 2013 10:31 am**

Hi guys,
thanks for all the great very useful information on this site.

I live in London and the soil in my garden is very "clayey". It also looks like I might be in a natural depression, as every time it rains my garden gets completely flooded, to shin height. This is localised to the back and thankfully near the house its not as bad - but still very waterlogged. I think i need herringbone land drainage as detailed in this website - draining into a rainwater gulley near the house.

There is a path running along the side of the house, which was covered in a layer of concrete. Water was collecting at the side of the house as the concrete had lifted slightly, forming a small permanent puddle against the wall whenever it rained.
So.. I lifted the path and now I need to re-lay one. Water does not drain freely through the clay, so i figure i need a linear drain along the length of the path, connecting into the rain gulley at the end ? Is this the right thing to do considering the clay soil, and the fact that it seems the water table is very high around the house ?
Also - considering the soil/water, should i have a certain type of stone for the path? I'm thinking 12" square york stone slabs with a red brick border to match the rest of the house.

Thanks in advance for your advice

Posted: **Mon Feb 25, 2013 4:08 pm**

sounds like a plan wetguy
that water laying against your house will always cause problems down the line
an alternative is to lay the stone with a slight fall away from the house assuming you can get the correct falls 1:60 -1:80

lot of heavy clay in london and your problem is not unusual
LLL

Posted: **Mon Feb 25, 2013 8:07 pm**

Must of had a really good read.....

Posted: **Tue Feb 26, 2013 8:37 am**

Thanks for the replies. The other side of the path is all hedges. Do I need some kind of membrane there between the roots and the hardcore ?
Is there someone who anyone can recommend to do this job - who can deal with the gully/drainage as well as the path laying ?

Posted: **Tue Feb 26, 2013 10:45 am**

What part of london are you?

Posted: **Tue Feb 26, 2013 10:52 am**

North West, near East Finchley

Posted: **Tue Feb 26, 2013 8:39 pm**

Wetguylondon wrote:Thanks for the replies. The other side of the path is all hedges. Do I need some kind of membrane there between the roots and the hardcore ?
Is there someone who anyone can recommend to do this job - who can deal with the gully/drainage as well as the path laying ?

Depend on the hedge, how big it is and how big you're planning on letting it grow.

Posted: **Mon Mar 04, 2013 9:32 am**

Thanks for all the replies so far guys.
I have had 3 different guys round to look at it, and have had 3 different solutions !!
i'll post some pictures below so you see what i'm talking about. The house is on a hill, so the ground on the hedge side is higher than the wall side, and water obviously comes onto the path from there.
here are what the different people said:
A: lay the flags over a concrete sub base, falling away from house, with linear drain right next to the house.

B: Lay the flags over type 1 / 50mm aggregate. Linear drain under the hedge, coming in to join the existing rainwater gulley at about 30 degrees angle

C: The path would only be 1 brick below the DPC, so have to lower the whole thing down, including the rainwater gulley. This would also involve a step at the beginning and end of the path (as the front driveway and patio are higher). Lay the flagstones over a concrete base falling away from house.
(this would mean that when I re-do the driveway and patio i'll have to lower them all too to match the path!)

I wish there was a bit more consistency. Any experts here have any thoughts ?
Thank you

Posted: **Mon Mar 04, 2013 9:34 am**

(how do i post images here?)

Posted: **Mon Mar 04, 2013 8:33 pm**

Posting these on behalf of the OP - no problems mate :->

Posted: **Mon Mar 04, 2013 8:50 pm**

Just to confirm I haven't visited the site and can offer no knowledge, purely responding to a request from wetguy on how to get images up. They tell a thousand words apparently :->

Cheers. Ground Level. Always lol.....

Posted: **Mon Mar 04, 2013 10:47 pm**

looks straightforward from here
run a drain down the house to the garden
who has left all those bags down the side?
and am I correct in thinking that your finished floor is 4 1/2 inches above the DPC?
LLL

The Brew Cabin

Path/linear drain over clay soil