I moved into my new (old) house last weekend. It's a fairly
substantial Victorian with a coach house, the two structures being
connected by a passage at first floor height and a covered sideway at
ground floor level.

It was clear from the start that there has been a bit of settlement
around the sideway, which has so far been put down to some drain
leakage and I am in the process of getting that done. However, I was
talking to someone who told me that when it rains heavily and the
ground becomes saturated, water collects at the back of the house
(there's a slight rise to the rear garden - maybe 4 feet over 150
feet) until it floods into the sideway and flows to the front of the
house. Been happening for years, he says.

I have a suspicion that this might be a more significant cause of
problems than any small leaks from the drains. Even if it isn't, it
would make sense to deal with it asap, along with the drain repairs.

I'm presuming that it should be possible to do something in the garden
to divert water flows into the main drain but I'm wondering what scale
this should be on (ie one channel close to the house or a more
elaborate land drain system).

Does anyone here have experience of draining land in this context? I
suspect that talking to drainage people would be a bit of a waste of
time, since they mostly just re-line pipes etc in urban areas and this
is more of an agricultural issue.

It'll certainly require more than an angle grinder and some WD40!

GMM wrote:

I moved into my new (old) house last weekend. It's a fairly
substantial Victorian with a coach house, the two structures being
connected by a passage at first floor height and a covered sideway at
ground floor level.

It was clear from the start that there has been a bit of settlement
around the sideway, which has so far been put down to some drain
leakage and I am in the process of getting that done. However, I was
talking to someone who told me that when it rains heavily and the
ground becomes saturated, water collects at the back of the house
(there's a slight rise to the rear garden - maybe 4 feet over 150
feet) until it floods into the sideway and flows to the front of the
house. Been happening for years, he says.

I have a suspicion that this might be a more significant cause of
problems than any small leaks from the drains. Even if it isn't, it
would make sense to deal with it asap, along with the drain repairs.

I'm presuming that it should be possible to do something in the garden
to divert water flows into the main drain but I'm wondering what scale
this should be on (ie one channel close to the house or a more
elaborate land drain system).

Does anyone here have experience of draining land in this context? I
suspect that talking to drainage people would be a bit of a waste of
time, since they mostly just re-line pipes etc in urban areas and this
is more of an agricultural issue.

It'll certainly require more than an angle grinder and some WD40!

Duct Tape too eh?



We had a similar issue at school (I'm a caretaker) which was eventually
solved by digging a trench about 10 yards from the school, down about
6' (2m) or so, about 18" wide and filling the bottom 2' with pea gravel
and larger round stones, the trench leading to a large soakaway with a
'proper' drainage pipe to main drains.

Can't remember all the details, the above is the gist of it.

We're actually built on a flood plain but one side of the school field
is about 6' higher about 100 yards away than the playground and school
side. When it rained heavily, water collected and moved slowly
downhill and the original school drainage system couldn't cope any
more, hence the need for more groundworks.

--
Paul - xxx
Una vita - vitate

On 06/10/2011 09:26, GMM wrote:
I moved into my new (old) house last weekend. It's a fairly
substantial Victorian with a coach house, the two structures being
connected by a passage at first floor height and a covered sideway at
ground floor level.

It was clear from the start that there has been a bit of settlement
around the sideway, which has so far been put down to some drain
leakage and I am in the process of getting that done. However, I was
talking to someone who told me that when it rains heavily and the
ground becomes saturated, water collects at the back of the house
(there's a slight rise to the rear garden - maybe 4 feet over 150
feet) until it floods into the sideway and flows to the front of the
house. Been happening for years, he says.

I have a suspicion that this might be a more significant cause of
problems than any small leaks from the drains. Even if it isn't, it
would make sense to deal with it asap, along with the drain repairs.

I'm presuming that it should be possible to do something in the garden
to divert water flows into the main drain but I'm wondering what scale
this should be on (ie one channel close to the house or a more
elaborate land drain system).

Does anyone here have experience of draining land in this context? I
suspect that talking to drainage people would be a bit of a waste of
time, since they mostly just re-line pipes etc in urban areas and this
is more of an agricultural issue.

It'll certainly require more than an angle grinder and some WD40!

