DIY Garage Soakaway!

sujsuj

While my numerous other DIY projects are progressing, I'm starting yet another one 😐️

This time it's the long-pending soakaway for my garage. Previously, one side had rainwater just pour onto the concrete area, and the other side pipe went under the soil. I've noticed water flooding from the pipe that going under assume that means soak-away failure of sort.

This has been going on for the last 2 years. Now I've decided to go for a DIY soakaway using crates.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDq20vU1P14

I saw above video and it looks manageable. My main question following the video is whether that's a good option? is there any other tips form people done similar job?.

I've also seen soakaways mentioned in sales deed documents — is there a way I need to inform the council to inform future owners, of where the soakaway is on my property? whats the process for that?

Gonk1967

Depends on how permeable the underlying soil is. Soakaways should be located at least 5m from a structure and generally 2.5m from a boundary. Do a soakaway test to BRE 365 to determine the size of it.

Section62

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6684666/diy-garage-soakaway

My main question following the video is whether that's a good option?

You've got a big garden, so you don't need to have a buried and difficult to maintain soakaway… just dig yourself a pond somewhere out of the way, run the surface water drainage to the pond. Plant some bullrushes or something in the banks to make it look pretty. Put a fence up around the pond to keep children and hedgehogs out.

When/if the water level regularly reaches the drain outfall, hire a mini-digger for a day to clear the silt out of the bottom of the pond. If the soil is permeable (which it needs to be anyway for a soakaway) you'll probably be good for 20+ years before needing to do anything other than feel proud to be doing your bit for wildlife.

Crated soakaways are great where space is a premium and needed for parking or lawns. But not the best solution where you've got plenty of space, nor where the ground has low permeability.

Cheslea2010

We did one for a small extension at our old house and simply dug a 1 x 1 x 1m hole, lined it with geo-textile and filled it with crushed concrete.

Never had any issue with it. Just make sure you don't backfill too high. Leave at least 10-12 inches for a good layer of topsoil or you will end up with a square patch in the grass.

FreeBear

We did one for a small extension at our old house and simply dug a 1 x 1 x 1m hole, lined it with geo-textile and filled it with crushed concrete.

The advantage of SUDS crates is that they can hold considerably more water than a pit filled with rubble. If you have a soil with reduced permeability, having the ability to store water (that will slowly percolate away) is an advantage. Even on high permeable soils, having the extra storage capacity means the drain won't overflow in most extreme downpours.

Used a couple of SUDS crates when I dug a new soakaway for my garage roof. Being on sand, don't have to worry too much about freak downpours. But the capacity is there should it ever be needed.

Slinky

When we extended our house, the builder uncovered the existing soakaway where we were extending to. He just wanted to dig out a hole and bung concrete/broken bricks etc in it, but we got him to dig out and put crates in. Given we have a 4 bed house which has two single storey extensions, plus our double and our neighbour's double garage all feeding into our garden soakaway, I wasn't at all convinced that digging a hole and mostly filling it up again would do the job.