Rain water pooling on patio

boongywoongy

MikeJXE said:

2 different levels of concrete so where is the dpc ?

Where does the main house roof drain and is it possible to access it with a land drain ? 

The is a drain in the garage type building but I'm not confident enough to demolish the patio concrete and into the dwelling if I'm honest. I am now considering digging a hole in the middle of the garden to install a soak away. Does kind of drain do people think is needed?

boongywoongy

twopenny said:

The water isn't coming through that hole under the higher concrete is it?

Good work so far

Unfortunately, I suspect that this is happening as I see wet floor in the adjacent garage floor. Is it possible to seal it up with something like sand and cement?

boongywoongy

Farway said:

Not knowing the surrounding land / gardens excavating the garden to level it may actually make it lower than the surrounding area and turn your garden into a pond area

And remember, a soak away needs somewhere to soak away to. What is the underlying soil? Clay would be backbreaking, chalk would be lovely.

I think you require a bit more investigation into the surrounding area, are you in a low spot, was it the village pond before your house went there?

Do the gardens either side of you have similar problems, or just you?

I'm not aware of any problems. One side is a drive that leads to an apartment block and I don't think that there is any issue with the rear or neighbour on the remaining side.

twopenny

You could but cold wet conditions aren't the greatest for concreting anything. And if it's wet inside...........

There is the adhesive for bricks, I've got some to stick stubborn block pavers down. Just a bit of that at the exit as a temporary fix may do it.

Or, rather than seal in the damp you could bundle some cling film and stuff in the exit. If it reduces the water on the patio you can do a proper job when the weather picks up.

By then you may have some ideas for what you want longterm out there.

I'd start with grass seed, just some cheap stuff to begin and see if you can get more to drink up the moisture from what is now boggy.

That but you cleared at the edge of the concrete is puddling. You could dig a small trench along there and let it take some of the water.

boongywoongy

twopenny said:

The water isn't coming through that hole under the higher concrete is it?

Good work so far

No, I don't believe that the water is coming in from the hole in the higher concrete as the water does seem to flow towards it from the trench on the other side.


I'm going to dig down in the middle of the garden (where the soak away is potentially going to go) to see what material lies beneath and to see if we come across a water table level.

boongywoongy

Decided to dig a hole to investigate the garden material. Went down about 40 cm and it's been all soil so far (with the exception of some tree roots). Will keep going until the depth that I need for a soakaway crate. 

MikeJXE

If you don’t come across clay soil the bottom of the soak away will need to me 1m below the concrete slab level and about 1.2m square filled with rubble 

A trench .6m deep the full width of the garden land drain  style and a fall in the pipework to the soak away

If it was me I would smash up the concrete and connect it to the drain below the kitchen window via a trap 

twopenny

You've got good soil there by the look of it. Promising.

I'd leave the tree roots to rot.

What is curious is that there is no stone in there. The mix of stone in soil allows drainage in beds.

But that soil doesn't look sodden. I wonder if the water is running off the surface and not soaking in for some reason.

The tree roots are very much on the surface which they shouldn't be. Means there was more moisture on the surface than beneath and possibily the rain wasn't sinking in. It's really wrong. Looks like someone tipped a load of top soil there as you're not getting down to sub soil.

Is the concrete between the conservatory and the door level?

Guessing you don't want to go digging it up now but it's very oddly and inconveniently positioned.

Could you chip away a channel at the front of the drain surround and make an escape for the pooling water - for now.

The roots will rot down on their own pretty quickly

You could always may a reflective pool with stepping stones outside the conservatory

Always wanted one of those

https://www.michaeltwitelandscapes.co.uk/contemporary.html

Scroll down to Water channel