Neighbors gravel/French drain next to wall.

Phil4432

Inquiring on behalf of a family member.
Her neighbour has built on their pathway, which is against her wall.  It seems that next to her wall, there is a gravel ditch that looks like a French Drain.  Had a quick, cheeky peek and can't see where the drain goes to, but it looks like it goes nowhere.  Also can't see if there's a perforated pipe underneath the gravel.  It could be just a ditch with gravel in it.

These neighbors aren't very approachable, so I'm helping her plan for the worst.

The local council are pretty much useless, though I've told sister and brother in law to call up and see what they see.  Any other services that could be contacted, for advise? 

My understanding is that we all have a legal obligation to ensure that drainage on our own property is adequate, and does not potentially damage someone else,s property.   Anyone know the specific building regs with regards to drainage?

Thanks in advance.

FreeBear

A french drain can be nothing more than a gravel filled trench. It does not always need perforated pipes installed. Although, if there is a large area of hard paving directing a substantial amount of water towards the french drain, additional drainage may be required.

Phil4432

FreeBear said:

A french drain can be nothing more than a gravel filled trench. It does not always need perforated pipes installed. Although, if there is a large area of hard paving directing a substantial amount of water towards the french drain, additional drainage may be required.

In this case, there is an area of large paving but I'm unable to determine whether a substantial amount of water would be directed towards it.

If there is no perforated pipe, could there be a risk of damage to the building.  Know it's hard to tell without providing pictures...

Jeepers_Creepers

If the 'French drain' is largely done properly and is doing its job - ie. it's nicely below your family member's DPC layer, the gravel prevents rain 'splashback', and the drain takes away the required surface water, then your family member shouldn't really have any worries.

If any of the above is not correct, then there could possibly be issues caused.

What do you mean by "Her neighbour has built on their pathway..."? Built what? A path?

Doozergirl

Your family member has the same problem as you and your own neighbour?  Every thread is a different house.  

How many threads on the same issue with different people affected?   It would be easier for everyone if you could tell the truth. I'm not sure how much we're going to add, having the same repeated conversations.  Who actually has the issue and is it actually a problem or is this all hypothetical? 

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6066863/water-collecting-next-to-foundation#latest

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6171208/raising-path-closer-to-dpc#latest

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6230404/can-a-jackhammer-damage-foundations/p1

Phil4432

Jeepers_Creepers said:

If the 'French drain' is largely done properly and is doing its job - ie. it's nicely below your family member's DPC layer, the gravel prevents rain 'splashback', and the drain takes away the required surface water, then your family member shouldn't really have any worries.

If any of the above is not correct, then there could possibly be issues caused.

What do you mean by "Her neighbour has built on their pathway..."? Built what? A path?

Its a path on the neighbors land, which comes up to the wall.

Can't see if the channel with gravel is actually drained as such.  So there may be a build up of water in the channel.  Though below the dpc, it would be sitting on clay.

So what's got to be determined is whether the excess water will be drained, and if so to where.

Phil4432

Doozergirl, I can see you're once again trolling my threads.  No doubt, repeating the same old nonsense you do to everyone.   I'm going to block you, so you'll have to waste your time elsewhere. 

Some of us have friends and family we look out for, clearly you do not.  With that attitude, I'm not surprised.

My friends and family also have neighbors.  A large number of people are renovating right now.  Therefore, there are many similar problems.

So find a better hobby, instead of being a troll.

Jeepers_Creepers

Phil4432 said:

Its a path on the neighbors land, which comes up to the wall.

Can't see if the channel with gravel is actually drained as such.  So there may be a build up of water in the channel.  Though below the dpc, it would be sitting on clay.

So what's got to be determined is whether the excess water will be drained, and if so to where.

So was there was always a path there? Tight against the house wall? And now there's a channel of gravel? If so x 3, that's surely an improvement?

(Oh, and Doozer ain't a troll by any description. :-)  )

Phil4432

Jeepers_Creepers said:

Phil4432 said:

Its a path on the neighbors land, which comes up to the wall.

Can't see if the channel with gravel is actually drained as such.  So there may be a build up of water in the channel.  Though below the dpc, it would be sitting on clay.

So what's got to be determined is whether the excess water will be drained, and if so to where.

So was there was always a path there? Tight against the house wall? And now there's a channel of gravel? If so x 3, that's surely an improvement?

(Oh, and Doozer ain't a troll by any description. :-)  )

There was always a path there, tight against the wall.  What my family are concerned with, is that the channel is just clay with gravel on top.  So though the gravel will deal with splashback as you say, in heavy rain it will just get full of water.

Was looking at the exterior of my own house this afternoon, I also have a ditch next to my house with gravel.  However, its against a lawn not a 4 feet wide path...

FreeBear

Do a percolation test. Even with a clay soil, I would expect water to drain away.

Jeepers_Creepers said: (Oh, and Doozer ain't a troll by any description. :-)  )

There are very few people here that I value their opinions. Doozergirl is one of them.

Phil4432

FreeBear said:

Do a percolation test. Even with a clay soil, I would expect water to drain away.

Understood, however if its concentrated in one area you don't want it draining/building up underneath the house really.  Question is, does building regs state if its ok or not.  If it is ok, there's not much that could be done about it anyway.  With regards to the dpc, the distance seems fine, and gravel will prevent splashback.