Hi,

Last week, when we had the downpour, our patio flooded. Whoever built
it, laid it pretty flat and without drainage. It is looking tired and
one day I will lay a new one with a slope and drains but until then...

I did wonder about using a submersible pump to drain it but thought it
was a one off until today, when it rained and flooded again!

So I am wondering whether to buy a cheap one: I think cpc have a
Clarke one on special offer and machine mart keep having vat free
weekends. I notice in the machine mart catalogue says that all models,
except the cheapest, have a ceramic shaft for long life.

Is it worth paying extra for the ceramic shaft or a better model? I
can't imagine so for something used so occasionally but perhaps there
is a benefit in situations where they are used daily?

Any hints or tips on what to buy/not buy?

TIA

On 06/07/2012 22:24, Fred wrote:
Hi,

Last week, when we had the downpour, our patio flooded. Whoever built
it, laid it pretty flat and without drainage. It is looking tired and
one day I will lay a new one with a slope and drains but until then...

I did wonder about using a submersible pump to drain it but thought it
was a one off until today, when it rained and flooded again!

So I am wondering whether to buy a cheap one: I think cpc have a
Clarke one on special offer and machine mart keep having vat free
weekends. I notice in the machine mart catalogue says that all models,
except the cheapest, have a ceramic shaft for long life.

Is it worth paying extra for the ceramic shaft or a better model? I
can't imagine so for something used so occasionally but perhaps there
is a benefit in situations where they are used daily?

Any hints or tips on what to buy/not buy?

How deep did it flood? Most need at least a certain depth to get going
(even if once pumping they will go down to within an inch or two of
remaining water).

Note those with an auto float switch can also be a pain to keep going in
shallow waters.

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On 06/07/2012 22:24, Fred wrote:
Hi,

Last week, when we had the downpour, our patio flooded. Whoever built
it, laid it pretty flat and without drainage. It is looking tired and
one day I will lay a new one with a slope and drains but until then...

I did wonder about using a submersible pump to drain it but thought it
was a one off until today, when it rained and flooded again!

So I am wondering whether to buy a cheap one: I think cpc have a
Clarke one on special offer and machine mart keep having vat free
weekends. I notice in the machine mart catalogue says that all models,
except the cheapest, have a ceramic shaft for long life.

Is it worth paying extra for the ceramic shaft or a better model? I
can't imagine so for something used so occasionally but perhaps there
is a benefit in situations where they are used daily?

Any hints or tips on what to buy/not buy?

We shift the occasional large puddle left behind by flooding using a
tiny garden fountain pump and garden hose. I think it's about 6 watts,
max head 1m and that is probably overstating it. Stick it in for a few
hours, forget about it till the water is gone - it copes with running in
the dry.

But it does need to sit in a couple of inches of water (an inch if I
try), so we have dug a little pit for it to sit in where it's most used.

Something under 20 quid.

What most tend to do is put in a pretend drain so the water just at that
point is deep enough to get it to work. Of course this assumes that the
water will fill that bit up first.....
Brian

--
--
From the sofa of Brian Gaff -

Blind user, so no pictures please!
"John Rumm" wrote in message
...
On 06/07/2012 22:24, Fred wrote:
Hi,

Last week, when we had the downpour, our patio flooded. Whoever built
it, laid it pretty flat and without drainage. It is looking tired and
one day I will lay a new one with a slope and drains but until then...

I did wonder about using a submersible pump to drain it but thought it
was a one off until today, when it rained and flooded again!

So I am wondering whether to buy a cheap one: I think cpc have a
Clarke one on special offer and machine mart keep having vat free
weekends. I notice in the machine mart catalogue says that all models,
except the cheapest, have a ceramic shaft for long life.

Is it worth paying extra for the ceramic shaft or a better model? I
can't imagine so for something used so occasionally but perhaps there
is a benefit in situations where they are used daily?

Any hints or tips on what to buy/not buy?

How deep did it flood? Most need at least a certain depth to get going
(even if once pumping they will go down to within an inch or two of
remaining water).

Note those with an auto float switch can also be a pain to keep going in
shallow waters.

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On Fri, 06 Jul 2012 23:39:15 +0100, John Rumm
wrote:

How deep did it flood? Most need at least a certain depth to get going
(even if once pumping they will go down to within an inch or two of
remaining water).

Note those with an auto float switch can also be a pain to keep going in
shallow waters.

Thanks. Some of them say that they pump to within 3mm of the floor,
but they do not explain that they need more than this to prime and
start. You may have saved me wasting my money on something that would
not work.

One consequence of the patio being flat is that water accumulates
everywhere, so it was not particularly deep, an inch at most I
suppose, but the water pools across the whole area, so perhaps that
makes it look worse that it is.

