Where to discharge drain

[hazelknut]

We have had persistent damp since moving in to our new house, likely coming in through the side wall. I was recommended to put in some channel or french drains to keep water away. Seems like a reasonable idea, but the problem I have is that our house is a semi, built into a hill sloping front to back, so the drains in the front are much too high and to access the drain at the rear would mean going around and under a big concrete slab and a substantial brick staircase.

I have seen videos online of french drains filled with gravel that don't seem to be connected to a sewer or soakaway (like this guy

). I'm really not keen to excavate the back of the house, and digging a soakaway in the garden is possible but seems like overkill. Should I just do it or will a gravel channel below the dpc be good enough to keep the house dry?

 

[blup]

Pretty sure he builds and connects to a soakaway

 

[blup]

He does a separate video on it

 

[blup]

Can you post some pics of the affected area, because if the ground slopes away at the rear a bridged or broken dpc is the more likely cause, or possibly leaking gutters or drains.

 

[hazelknut]

Can you post some pics of the affected area, because if the ground slopes away at the rear a bridged or broken dpc is the more likely cause, or possibly leaking gutters or drains.

I am pretty sure that is also the case, but I still need to sort out the drainage at the side of the house. When we moved in the soil was one or 2 bricks above the dpc. I've dug it out now so the dpc is a couple of bricks above ground and thinking about options to finish it off.