Laying a drainage channel

[DIYC]

Hi,

I'm planning some work in the garden and one of the improvements I'm considering is a drainage channel (like Aco Hexdrain).

I want to put the channel tight to the house and then block pave up to it.

I'm lucky in that the only pipes on the outside of the house are rainwater drain pipes so there's nothing tricky to go round.
I'm assuming the hexdrain will just plug in (over the top) of the drain pipe and I can cut the drain pipe at the bottom just above the new grate?

My confusion comes though in actually laying the channels.

Stuff I've read so far suggests you bed them in concrete with a minimum of 2 inches of concrete on each side of the channel.

Question 1, I want to put them flush to the house/conservatory, I'm sure I've seen other people who have done this, is that okay or is that going to cause issues later with damp?

Question 2, all the vids on you tube etc show the person doing the work taping up the drain and then smoothing concrete around both sides.

I don't want it concreted, I want to block pave, so what do I do here?

I know Aco make an ultra slim channel for block paving, but for maintenance reasons I'd prefer to use the standard ones.

I was hoping the channel would be deep enough that I could cement the bottom half in and leave enough depth to compact my base and then lay blocks, but having been to a yard this morning that doesn't look likely either.

All tips and advice will be appreciated!

Thanks in advance...


C.

 

[Thermo]

yes they are deep enough. sit it on a bed of damp mix to get it levelled then haunch the mix up against it to get it held in place. It will still leave plenty of space to get the block paving up against it. the blocks against it will be the edging blocks, so they should be bedded on a damp mix as well.

 

[DIYC]

Thanks Thermo,

So it sounds like I should...

Dig out the path.
Put a hardcore base down and compact it.
Put a damp mix along the edge and set my drain channels and first row of blocks in the damp mix.
Once that's done, put my dry mix/sand down, level it and put the rest of the blocks on top.

That sound right?


Thanks again.

C.

 

[Thermo]

pretty much!