Do rules exist about angling rain fall away from house?

Bit of a random one - I have an issue where the drive is angled up towards the house, the builders have then built a small grassy slope down towards the house.

The two issues - the airbricks are too low which I have found the NHBC regs for, the other is that when it rains, the slope gets muddy as there is no drainage, and the rain is splashing mud at the wall meaning a muddy patch is constantly being formed on the front wall of the house - very unattractive.

I cannot find any rules or regulations about directing rainfall away from the house, or avoiding it being bounced towards the house - do they exist?

Brand new house or old house or what? If new are you the original and first owner? Extension? Builders still on site? Questions questions ......

Got some photos too?

House is 18 months old, builders not on site anymore but are coming back to take a look and hear my complaint under warranty.

Havent got photos on me but will take some tonight if it shows under flash. Assuming a head on one showing the tidal mark on the wall, and a side one showing the angle?

Sorry, shoddy pictures, but difficult for me to be home in daylight until the weekend!

Pic 1 showing the hazing where the rain is splashing the mud back - more obvious in daylight, also I washed it recently trying to reduce how awful it looked



Pic 2 trying to show the angle, I couldn't get a decent photo showing the angle in the dark, but you at least get a bit of an impression - shows how waterlogged it is at least, its always like it

Cant see you getting far with the builders, dpc should be a minimum 150mm from finished ground level...Remove the grass and replace with chips to stop the splashback again the builders will probably deny liability.

Where's the dpc? I don't really see the problem.

To be honest, if the builders remove the grass and replace with chips or gravel I would be happy enough - more then happy to be realistic with my expectations.

DPC is impossible to see, but the airbricks are just under 70mm from the ground, if they are within limits - then fine, but I hope they are willing to do something about the rain splashing mud at the house - its going above where the dpc should be, and looks god awful if I don't scrub at it every month

Freddy, the issue I am having is the muddy patch of wall between the airbrick and the grey cable cover - it just grows and grows each month and I have to keep scrubbing it to reduce the look, and the ground is just a boggy mess impossible to maintain as it is just swampy.

The dpc will be just above the air bricks the builders will tell you to gravel it yourself. There are no issues which would require remedial works by the builders.

Ok, thanks - least I know where I stand re dpc and airbricks. I do beg to differ re the muddy ground, but I suspect the builders wont see it the same way!

Sorry but you will get nowhere with this one, there is no problem worthy of action from your builder or warranty provider.

Muddy ground!

+





=

freddymercurystwin said:

+

=

Click to expand...

No sh*t Sherlock Done that several times already, its a temporary solution as the ground is angled towards the house, and if I replace the soil with pebbles for example, the pebbles will have to be steeply angled away from the drive towards the house, and I will forever be repairing the fall of the stones as its too steep an angle to be self supporting, and if I let them level out the airbricks will be blocked creating a different problem.

Sorry what was the problem again?

Sorry, I didn't mean to come across so annoyed in my post, you have been helpful.

Your right in that I can clean it up each time, and in theory taking the soil out and replacing with chipping or stones will work, I suppose I am annoyed with the builders because in every other industry if you make a mistake - you make it good - but these guys have consistently had the attitude of "yeah we made a mistake, its your issue to sort out" and I have had to involve the NHBC for everything from the front doorstep being a cold bridge to holes and cracks in the render as the builders simply refuse to accept they have done anything wrong.

That said, its not you that did wrong, so I apologise for responding in an arsey fashion - I was in a bad mood and responded badly.

All I want the builder to do is to level the ground correctly, involving fixing the driveway and patio leading up to that point properly, I am more then happy to then sort out the soil and the mark myself, but unless the ground is at the right level I end up with a steeply angled mess to resolve every couple of weeks, that will be a trip hazard for the postman and anyone else that comes up my drive including the neighbours kids and friends who run around it as its next to their front door - I want to avoid being responsible for any broken ankles!

Its in the hands of the NHBC now who on initial discussion think I have a claim based on the angle of the ground driving rain, and standing water within a foot of the house, so will wait to see what happens there - if I win great, if I lose - guess I will be paying a builder to make it good