Patio above Damp proof course

[stevek54]

I want to build a patio that comes level with the door ledge of my bi-folding doors so that we can step in and out of the house without much of a step up or down. Is there a way of doing this without interferring with the DPC? I've attached a picture of the back door and hardcore already laid ontop of which we will lay paving

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• stevek54
• 6 Mar 2014
• 1

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[ban-all-sheds]

I want to build a patio that comes level with the door ledge of my bi-folding doors so that we can step in and out of the house without much of a step up or down. Is there a way of doing this without interferring with the DPC?

Yes - you need a gap between the edge of the patio and the house. Since water will get into it you need to make sure it can drain away properly, not fill up.

http://www.pavingexpert.com/dpc01.htm


You could consider making a feature of it by partially filling it with crushed glass over an LED ropelight.

I've attached a picture of the back door and hardcore already laid ontop of which we will lay paving

No you haven't.

 

[stevek54]

Thanks ban-all-sheds. I have attached a picture now.

 

[trowlerman]

not a great idea as you have rendered walls so you will get splash up when it rains , you could leave a 6 inch gravel strip against the house

 

[ree]

Agree with trowlerman, actually combining trowlerman and bas's crushed glass and rope light in the gap might be the way to go.

Truth is, its nearly always a bad idea to bridge the DPC or come up to render, esp. when there's no structural, or site, requirement for doing it.

bas, can you talk more on the crushed glass (and rope light) business - loose crushed glass is a new one for me.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

not a great idea as you have rendered walls so you will get splash up when it rains , you could leave a 6 inch gravel strip against the house

Or install a patio roof - stops the rain splash, allows you to have the doors open in summer even if it rains, allows you to sit out there ditto. Something which will become increasingly useful if we get more and more wet summers.

In winter, if you have pots, you can drag them close to the house, and a roof will hold off all but the most severe frosts.

I've got one - can't imagine being without it.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

bas, can you talk more on the crushed glass (and rope light) business - loose crushed glass is a new one for me.

http://images.google.com/images?q=crushed+glass

Sold as a decorative aggregate for gardens (but if you want more than a few handfuls, garden centres are not the places to buy it).

All sorts of colours. Usually been tumbled so that it doesn't cut you to ribbons when you use it.

Also used set into clear resin for kitchen worktops, or in a concrete mix which you then polish for a floor.

And if you're going to do something like these:

you can use crushed glass instead of gravel, and bury a weatherproof LED rope light in it.

 

[ree]

bas,

thank you for the detailed information.

 

[stevek54]

So looking at the diagram is it possible to have the patio at a height above the blue bricks as long as I put a gravel barrier between the patio and the house and put a polypipe or french drain in the gravel to take away water?

 

[tony1851]

Or few old broken milk bottles.