Background: Garage floods to 1/4" deep through end wall whenever it
rains.

Tonight I went to see the gut that owns the patio but he was out.
However, I climbed up and looked over his fence.

It appears as though there *is* 6" of gravel around his patio although
I'm unsure how deep it is. The soil round here is clay and I suspect
the gravel doesn't go very deep. The top of the gravel is about level
with the DPC.

Up against the back of the garage he's contructed one of those small
wooden cupboard for storing garden tools in. There appears to be a 1"
gap between this and the garage wall.

He has painted the garage wall in something that is white and slightly
shiny-it's either gloss paint or masonry paint-it's difficult to tell
what as the bricks are rough.

Obviously, if the gravel around the patio isn't deep enough this could
cause the water in the garage.

However, could the wooden garden store cause any problems? I'd have
thought if anything it would keep damp off the wall, rather than
encourage it as it isn't actually touching the wall.

What about the paint? Would this cause the mini flood in my garage
everytime it rains?

Wouldn't the paintwork slow the flow of water through the wall?

Obviously I'm going to have to gain access to see what is going on but
I want to have a rough idea of what to look for before I go.

sponix

--s-p-o-n-i-x-- wrote:
Background: Garage floods to 1/4" deep through end wall whenever it
rains.

Tonight I went to see the gut that owns the patio but he was out.
However, I climbed up and looked over his fence.

It appears as though there *is* 6" of gravel around his patio although
I'm unsure how deep it is. The soil round here is clay and I suspect
the gravel doesn't go very deep. The top of the gravel is about level
with the DPC.

If the ground is clay and above or level with any DPC, then this will hold
the water in the gravel and if the wall is only a half brick thick (41/2
inch single skin wall) then the water will drain away through this as most
bricks are porus.

Cure, is to dig either a drainage trench to a lower level so the water runs
aways (can then be filled with coarse gravel) or dig an even deeper trench
to about two foot below DPC, backfill with coarse rubble and use this as a
soakaway. Or alternatively, dig a trench to the footings level and 'tank'
the wall or give it about half a dozen coats of clear silicone using a
'rough' spray and then lay a loose course or so of ordinary concrete blocks
against this to protect it and then backfill with rubble and gravel to
finish off.

Up against the back of the garage he's contructed one of those small
wooden cupboard for storing garden tools in. There appears to be a 1"
gap between this and the garage wall.

This won't cause a problem.

He has painted the garage wall in something that is white and slightly
shiny-it's either gloss paint or masonry paint-it's difficult to tell
what as the bricks are rough.

If as I suspect, its only a 41/2 inch single skin wall then he's probably
done you a favour by sealing the wall. Get rid of the clay to below DPC and
that should cure the problem.

Snipped

Hope this helps

Brian G

On Tue, 8 Nov 2005 21:35:43 -0000, "Brian G"
wrote:

--s-p-o-n-i-x-- wrote:
Background: Garage floods to 1/4" deep through end wall whenever it
rains.

Tonight I went to see the gut that owns the patio but he was out.
However, I climbed up and looked over his fence.

It appears as though there *is* 6" of gravel around his patio although
I'm unsure how deep it is. The soil round here is clay and I suspect
the gravel doesn't go very deep. The top of the gravel is about level
with the DPC.

If the ground is clay and above or level with any DPC, then this will hold
the water in the gravel and if the wall is only a half brick thick (41/2
inch single skin wall) then the water will drain away through this as most
bricks are porus.

Cure, is to dig either a drainage trench to a lower level so the water runs
aways (can then be filled with coarse gravel) or dig an even deeper trench
to about two foot below DPC, backfill with coarse rubble and use this as a
soakaway. Or alternatively, dig a trench to the footings level and 'tank'
the wall or give it about half a dozen coats of clear silicone using a
'rough' spray and then lay a loose course or so of ordinary concrete blocks
against this to protect it and then backfill with rubble and gravel to
finish off.

Up against the back of the garage he's contructed one of those small
wooden cupboard for storing garden tools in. There appears to be a 1"
gap between this and the garage wall.

This won't cause a problem.

He has painted the garage wall in something that is white and slightly
shiny-it's either gloss paint or masonry paint-it's difficult to tell
what as the bricks are rough.

