ACO or Land drain

[Knightrider2691]

Hello. For some weeks I have been trying to determine the best way to lessen the amount of water that seeps through the wall at the front of the property. There is a cellar under all rooms and a slope within the cellar from front to back. An amount of water seeps into the cellar and runs out the back via mortar channels. The property is below the road level (approx 1.5 metres) see image. The driveway, path to the side and the area at the front of the property is block paved. The lighter area is made up of 2 foot flags and open beds. I have not determined whether there is a high water table but the thoughts are that seepage into the cellar is primarily as a result of run off from the paved areas that fall toward the front walls plus roof water that goes into the gulleys marked by a red dot and any connectivity issues there and subsequent leakage. The pipe between the two gulleys has small disjoints but the insurance company say that it is serviceable and in need of no repair. In time i intend to have that run patch lined. One contractor said that a land drain across the front, dug down the pertinent depth having took the dimension from inside the cellar, would be the best solution and an ACO on top. I am not convinced of this method because most water would run off the paved areas and not soak through the gaps and any water that falls into the beds would go down and soak away. One thought I had is to install the ACO wall to wall and into the main drain at the side of the property (blue arrow as per the image) and see how things improve as well as maintaining the integrity of the gulley connections and pipe between both. At a later date and when i am relandscaping I could, if need be, introduce a soakaway and / or french drains under the flagged area. Just looking for some comment ref natural soakage and run off. Thank you.

 

[Deleted member 323070]

Is the majority of your frontage impermeable landscaping?
If so, that's your main cause.

You probably would not be allowed to feed surface water from your wall to wall ACO into your main drainage.

Any inspection from planning/local water company would probably result in them advising you to remove your impermeable paving.

 

[blup]

Hello. For some weeks I have been trying to determine the best way to lessen the amount of water that seeps through the wall at the front of the property. There is a cellar under all rooms and a slope within the cellar from front to back. An amount of water seeps into the cellar and runs out the back via mortar channels. The property is below the road level (approx 1.5 metres) see image. The driveway, path to the side and the area at the front of the property is block paved. The lighter area is made up of 2 foot flags and open beds. I have not determined whether there is a high water table but the thoughts are that seepage into the cellar is primarily as a result of run off from the paved areas that fall toward the front walls plus roof water that goes into the gulleys marked by a red dot and any connectivity issues there and subsequent leakage. The pipe between the two gulleys has small disjoints but the insurance company say that it is serviceable and in need of no repair. In time i intend to have that run patch lined. One contractor said that a land drain across the front, dug down the pertinent depth having took the dimension from inside the cellar, would be the best solution and an ACO on top. I am not convinced of this method because most water would run off the paved areas and not soak through the gaps and any water that falls into the beds would go down and soak away. One thought I had is to install the ACO wall to wall and into the main drain at the side of the property (blue arrow as per the image) and see how things improve as well as maintaining the integrity of the gulley connections and pipe between both. At a later date and when i am relandscaping I could, if need be, introduce a soakaway and / or french drains under the flagged area. Just looking for some comment ref natural soakage and run off. Thank you.

Your suggestion seems sensible, draining surface water won’t necessarily address more fundamental causes like the water table and ground saturation from highway run off . Minimising expenditure to start with makes sense. Ultimately the solution might be to tank the whole thing with internal sumps

 

[Knightrider2691]

Is the majority of your frontage impermeable landscaping?
If so, that's your main cause.

You probably would not be allowed to feed surface water from your wall to wall ACO into your main drainage.

Any inspection from planning/local water company would probably result in them advising you to remove your impermeable paving.

Thanks for your input. Yes the front is primarily block and flagged paving. The main sewer to hook into is run off water so from what I have seen there would be no problem running the ACO into that.

 

[Knightrider2691]

Your suggestion seems sensible, draining surface water won’t necessarily address more fundamental causes like the water table and ground saturation from highway run off . Minimising expenditure to start with makes sense. Ultimately the solution might be to tank the whole thing with internal sumps

Thank you. What are the internal sumps you refer to?

 

[blup]

Thank you. What are the internal sumps you refer to?

They might be necessary if say a high water table creates constant pressure, which will eventually overcome the tanking. So the excess water collects and is drawn off drawn off from the cavity, after it enters the wall but before it pierces the newly constructed inner tanked wall.

 

[blup]

This is an insight into the stages of a full blown renovation