Patio

Heatshe

Hi everyone newbie here,

Looking for bit of advice we recently had a new raised patio area built next to our house. I'm unsure if it's been built correctly as it's only one brick below the DPC. Is it unreasonable to ask the contractor to sort this out even though it's already been paid for.
Thanks

Davesnave

We don't know how you approached the contractor with regard to making the patio, or what was agreed prior to the work starting, but if there is no written specification, it will be hard for you to prove that the work is not what you requested.

Further, now the work is paid for, the contractor will probably argue that you were happy at the time when you made payment, so the patio must have met your approval then.

It could be an uphill struggle to seek rectification. You'd need to provide an expert witness report from another contractor stating that the work is defective, so unless the patio itself is of poor construction, I wouldn't go there.

Far better to spend money looking at a possible cheap remedy. This might even be doing nothing if that area of the patio is sheltered and the fall is away from the house. Otherwise, if there are dampness problems, the house edge of the patio could be cut away to leave a narrow channel for air to get in and to reduce rain-splash.

zax47

Heatshe wrote: »

Hi everyone newbie here,

Looking for bit of advice we recently had a new raised patio area built next to our house. I'm unsure if it's been built correctly as it's only one brick below the DPC. Is it unreasonable to ask the contractor to sort this out even though it's already been paid for.
Thanks

If you are unsure about the correctness then why not get some confirmation before you go rushing to the contractor & looking daft. You really need to be sure there is actually something to "sort out".

Why do you think 1 brick below DPC is wrong (is it wrong? - I know as much as you ) The fact it's below DPC suggests it's not breaching it, so what's the problem? Is the patio laid with a "fall" away from the house so water naturally runs away, or is it towards, which I think wouldn't be correct.

EmmyLou30

Ideally patios and drives etc should be 2 bricks below a DPC and never touch the actual building. The problem is splash back when it rains as this then breaches the DPC by splattering above it and causing damp.
Has the patio been laid touching the house?
The solution is a french drain round the edge of the house (a gap a few inches wide and filled with gravel which the rain lands in instead). Our patio has been 1 brick below the DPC since the house was built 23 years ago but hasn't ever caused an issue as we have the french drain. The height of our lawn etc means the patio can't be put lower without installing a small trip hazard of a step up to the lawn! so we've just had the patio redone and put it at the same height as the old one and hoping it remains trouble free.

Heatshe

Thanks for everyone's comments. The patio touches the house so I'm thinking of remedying it with a French drain and pea shingle. Would this be an easy job to carry out? Sorry I'm a novice when it comes to this kind of thing so we was going along with the expertise of the contractor. Upon research I've read that a patio is supposed at least 150mm below the dpc which I thought most people in that trade would know.
Tanx once again for everyone's advice

bouicca21

For what it's worth I recently had a patio installed and it was only when I asked that I found out that all bar one contractor was quoting for just one brick below dpc. That's why they were cheap. One of the contractors was actually quite rude about it, insisting that it was totally unnecessary to make it lower - which in my case meant a substantial amount of extra work.

If I hadn't known about the two brick rule, and wasn't paranoid about damp, I would never have realised that the most expensive quote was just that because the contractor intended to do it properly (and was amazed to be asked because he would never dream of laying a patio anything other than two bricks/150mm below the dpc).

andrewf75

I'm amazed that a contractor would do this. I recently laid my own patio as I was on a budget and pretty much the first thing you find when researching is that it should be 150mm below DPC. Now I'm sure that in some cases this clearance is overkill as are many regulations, so probably best to get someone trusted round to advise whether it is OK as it is. As someone else said, what is the fall like? If the rainwater flows towards the house then it is truly a cowboy job and needs ripping up, but if it flows away properly it may be fine.

bouicca21

Hmmm yes, the rude contractor insisted the water would drain to the lawn. Somewhat overlooking the fact that the garden slopes towards the building not away ...

My quotes all included a reference to excavating but none of them actually said to what depth, which is why I had to ask. And I'm jolly glad I did. FMH had botched patio causing rot to floorboards and tips of joists. We were there 5 years before we realised this, patio had been installed by previous owner so it had only taken 15 years for the problem to develop to a relatively serious stage.

Davesnave

It's relevant which way the patio faces too.

I suspect that over a long time a path alongside our garage has crept up to one brick below DPC. However, it's on the lee side of the building, so no probems with damp, even though it was only a single-skin wall till we converted it this year.