If as I suspect, its only a 41/2 inch single skin wall then he's probably
done you a favour by sealing the wall. Get rid of the clay to below DPC and
that should cure the problem.

Snipped

Hope this helps

I hope so to..

On Tue, 8 Nov 2005 21:35:43 -0000, "Brian G"
wrote:


Cure, is to dig either a drainage trench to a lower level so the water runs
aways (can then be filled with coarse gravel) or dig an even deeper trench
to about two foot below DPC, backfill with coarse rubble and use this as a
soakaway. Or alternatively, dig a trench to the footings level and 'tank'
the wall or give it about half a dozen coats of clear silicone using a
'rough' spray and then lay a loose course or so of ordinary concrete blocks
against this to protect it and then backfill with rubble and gravel to
finish off.

Rather than 'tanking' the wall, would it be possible to stick self
adhesive roofing felt to it? I have some somewhere and it'd be quicker
than cleaning the brickwork, painting it, allowing it to dry,
repainting etc..etc..(I also think I have some, somewhere)

It'd also mean the felt could curve away at the bottom of the wall
which'd probably help divert the water.

sponix

"sPoNiX" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 8 Nov 2005 21:35:43 -0000, "Brian G"
wrote:


Cure, is to dig either a drainage trench to a lower level so the water
runs
aways (can then be filled with coarse gravel) or dig an even deeper
trench
to about two foot below DPC, backfill with coarse rubble and use this as
a
soakaway. Or alternatively, dig a trench to the footings level and
'tank'
the wall or give it about half a dozen coats of clear silicone using a
'rough' spray and then lay a loose course or so of ordinary concrete
blocks
against this to protect it and then backfill with rubble and gravel to
finish off.

Rather than 'tanking' the wall, would it be possible to stick self
adhesive roofing felt to it? I have some somewhere and it'd be quicker
than cleaning the brickwork, painting it, allowing it to dry,
repainting etc..etc..(I also think I have some, somewhere)

It'd also mean the felt could curve away at the bottom of the wall
which'd probably help divert the water.

I can see no problem with that as long as you protect the felt from damage
by placing concrete blocks against and then backfill against those - and you
would need to make sure the wall was dry before trying to stick the felt
onto it.

Brian G

In article ,
sPoNiX wrote:
Rather than 'tanking' the wall, would it be possible to stick self
adhesive roofing felt to it? I have some somewhere and it'd be quicker
than cleaning the brickwork, painting it, allowing it to dry,
repainting etc..etc..(I also think I have some, somewhere)

It'd also mean the felt could curve away at the bottom of the wall
which'd probably help divert the water.

Standard way on Victorian houses without a damp course was to render the
wall up to about a foot or so.

--
*I speak fluent patriarchy but it's not my mother tongue

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Brian G used his keyboard to write :
Cure, is to dig either a drainage trench to a lower level so the water runs
aways (can then be filled with coarse gravel) or dig an even deeper trench
to about two foot below DPC, backfill with coarse rubble and use this as a
soakaway.

Soakaways with a clay sub soil do not work, unless they penetrate
through the clay level. Faced with the same problem, I dug a trench
around, installing a 'leaky' pipe which led to a drain, all then back
filled with course gravel.

--

Regards,
Harry (M1BYT) (L)
http://www.ukradioamateur.co.uk

Harry Bloomfield wrote:
Brian G used his keyboard to write :
Cure, is to dig either a drainage trench to a lower level so the
water runs aways (can then be filled with coarse gravel) or dig an
even deeper trench to about two foot below DPC, backfill with coarse
rubble and use this as a soakaway.

Soakaways with a clay sub soil do not work, unless they penetrate
through the clay level. Faced with the same problem, I dug a trench
around, installing a 'leaky' pipe which led to a drain, all then back
filled with course gravel.

Harry,

Basically as I said above "Cure, is to dig either a drainage trench to *a
lower level* so the water runs aways (can then be filled with coarse
gravel)..." with or without the "leaky" or porous pipe, the water will drain
from a higher to lower level whether in clay soil or not.

As you rightly say, you can get problems with 'level' soakaways on clay
soils, but it can generally be done with a little thought - although I have
come across a few awkward b*****ds in my time. :-)

brian G