It will depend upon where the water is coming from. Is it only your
garden, or is there higher land that is feeding water into it? In the
second case, it may be better to put a ditch at the top of the garden to
intercept the incoming water and stop your garden becoming saturated. Of
course, if, like one of my neighbours, the problem is a spring in the
garden when the water table gets high enough, that is an entirely
different problem. As you have hinted, the people to speak to are
probably drainage engineers who specialise in agricultural land.

Colin Bignell

"GMM" wrote in message
...
I moved into my new (old) house last weekend. It's a fairly
substantial Victorian with a coach house, the two structures being
connected by a passage at first floor height and a covered sideway at
ground floor level.

It was clear from the start that there has been a bit of settlement
around the sideway, which has so far been put down to some drain
leakage and I am in the process of getting that done. However, I was
talking to someone who told me that when it rains heavily and the
ground becomes saturated, water collects at the back of the house
(there's a slight rise to the rear garden - maybe 4 feet over 150
feet) until it floods into the sideway and flows to the front of the
house. Been happening for years, he says.

I have a suspicion that this might be a more significant cause of
problems than any small leaks from the drains. Even if it isn't, it
would make sense to deal with it asap, along with the drain repairs.

I'm presuming that it should be possible to do something in the garden
to divert water flows into the main drain but I'm wondering what scale
this should be on (ie one channel close to the house or a more
elaborate land drain system).

Does anyone here have experience of draining land in this context? I
suspect that talking to drainage people would be a bit of a waste of
time, since they mostly just re-line pipes etc in urban areas and this
is more of an agricultural issue.

It'll certainly require more than an angle grinder and some WD40!

What do you mean by "main drain"? If you mean sewer, then I understand that
the regs do no longer allow surface water to be drained into a sewer. It
has to go into a soakaway or land drain. At least that seems to be the case
in my Local Authority.

Lawrence

On Oct 6, 10:04*am, "Paul - xxx" wrote:
GMM wrote:
I moved into my new (old) house last weekend. *It's a fairly
substantial Victorian with a coach house, the two structures being
connected by a passage at first floor height and a covered sideway at
ground floor level.

It was clear from the start that there has been a bit of settlement
around the sideway, which has so far been put down to some drain
leakage and I am in the process of getting that done. *However, I was
talking to someone who told me that when it rains heavily and the
ground becomes saturated, water collects at the back of the house
(there's a slight rise to the rear garden - maybe 4 feet over 150
feet) until it floods into the sideway and flows to the front of the
house. *Been happening for years, he says.

I have a suspicion that this might be a more significant cause of
problems than any small leaks from the drains. *Even if it isn't, it
would make sense to deal with it asap, along with the drain repairs.

I'm presuming that it should be possible to do something in the garden
to divert water flows into the main drain but I'm wondering what scale
this should be on (ie one channel close to the house or a more
elaborate land drain system).

Does anyone here have experience of draining land in this context? *I
suspect that talking to drainage people would be a bit of a waste of
time, since they mostly just re-line pipes etc in urban areas and this
is more of an agricultural issue.

It'll certainly require more than an angle grinder and some WD40!

Duct Tape too eh?



We had a similar issue at school (I'm a caretaker) which was eventually
solved by digging a trench about 10 yards from the school, down about
6' (2m) or so, about 18" wide and filling the bottom 2' with pea gravel
and larger round stones, the trench leading to a large soakaway with a
'proper' drainage pipe to main drains.

Can't remember all the details, the above is the gist of it.

We're actually built on a flood plain but one side of the school field
is about 6' higher about 100 yards away than the playground and school
side. *When it rained heavily, water collected and moved slowly
downhill and the original school drainage system couldn't cope any
more, hence the need for more groundworks.

--
Paul - xxx
Una vita - vitate

Thanks Paul, that was what I was sort of anticipating might be
needed. At a guess, I should think the details (depth etc) might
depend on assessing the local situation, which will be interesting!
I'm sort of hoping that this will be a milder case, but then you never
can tell with water tables as they don't necessarily seem to behave in
ways you might expect!

On Oct 6, 3:16*pm, Nightjar wrote:
On 06/10/2011 09:26, GMM wrote:





I moved into my new (old) house last weekend. *It's a fairly
substantial Victorian with a coach house, the two structures being
connected by a passage at first floor height and a covered sideway at
ground floor level.

It was clear from the start that there has been a bit of settlement
around the sideway, which has so far been put down to some drain
leakage and I am in the process of getting that done. *However, I was
talking to someone who told me that when it rains heavily and the
ground becomes saturated, water collects at the back of the house
(there's a slight rise to the rear garden - maybe 4 feet over 150
feet) until it floods into the sideway and flows to the front of the
house. *Been happening for years, he says.

