Advice on building a patio in a garden sloping towards house?

[Barrattnewbuild]

I am in the process getting quotes from landscapers to have a patio installed in my garden.

Currently, my garden consists of turf on a fairly steep slope towards the house. The house is a new build so I'm guessing the soil quality is poor and is mainly clay based.

My house has air bricks near ground level with a section of gravel between the grass and the house (see photo). I don't know what is underneath this gravel.

I would like the section directly beside the house excavated and levelled for the patio, with the rest of the grass behind the patio remaining on a slope towards the house and retained with a timber wall.

One landscaper has told me having the gravel section around the house will be sufficient for drainage which I am unsure of. He has said he could also install a drainage channel in front of the gravel to reassure me but I don't think this would look good. I am guessing the gradient of the patio in this case would be slightly sloping towards the house.

The second landscaper has told me in no circumstances should you slope a patio towards a house and he has said he would create a gravel border in front of the retaining wall in the middle of the garden and slope the patio slightly towards this. My concern is this means the middle of the garden would be receiving drainage from both the grass on one side sloping towards it and the patio on the other also sloping towards it from the other direction.

Please can anyone advise on this? Thank you.

 

[^woody^]

Do not have a poxy gravel border. And I'd say steer clear of any numpty that recommends one.

If need be, paving can slope towards a building, but it will need something to deal with the water run-off. The more clever, proper firms will design permeable paving or a drainage channel in to the design, or fit proprietary drainage - the ACCO surface type drain is ubiquitous but a bit industrial.

 

[Barrattnewbuild]

Do not have a poxy gravel border. And I'd say steer clear of any numpty that recommends one.

If need be, paving can slope towards a building, but it will need something to deal with the water run-off. The more clever, proper firms will design permeable paving or a drainage channel in to the design, or fit proprietary drainage - the ACCO surface type drain is ubiquitous but a bit industrial.

Thank you. One of the landscapers did mention an aco channel when I said I was concerned but they don't look great. If I did this would you recommend it being in front of my gravel border adjacent to the house with the slope of the patio towards the house, or in front of the retaining wall with the slope going away? I'm not sure if the second option would even be possible because it is too far away from the drain pipe?

 

[noseall]

Do not have a poxy gravel border. And I'd say steer clear of any numpty that recommends one.

If need be, paving can slope towards a building, but it will need something to deal with the water run-off. The more clever, proper firms will design permeable paving or a drainage channel in to the design, or fit proprietary drainage - the ACCO surface type drain is ubiquitous but a bit industrial.

Correct....

Drain1

• noseall
• 8 Apr 2022

Drain2

• noseall
• 8 Apr 2022

Drain 3

• noseall
• 8 Apr 2022
• 1

 

[noseall]

Do not have a poxy gravel border.

I detest gravel borders and their lazy installers. We did a patio a year ago and the client INSISTED we put a gravel border in, even though I was dealing with the water run-off...

Planter6

• noseall
• 22 Apr 2021

Planter4

• noseall
• 22 Apr 2021

Planter3

• noseall
• 22 Apr 2021

Planter1

• noseall
• 22 Apr 2021

 

[Barrattnewbuild]

The problem with that is I think the only way I can not have a gravel border is by significantly lowering the ground level due to the air bricks being so low. There would be a huge step out of my patio doors and also a higher retaining wall.

 

[^woody^]

The problem with that is I think the only way I can not have a gravel border is by significantly lowering the ground level due to the air bricks being so low. There would be a huge step out of my patio doors and also a higher retaining wall.

I don't understand that at all. Have your read the posts above?

Put in drainage, angle the surface to it. Why is that a problem?

 

[Barrattnewbuild]

I don't understand that at all. Have your read the posts above?

Put in drainage, angle the surface to it. Why is that a problem?

Yes I have read them. Maybe I'm not understanding something. But what I'm trying to say is that currently my lowest point of the ground in my garden (i.e. the lowest point of the sloped grass near the house) is the same height as the top of air bricks (air bricks are below ground level). The only way it can be like that is because there is a gap between this and the house filled with the gravel, with space for the air bricks to ventilate. If I remove the gravel I will need to put the patio right up to the house. I can't do that at the same height as the lowest point right now because it would completely submerge the air bricks. So I would need to make the patio a few bricks lower than what I would keeping the gravel to ensure the air bricks are above the ground. Correct me if wrong.

 

[^woody^]

If you don't want a full surface channel along the house, then what you would do is find a suitable type that you like, buy one channel and cut it to the width of the air brick and lay it in front of the air brick so that it vents from the surface flush with the paving. the back will be cut out of the channel in front of the air brick

You can always paint a channel surface grid to mimic the paving if you can't get a type you like

There are lots of different types of surface drain

Or you can form a suitable housing in front of the air brick using the same principles as above, and fit a clay or plastic air brick horizontally

 

[JohnD]

I have the concrete "safeticurb" (sp?) flush with the block paving, it blends in well and just looks like a border. No trip hazard. has a drainage channel beneath the surface.

very heavy though.

 

[Barrattnewbuild]

Thank you. I just don't like the idea of the slope towards the house and think I will have a slope away from the house with an aco channel along the patio adjacent to retaining wall (have changed to brick wall instead of timber which will have weep vents) linked to drains where downpipes goes. Does this sound reasonable?

Basically this is the plan:

• Existing gravel strip will remain around house with recesses for air bricks below ground level. Gravel currently comes up to exactly the level of the DPC with air bricks below (not great I know).
• The porcelain patio will meet the same height as the gravel strip with no extra drainage put in here.
• Patio will slope away from house and towards brick retaining wall (not timber any more).
• There will be an aco drainage channel installed on the patio immediately in front of the retaining wall. This will be linked to existing downpipe drains.
• There will be weep vents in the retaining wall which will drain water from the existing grass (sloped towards patio/ retaining wall) onto the patio (but plan is for this to be drained into the aco channel above).