Hi guys, since buying our house last year work has continued unabated. We're just getting round to sorting the garden - when we bought the house, the damp was horrendous - paving on paving on concrete put the ground level of our 1900's Victorian detached home about 6 inches above DPC!
Very first task was to rip up all the old concrete and paving and voila, within weeks the damp had virtually disappeared. I excavated down to almost foundation level - a year later, no damp, but a garden that looks like Fred Flintstone's back yard.
I'm not in the process of putting the garden back. We have a number of problems with the damp proof course level - the biggest issue is that the connection to the mains sewers is high, meaning our waste pipes are relatively high (in relation to DPC) and hence I have no option but to restore ground level to close to DPC.
Having looked here: http://www.pavingexpert.com/dpc01.htm I think I can keep ground level to 75mm below DPC and was considering a dry channel arrangement. My question is does the base of the channel need to be bedded on concrete, or can I just edge the channel and let whatever water enters the channel drain naturally (the channel will be backfilled with 10-500mm decorative gravel). Getting a run to a drain is difficult, but the gutters all drain well away from the house and the house sits on chalk (the ground is like a sponge - even in the heaviest rains last year I never once saw a puddle)? I know this is far from ideal, but I'm really quite limited in options. Even a French drain with a perforated buried soakaway pipe is not an option as the sewerage waste pipes run parallel to the house wall on the side most affected, and aren't deep enough to allow the French drain / drained channel "on top".
I've attached a picture of the sort of arrangement I'm considering, albeit I'm simply thinking of not lining / bedding the channel along the base where it says "concrete" in the pictur, but allowing the water to drain straight into the chalk.
Thoughts and alternate options or things to consider would be most appreciated!!!!
Very first task was to rip up all the old concrete and paving and voila, within weeks the damp had virtually disappeared. I excavated down to almost foundation level - a year later, no damp, but a garden that looks like Fred Flintstone's back yard.
I'm not in the process of putting the garden back. We have a number of problems with the damp proof course level - the biggest issue is that the connection to the mains sewers is high, meaning our waste pipes are relatively high (in relation to DPC) and hence I have no option but to restore ground level to close to DPC.
Having looked here: http://www.pavingexpert.com/dpc01.htm I think I can keep ground level to 75mm below DPC and was considering a dry channel arrangement. My question is does the base of the channel need to be bedded on concrete, or can I just edge the channel and let whatever water enters the channel drain naturally (the channel will be backfilled with 10-500mm decorative gravel). Getting a run to a drain is difficult, but the gutters all drain well away from the house and the house sits on chalk (the ground is like a sponge - even in the heaviest rains last year I never once saw a puddle)? I know this is far from ideal, but I'm really quite limited in options. Even a French drain with a perforated buried soakaway pipe is not an option as the sewerage waste pipes run parallel to the house wall on the side most affected, and aren't deep enough to allow the French drain / drained channel "on top".
I've attached a picture of the sort of arrangement I'm considering, albeit I'm simply thinking of not lining / bedding the channel along the base where it says "concrete" in the pictur, but allowing the water to drain straight into the chalk.
Thoughts and alternate options or things to consider would be most appreciated!!!!