Backfilling after drainage work..

[Dougie212]

Hi there,

I don't really know if this is the right forum to put this..

I have just dug out quite a large area of our courtyard of our mid terrace house. The courtyard is full of sand that I think was mixed with a bit of ballast whenever it was done judging by the odd stone in it.... The issue I've got now is that Ive done my drainage work, and want to fill in the hole... so I'll be putting pea shingle over the new drainage pipes, but the remaining 'stuff' that came out of the hole is sand.... which is soaking wet and now clay like.. as is the rest of the courtyard. Granted it doesn't get much sun light so I don't expect it to be dry but the drainage of the area seems to be shocking. The whole area is a clay like solid wet sandy mess. Im looking to put gravel down as a topping, but wonder if people would advise to take some of the sand away and backfill it with something else or am I making work for my self? Im also just wondering what I should put onto of the pea shingle to help drainage for the area.

Thanks in advance as always!!

 

[tomfe]

Is your drainage to help with ground drainage or for the property?
Do you get standing water?

 

[Dougie212]

We don’t get standing water no, it’s just really claggy... and is not noticed until I dug the underground drains out to do the work... I was intending on putting more gravel to cover the pipe work but didn’t know if filling the whole lot with gravel would help and whether the sand/ballast would affect the brick work over time and retain damp..
I’m thinking it’s more to help drainage around the property to prevent any more damp and to assist with draining the ground as it’s so shaded and doesn’t see very much sun