Options for improving drainage of an area near my house

[danlightbulb]

The guttering drip needs to be fixed yes but it's not terrible and isn't directly causing any of the water pooling. It's just the lie of the ground as there was no continuous fall away from the area to direct water on the ground away. Even just normal rain falls onto the path then sits there as it has nowhere to go.

The area is so awkwardly shaped and narrow, it will be difficult for me to pave it nicely with slabs especially without doing the whole patio. I'm thinking of a compacted sub base then a thin ish (1 inch) concrete layer smoothed out to fall away from the house.

 

[Ivor Windybottom]

You can't just tip it into your neighbour's house. Even if it's all your land that would definitely be negligent and make you liable for any damp issues they have.

 

[danlightbulb]

You can't just tip it into your neighbour's house. Even if it's all your land that would definitely be negligent and make you liable for any damp issues they have.

Im not proposing to, why do you think I am?

The water that lands on the shared access path between the houses needs to flow downhill, round the corner into my back gate, round the corner infront of my back doorstep, and then down my patio onto my grass. That's the only path it can go downhill.

 

[Ivor Windybottom]

Sculpting concrete is a lot more tricky than you think it will be. When you're patting one area down, the neighbouring parts are going up and/or levelling out. You'll probably end up with puddles in random places.

If you have a decent slope left to right on your diagram then you should be fine. I'd pave it, with slabs bedded on concrete and pointed between. Put 45 degree mitres in on the two changes of direction. It will look really nice and you can level each slab to ensure you aren't creating any puddles.

For that 1m wide path between the houses, I'd have a 100mm strip of 20mm gravel down each edge then two 400mm slabs, tipped inwards and pointed between to create a central trough that carries the water firstly away from the houses, then towards the back garden.

The gradient only needs to be tiny, perhaps 1 in 80. It wouldn't be obviously visible, it would just look like an nice path. Smoother slabs are better, not the riven ones that hold pools all over the place.

Use a string line for each edge and a gradient level or standard level with a block under one end for each slab.

 

[danlightbulb]

Here's more photos of the area.

 

[Ivor Windybottom]

It's hard to tell from photos but I don't think you have a huge amount of fall to play with. You need to measure accurately, then work out what heights you need where to give a 1 in 80 ish fall everywhere so that a raindrop landing anywhere ends up getting safely escorted away to round the back.