The alleyway between our neighbours house and ours is uneven and water lodges in pools which is causing penetrating damp in a section of our wall. I want to put a drainage channel close to our wall leading to a manhole at one end. Is this difficult to do? Can I hire a grinder and cut this out and fit some sort of pre-cast drainage sections with a metal grille on top (which I'm sure I've seen in Wickes?) Has anybody else done this?
In article , DIY Novice writes
Do you need to go that deep? A couple of inches might do. Would it be easier to remove the path and lay a new / better one? - would look better.
You will probably be better off re-laying the path, "Accodrain" (the type of drain you saw in Wickes) is a) expensive and also b) unsightly. If you do re-lay, what you need to do is to break up the existing path (use a sledgehammer, or hire an electric concrete breaker), dispose of the concrete in a skip (possibly take the opportunity to dig out the surface below damp, a big problem with old houses is build-up of soil level due to never digging out and removing spoil). To re-lay, put down and consolidate (by treading/tamping will do) some hard-core, fit up formwork (boards on edge nailed to stakes) 6-9" away from the walls each side, with a suitable fall. Fill in with concrete. Allow to harden for a week, remove formwork, fill troughs at side of path with 20mm topsize pea gravel. Sounds like much work, but it's not too bad - not too expensive, either, and you will get a better job than hacking out a trough.
J.B.
The drainage channels are expensive, the new path may be cheeper. It also sounds like the path is too high, it should be 2-3 bricks bewlow the DPC.
Rick
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