I have a suspicion that this might be a more significant cause of
problems than any small leaks from the drains. *Even if it isn't, it
would make sense to deal with it asap, along with the drain repairs.

I'm presuming that it should be possible to do something in the garden
to divert water flows into the main drain but I'm wondering what scale
this should be on (ie one channel close to the house or a more
elaborate land drain system).

Does anyone here have experience of draining land in this context? *I
suspect that talking to drainage people would be a bit of a waste of
time, since they mostly just re-line pipes etc in urban areas and this
is more of an agricultural issue.

It'll certainly require more than an angle grinder and some WD40!

It will depend upon where the water is coming from. Is it only your
garden, or is there higher land that is feeding water into it? In the
second case, it may be better to put a ditch at the top of the garden to
intercept the incoming water and stop your garden becoming saturated. Of
course, if, like one of my neighbours, the problem is a spring in the
garden when the water table gets high enough, that is an entirely
different problem. As you have hinted, the people to speak to are
probably drainage engineers who specialise in agricultural land.

Colin Bignell

The land slopes back down again at the end of the garden, so I might
hope that the area I'm dealing with is limited, but who can tell
without an expert evaluation? I haven't seen any evidence of it yet,
so it's hard to visualise what's happening. The person who told me
has been working as a part-time gardener here for quite a few years,
so I think he knows what he's talking about. Unfortunately, he, like
many people, seems to underestimate the potential of large amounts of
water to damage a building so has dismissed it as something 'worth
seeing' but not a problem. The previous owner was a nice old chap,
but not the most practical of people, so wouldn't have felt it
necessary to do anything about it. Oddly, the cellar of the house is
perfectly dry, and I might have expected such an issue to show up
there.

On Oct 6, 9:18*pm, "Lawrence" wrote:
"GMM" wrote in message

...





I moved into my new (old) house last weekend. *It's a fairly
substantial Victorian with a coach house, the two structures being
connected by a passage at first floor height and a covered sideway at
ground floor level.

It was clear from the start that there has been a bit of settlement
around the sideway, which has so far been put down to some drain
leakage and I am in the process of getting that done. *However, I was
talking to someone who told me that when it rains heavily and the
ground becomes saturated, water collects at the back of the house
(there's a slight rise to the rear garden - maybe 4 feet over 150
feet) until it floods into the sideway and flows to the front of the
house. *Been happening for years, he says.

I have a suspicion that this might be a more significant cause of
problems than any small leaks from the drains. *Even if it isn't, it
would make sense to deal with it asap, along with the drain repairs.

I'm presuming that it should be possible to do something in the garden
to divert water flows into the main drain but I'm wondering what scale
this should be on (ie one channel close to the house or a more
elaborate land drain system).

Does anyone here have experience of draining land in this context? *I
suspect that talking to drainage people would be a bit of a waste of
time, since they mostly just re-line pipes etc in urban areas and this
is more of an agricultural issue.

It'll certainly require more than an angle grinder and some WD40!

What do you mean by "main drain"? *If you mean sewer, then I understand that
the regs do no longer allow surface water to be drained into a sewer. *It
has to go into a soakaway or land drain. *At least that seems to be the case
in my Local Authority.

Lawrence

Well, all the rainwater currently collected by gutters etc currently
runs along it, together with sewage, so I'll assume that we can modify
the existing drains that run into it.

On 07/10/2011 12:06, GMM wrote:
On Oct 6, 3:16 pm, wrote:
On 06/10/2011 09:26, GMM wrote:





I moved into my new (old) house last weekend. It's a fairly
substantial Victorian with a coach house, the two structures being
connected by a passage at first floor height and a covered sideway at
ground floor level.

It was clear from the start that there has been a bit of settlement
around the sideway, which has so far been put down to some drain
leakage and I am in the process of getting that done. However, I was
talking to someone who told me that when it rains heavily and the
ground becomes saturated, water collects at the back of the house
(there's a slight rise to the rear garden - maybe 4 feet over 150
feet) until it floods into the sideway and flows to the front of the
house. Been happening for years, he says.

I have a suspicion that this might be a more significant cause of
problems than any small leaks from the drains. Even if it isn't, it
would make sense to deal with it asap, along with the drain repairs.

