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Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2018 3:28 pm
by scottyboy
I am planning to pave the front yard of my daughter's terraced house in London. It is 8 sq.m. and I don't want the hassle of applying for planning permission for draining it and I don't want to consider connecting to the public sewer. I also don't want to use porous paving. My preference would be to drain it into a soakaway (after checking suitability with a porosity test) but I cannot because it would be less than the permitted 5m away from the house. I understand that to comply with the law I can pave 8 sq.m. as long as it drains onto a lawn or a permeable border. Can you tell me what size the permeable border should be? If a permeable border is acceptable then how is that any different from a soakaway?
thanks, scottyboy
Posted: Fri Jul 27, 2018 8:19 am
by seanandruby
A soakaway is deeper and the water should slowly filter away over time. A border could become saturated in heavy prolonged downpours. How much distance do you have for a soakaway from house, boundary etc:
Posted: Fri Jul 27, 2018 11:15 am
by scottyboy
The frontage is 4m long and there is a boundary wall 2m from the front of the house. I like the idea of the linear drain/trench shown on the SUDS page. Do you think a trench 600mm deep and 300mm wide would be acceptable as a method of infiltration in my situation?
Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2018 8:09 am
by seanandruby
As it says on the tin "the soil needs to be free draining." Have you done a perculation test to test the ground?
Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2018 10:20 am
by scottyboy
A percolation test will be my first job when I get there next week (daughter lives 200miles away). If the ground isn't suitable I guess that permeable paving is the answer. Instead of the purpose-made permeable blocks is there a way of using traditional paving slabs/flags but leaving wide gaps filled with gravel/chippings to allow for percolation?
Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2018 9:34 am
by lutonlagerlout
depending where she is in London,the ground is unlikely to be free draining 8 m2 is a small ish area I wouldnt get too worked up maybe just a linear channel to a bucket of gravel would meet the regs
LLL
Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2018 9:34 am
by lutonlagerlout
depending where she is in London,the ground is unlikely to be free draining 8 m2 is a small ish area I wouldnt get too worked up maybe just a linear channel to a bucket of gravel would meet the regs
LLL
Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2018 10:25 am
by scottyboy
thanks LLL, I was thinking along those lines so it's good to have a second opinion. I'll be doing a porosity test tomorrow and I am thinking it should be OK because the area at the moment is a layer of gravel over soil and it seems to drain away naturally without getting boggy or ponding.
PSH
Posted: Sat Sep 01, 2018 8:11 am
by scottyboy
I have done a porosity test with a result of 13.8. Apparently the result should be within the range 15 to 100. Does anyone know why there is a minimum of 15? I thought the lower the figure the better.
Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2018 5:16 pm
by infoseeker5
The attached link explains the reasoning for the minimum of 15.
https://www.direct-drainage.co.uk/pages....ty-test
Regards