French Drain without the pipe

[FFCForever]

Hi All,
I've had a small patch of damp in my livingroom along the skirting, on inspection i noticed the the path on the outside wall of the house was slightly higher than floor level and there is pretty much permanently damp soil sitting up against my sandstone wall.

The path is about 1m wide between myself and another house with high walls either side, so it doesnt get lots of rain (or sun for that matter), however there is paving stones all along it meaning rainwater will drain off either side of the stones directly into the soil next to the walls.

I've dug out all the soil to a depth of around 12" and about 30cm wide from the wall, and also found lots of plastic bagging under the soil which must have been used to block weeds but would exacerbate my problem by preventing drying and drainage, and intended to put in a french drain.

However, i've noticed aftyer digging that all the rainfaill drains away quickly anyway and doesnt sit so im thinking rather than installing the pipe and draining it off to a hole filled with stone i was going to dig at the bottom of the path about 4-5 m away from the house, that i simply backfill with stones (pea grain).

In addition I was thinking about lining the trench with that fabric weed preventer you get, backfilling with stone until about an inch from the surface and then laying down the fabric weed preventer on top before finishing off the last inch, again with stone, rather than use a drain which would not get much use from what i can see due to the water draining away quickly anyway.

Does this sound reasonable?

Also, would there be any benefit in painting the wall with some sort of water repellant below the stone line prior to backfilling?

Im thinking as its sandstone that it may be better left to breathe but i know there are pro's around here who may know more than me.

 

[Deluks]

If the ground drains freely as you say then you probably don't need a pipe. The membrane near the surface covered with stones, will only break down whenever it walked on. Use a heavier fabric for driveway or landscaping and just use it at the bottom.

 

[FFCForever]

If the ground drains freely as you say then you probably don't need a pipe. The membrane near the surface covered with stones, will only break down whenever it walked on. Use a heavier fabric for driveway or landscaping and just use it at the bottom.

Many thanks for the advice, any thoughts on the treatment of the wall below stone level?

Is it work puting some sort of coating on it? And if so is it better to leave the area to dry for a while?

 

[Deluks]

I'd just stick a sheet of thick polythene against it stopped just below the surface. Don't do anything you can't undo until you see how you get on with the stones.

 

[rmawdsley]

You should be fine with just the clean stone acting as a soak away but whilst you've dug the hole for the minimal extra cost id buy a length of 4" land drain and some Terram. Make sure you wrap the Terram over the top as well so soil doesnt wash in to your french drain and silt it up.