[Gazza1976]

HI,

I have a patio that slopes toward my house. It was like it when I moved in. When it rains the soakaway cannot cope with the amount of water from the patio and the roof gutter(I have had the soakaway cleared at great expense but it does not make any difference) A large puddle forms (up against the brickwork of the house) and take between 45mins to a couple of hours to soakaway. The patio is only just over one course below the damp course!! I have dug a trench 7 inchs from the house wall and so far about 9 deep, the trench is about 4meters long. I have been looking at putting a french drain systerm in however they all have pipes in the bottom. I have nowhere for a pipe to connect to as the soak away is to high. So will it be okay to just use a old fashion french drian and fill with stones?
Is this going to course problems with the foundations?

Thanks in advance.
Gazza.

 

[Blondesense]

Soakaway? Where are you located?

How large is the patio?

 

[Gazza1976]

The patio is approximately 6m by 6m, There is a gully in the corner with a down pipe from the guttering. I have traced the pipe under the guttering and it goes away from the house so I assume it is a soakaway.

 

[concretemasonry]

Where are you located (climate, rainfall, seasons, etc.) and what is a "soakaway"?? There could be many different ideas from different people what you have, but the responses given may not be helpful if they are based on guesses.

Dick

 

[Blondesense]

"Soakaways are a traditional way of disposing of surface water from buildings remote from a suitable public sewer or watercourse. A soakaway must have capacity to store immediate run-off from roofs and hard surfaces and the water must then be able to disperse into the surrounding soil quickly enough for the soakaway to be able to cope with the next storm."

The above is from a UK.gov website. Doesn't really narrow it down much.

From a quick Google it sounds like soakaways could mean anything from a drywell, to a french drain, to something akin to a septic drain field, to....?

Dick is right, to get specific relevant advice, we gotta know what you're starting out with. And where you are.

Pics are always good.

 

[Gazza1976]

I live in Thatcham uk. It is a house built in the 50s so I am almost positve that it is a old soakaway, the pipes underground run away from the house. The patio is approx 6 x 6m.



Thanks for the help.

 

[AllanJ]

Dig a pit at the lower end of the soakaway. PUt a sump pump in the pit to get rid of the water that accuumulates.