Posted: Wed Sep 23, 2015 12:14 pm
I recently purchased a semi detached Victorian house in South London which had damp issues on the inside of the front wall. Although the surveyor advised a new chemical DPC, I could see that the level of the front garden was above the DPC. I have now removed layers and layers of old patio, gravel and soil and got the level lower and it seems to have fixed the issue. However I now need some advice on what to do next.
The front garden is not a large area, it's around 1.7m wide and 3.8m long. I want to have it paved as its where our bins and bikes are kept, so this is more practical than gravel. My plan is to slope the paved area away from the house, and have a strip of gravel along the edge, which will be planted with a hedge. Rainwater will therefore run off the paved area and into the gravel section where it can drain away.
To slightly further complicate the matter, there is a small side return that we share with our neighbour and the water that collects on the roof is channeled through a downpipe onto our front garden. The old owner just let this water accumulate at the base of the house. There is no drain installed. The surface area of the side return is around 4 square metres, so it's not a massive amount of water.
In my head, the best way to deal with the water from the side return is to lay a small land drain pipe under the paved front garden section and let it seep out. I would dig a trench, half fill with gravel, lay the percolated pipe and cover with gravel. I'm guessing that this constitutes as a soakaway, and I have read that building regs require them to be 5m away from the property. This is impossible, given the garden isn't even 2m wide.
I would run the land drain parallel with the front of the house, and aim to have it 1.2m away from the building. Would this be suitable to not affect the foundations? I could have it further away, say 1.6m however it would then be under the area of the front garden that the paved area soaks into, so I am worried that in very heavy rain it would concentrate too much water in a small place.
Another option would be to simply let the rainwater from the side return empty onto the paved area and let it run across the paved area.
Any thoughts of ideas most welcome!
The front garden is not a large area, it's around 1.7m wide and 3.8m long. I want to have it paved as its where our bins and bikes are kept, so this is more practical than gravel. My plan is to slope the paved area away from the house, and have a strip of gravel along the edge, which will be planted with a hedge. Rainwater will therefore run off the paved area and into the gravel section where it can drain away.
To slightly further complicate the matter, there is a small side return that we share with our neighbour and the water that collects on the roof is channeled through a downpipe onto our front garden. The old owner just let this water accumulate at the base of the house. There is no drain installed. The surface area of the side return is around 4 square metres, so it's not a massive amount of water.
In my head, the best way to deal with the water from the side return is to lay a small land drain pipe under the paved front garden section and let it seep out. I would dig a trench, half fill with gravel, lay the percolated pipe and cover with gravel. I'm guessing that this constitutes as a soakaway, and I have read that building regs require them to be 5m away from the property. This is impossible, given the garden isn't even 2m wide.
I would run the land drain parallel with the front of the house, and aim to have it 1.2m away from the building. Would this be suitable to not affect the foundations? I could have it further away, say 1.6m however it would then be under the area of the front garden that the paved area soaks into, so I am worried that in very heavy rain it would concentrate too much water in a small place.
Another option would be to simply let the rainwater from the side return empty onto the paved area and let it run across the paved area.
Any thoughts of ideas most welcome!
