Hi All
Just looking for a bit of advice on land drainage.
The patio at the back of our property clearly has drainage issues. The land on which it lies is raised to a level of about three feet above the building itself and is accessed by steps up from the path around the house. Although I haven't yet lifted them to check, the flags appear to be laid directly onto clay without any sand base, and during the thawing of recent snows the surface became, for want of a better word, very "squelchy" underfoot.
My first thought is to dig up the patio, lay the yellow plastic drainage pipes which I've found in other parts of the garden and which are perforated on their upper edge, and slope them down to drain into a soakaway which I will create in the garden at the level of the building. I'll then lay a sand base over the pipes and patio area and replace the flagstones.
The patio is probably about 14'x12' at its widest point; would I need to lay several pipes and take them into one drain, or would one pipe in the middle of this area suffice? Or is there another way of successfully draining the patio area? Might digging out say, four inches of clay below the flags and filling the space with gravel, then topping it with sand make for good enough drainage to render the laying of pipes unnecessary?
I'm floundering a bit here, having never had drainage issues concerning any previous property that we've lived in.
Thanks in advance.
Thanks.
Just looking for a bit of advice on land drainage.
The patio at the back of our property clearly has drainage issues. The land on which it lies is raised to a level of about three feet above the building itself and is accessed by steps up from the path around the house. Although I haven't yet lifted them to check, the flags appear to be laid directly onto clay without any sand base, and during the thawing of recent snows the surface became, for want of a better word, very "squelchy" underfoot.
My first thought is to dig up the patio, lay the yellow plastic drainage pipes which I've found in other parts of the garden and which are perforated on their upper edge, and slope them down to drain into a soakaway which I will create in the garden at the level of the building. I'll then lay a sand base over the pipes and patio area and replace the flagstones.
The patio is probably about 14'x12' at its widest point; would I need to lay several pipes and take them into one drain, or would one pipe in the middle of this area suffice? Or is there another way of successfully draining the patio area? Might digging out say, four inches of clay below the flags and filling the space with gravel, then topping it with sand make for good enough drainage to render the laying of pipes unnecessary?
I'm floundering a bit here, having never had drainage issues concerning any previous property that we've lived in.
Thanks in advance.
Thanks.