The Brew Cabin

Posted: **Sun Nov 10, 2013 8:29 pm**

Hello.
I would be grateful for any advice.
I have purchased a very old farm house in France that is surrounded by unsightly crazy paving, which I would one day like to replace with setts or something more suitable.
Can anyone advise on good drainage methods to prevent damp ingress into the rubble walls. Would a French drain around the house be better than the current paving butting right up against the property.
Can I attach some pictures to hopefully clarify the situation, if so how do I do this? thanks in advance
Regards
Bryan

Posted: **Sun Nov 10, 2013 10:38 pm**

if only there was someplace i could find this info
have a gander through that bryan and see what you make of it
french drains are generally a huge fail
LLL

Posted: **Mon Nov 11, 2013 8:39 am**

Maybe unsuprisingly, but so-called French Drains were commonly used to protect the masonry of French rural buildings from the ingress of damp. However, they need an outfall, whether that's a highly permeable layer at the base of the 'drain' or a lead out to a soakaway.

The modern solution would be a drainage composite possibly combined with tanking of the sub-surface masonry. This allows paving of almost any form to be laid right up to the masonry.

The Brew Cabin

Ancient farm house - Drainage advise