I'm presuming that it should be possible to do something in the garden
to divert water flows into the main drain but I'm wondering what scale
this should be on (ie one channel close to the house or a more
elaborate land drain system).

Does anyone here have experience of draining land in this context? I
suspect that talking to drainage people would be a bit of a waste of
time, since they mostly just re-line pipes etc in urban areas and this
is more of an agricultural issue.

It'll certainly require more than an angle grinder and some WD40!

It will depend upon where the water is coming from. Is it only your
garden, or is there higher land that is feeding water into it? In the
second case, it may be better to put a ditch at the top of the garden to
intercept the incoming water and stop your garden becoming saturated. Of
course, if, like one of my neighbours, the problem is a spring in the
garden when the water table gets high enough, that is an entirely
different problem. As you have hinted, the people to speak to are
probably drainage engineers who specialise in agricultural land.

Colin Bignell

The land slopes back down again at the end of the garden, so I might
hope that the area I'm dealing with is limited, but who can tell
without an expert evaluation? I haven't seen any evidence of it yet,
so it's hard to visualise what's happening. The person who told me
has been working as a part-time gardener here for quite a few years,
so I think he knows what he's talking about. Unfortunately, he, like
many people, seems to underestimate the potential of large amounts of
water to damage a building so has dismissed it as something 'worth
seeing' but not a problem. The previous owner was a nice old chap,
but not the most practical of people, so wouldn't have felt it
necessary to do anything about it. Oddly, the cellar of the house is
perfectly dry, and I might have expected such an issue to show up
there.

If the cellar is properly tanked, there probably wouldn't be anything to
see.

You may find this page of interest:

http://www.pavingexpert.com/drain03.htm

Colin Bignell

In article ,
GMM writes:
On Oct 6, 9:18*pm, "Lawrence" wrote:

What do you mean by "main drain"? *If you mean sewer, then I understand that
the regs do no longer allow surface water to be drained into a sewer. *It
has to go into a soakaway or land drain. *At least that seems to be the case
in my Local Authority.

Lawrence
Well, all the rainwater currently collected by gutters etc currently
runs along it, together with sewage, so I'll assume that we can modify
the existing drains that run into it.

You need the agreement from the owner of the sewer.
In some areas (particularly older dense urban areas), surface and
foul often use the same drainage system. In other areas, it will
depend on the policy of the sewage company, and if the local drains
have spare capacity without risk of flooding them.

Also, they can now charge for removal of rainwater from your
premises, weather into the sewer or onto public land across the
surface (such as a driveway draining into the road).

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

"GMM" wrote in message
...

I moved into my new (old) house last weekend. It's a fairly
substantial Victorian with a coach house, the two structures being
connected by a passage at first floor height and a covered sideway at
ground floor level.

It was clear from the start that there has been a bit of settlement
around the sideway, which has so far been put down to some drain
leakage and I am in the process of getting that done. However, I was
talking to someone who told me that when it rains heavily and the
ground becomes saturated, water collects at the back of the house
(there's a slight rise to the rear garden - maybe 4 feet over 150
feet) until it floods into the sideway and flows to the front of the
house. Been happening for years, he says.

I have a suspicion that this might be a more significant cause of
problems than any small leaks from the drains. Even if it isn't, it
would make sense to deal with it asap, along with the drain repairs.

I'm presuming that it should be possible to do something in the garden
to divert water flows into the main drain but I'm wondering what scale
this should be on (ie one channel close to the house or a more
elaborate land drain system).

Does anyone here have experience of draining land in this context? I
suspect that talking to drainage people would be a bit of a waste of
time, since they mostly just re-line pipes etc in urban areas and this
is more of an agricultural issue.

It'll certainly require more than an angle grinder and some WD40!

.................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .......................

Using age old principles of herringbone drainage, with some assistance from
a suitable small excavator, some suitable membrane and the correct
stones/shingle you might consider doing it yourself... See
http://www.hintsandthings.com/garden/lawndrainage.htm

Having applied this technique on many sloped long and wide areas on a golf
course I can confirm it works very well, is cost effective and after the
grass is returned fairly innocuous.

For the soakaway at the end or wherever you put it see
http://www.burdens.co.uk/Stormbloc-H...rnational-FAQS and
http://www.burdens.co.uk/node/245781
Used as instructed they will provide a suitable catchment for the run off.