Perhaps the best plan will be to dig it up and lay a new one with a
slope and drainage. I was planning on doing that last summer but never
got round to it.

On 07/07/2012 10:14, Fred wrote:
Perhaps the best plan will be to dig it up and lay a new one with a
slope and drainage. I was planning on doing that last summer but never
got round to it.

As a quick fix, lift one slab and make a small sump deep enough to hold
the pump in the space, then put a grill over the top. Something as
simple as an old tupperware box embedded in sand and surrounded at the
top by a cement/ sand mortar mix will do the job

It'll not cure the long term problem, but in recent weather, it'll only
need half a day of no rain to install.

--
Tciao for Now!

John.

On Jul 6, 10:24*pm, Fred wrote:
I did wonder about using a submersible pump to drain it but thought it
was a one off until today, when it rained and flooded again!

If the problem is lack of slope, then a broom and wellies will be more
use than a pump. It's surprisingly easy to brush up a couple of
inches of standing water, provided that you have some sort of land
drain along one edge, If you don't, then dig that first.

Pumps are a pain unless they have a sump to work in. Your land drain
might usefully be sized to be big enough to clear normal (sic) rain,
but to also have a sump area big enough at one end to sit the pump in.

You can't hire pumps. If and when you need one, so does everyone else.

On 07/07/2012 10:14, Fred wrote:

One consequence of the patio being flat is that water accumulates
everywhere, so it was not particularly deep, an inch at most I
suppose, but the water pools across the whole area, so perhaps that
makes it look worse that it is.

Broom.

Perhaps the best plan will be to dig it up and lay a new one with a
slope and drainage. I was planning on doing that last summer but never
got round to it.

Depends how often it happens really.

On Sat, 07 Jul 2012 10:14:53 +0100, Fred wrote:

One consequence of the patio being flat is that water accumulates
everywhere, so it was not particularly deep, an inch at most I
suppose, but the water pools across the whole area, so perhaps that
makes it look worse that it is.

Assuming a normal domestic sized patio that doesn't seem like much water,
what normally happens? Does it fill and have to evaporate or does it
drain slowly?

Is there an edge against lawn or border? I'd be tempted to drill holes
angled downwards into that area to allow the water to drian away. How
much further does the level have to rise before it starts to want to come
into the property?

--
Cheers
Dave.

On 06/07/2012 22:24, Fred wrote:
Hi,

Last week, when we had the downpour, our patio flooded. Whoever built
it, laid it pretty flat and without drainage. It is looking tired and
one day I will lay a new one with a slope and drains but until then...

I did wonder about using a submersible pump to drain it but thought it
was a one off until today, when it rained and flooded again!

So I am wondering whether to buy a cheap one: I think cpc have a
Clarke one on special offer and machine mart keep having vat free
weekends. I notice in the machine mart catalogue says that all models,
except the cheapest, have a ceramic shaft for long life.

Is it worth paying extra for the ceramic shaft or a better model? I
can't imagine so for something used so occasionally but perhaps there
is a benefit in situations where they are used daily?

Any hints or tips on what to buy/not buy?

TIA

What you really need is a wet vacuum that has a submersible pump inside,
like the Numatic WVD1800AP. Bit pricey, but you should be able to hire one.

--
Dave - The Medway Handyman www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

On Sat, 07 Jul 2012 12:24:54 +0100, Clive George
wrote:

Broom.

Yes, that's what I have used. I did also try the wet and dry vacuum
but that had two disadvantages: it required frequent emptying and I
had to stop every time it started to rain.

On Sat, 07 Jul 2012 12:50:04 +0100 (BST), "Dave Liquorice"
wrote:

Assuming a normal domestic sized patio that doesn't seem like much water,
what normally happens? Does it fill and have to evaporate or does it
drain slowly?

After I posted my OP, the news was full of reports of people who were
much more flooded that we were, so yes, it is all relative, and there
are people in much, much worse situations.

When it rains it does not normally form puddles. I guess it just
drains away. Only when we have very heavy rain does it accumulate and
that will eventually drain away after some hours.

Is there an edge against lawn or border? I'd be tempted to drill holes
angled downwards into that area to allow the water to drian away. How
much further does the level have to rise before it starts to want to come
into the property?

There's a good 6" before it enters the house. We have a brick garage
with no obvious dpm, so that is more of a concern. If the water is
left standing, puddles do creep through the walls into the garage.

On Sat, 7 Jul 2012 03:09:09 -0700 (PDT), Andy Dingley
wrote:

provided that you have some sort of land
drain along one edge

No, I don't. I will have to look into this. Thanks.