Drainage

[Vic Perrin]

I have a large patio area that is would you believe it getting quite amount of surface water lying in it. Nothing like the poor people that are getting flooded out bless em!

I am looking at removing one of the 600x600 slabs and putting in a soak away.

Where can I get a grate or something to replace the slab?

Cheers

Vic

 

[MMUK]

Nothing I can think of that won't cost a fortune (ie; industrial or marine grade stuff).

It would probably be a lot more cost effective to use a section of driveway gutter and cut a few slabs down.

 

[carlb40]

Will the slab be from the edge or will it be further in the patio area? If it's within the patio area why not make a feature of it and use coloured gravel/ slate chippings etc as a topping to the gravel underneath.

 

[Cheshirechappie]

If the surface water is only there for a relatively short time (an hour or so) I wouldn't bother about it. If it's hanging around for days, something probably should be done.

It may be worth relaying part of the patio to a fall (posh word for 'very slight slope' - about 1 in 100 is quite steep enough usually) so that the water runs off to somewhere safe (not the neighbour's patio, or you'll have a dispute on your hands!). It's regarded as good practice to have the high points by the house or other buildings, and arrange the falls away from there. You may be able to do it by arranging a sort of very shallow (but wide) channel from about the mid-point of the patio to a safe discharge point, thus minimising the work needed.

Soakaways can be a bit hit-and-miss unless they're very large, especially in relatively impermeable soils such as clays, but a decent sized pit mostly filled with large rubble, topped by gravel and (as Carl suggested) a 'feature' topping would probably work.

 

[John15]

How about using a domestic plastic gulley grating which would be about 200mm square, then concrete the surround to tie in to the surrounding slabs.
Cheers,
John

 

[Vic Perrin]

Will the slab be from the edge or will it be further in the patio area? If it's within the patio area why not make a feature of it and use coloured gravel/ slate chippings etc as a topping to the gravel underneath.

Like this idea , I could lift a slab in the centre of the patio area which is the worst affected dig down 3 or 4 feet and fill with small gravel. Top this of with a nice coloured gravel or some decorative topping and it may work. Any feedback on this please

Vic

 

[Deejay]

Evening Vic

Have a mooch round ...

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

Cheers

Dave

 

[Harbo]

Soakaways only work if the water soaks away - if not you are creating a storage tank or pond.
Check by digging a hole and chuck some water in - you can time it and work out the soakage rate but that's probably going a bit too far for most folks.
If the water stays trapped then think of another solution.
1:100 is too flat for most areas as any slight irregularities will create ponding better to go for 1:60 or 1:80 ( the normal cross fall on pavements and highway carriageways is 1:40)

Rod

 

[Vic Perrin]

Soakaways only work if the water soaks away - if not you are creating a storage tank or pond.
Check by digging a hole and chuck some water in - you can time it and work out the soakage rate but that's probably going a bit too far for most folks.
If the water stays trapped then think of another solution.
1:100 is too flat for most areas as any slight irregularities will create ponding better to go for 1:60 or 1:80 ( the normal cross fall on pavements and highway carriageways is 1:40)

Rod

Thanks for the info Rod, the lying water does eventually soak away naturally I think the problem is just down to the amount of rain we have had over the last six weeks. The sub soil is very sandy/ gravelly you only have to dig down 18" and you are in good sand/gravel. It's only just nuisance water I am talking about and I think just lifting a slab and digging down to make a soak away so that the water can soak away a bit quicker. When the weather picks up I will take your point on board and try a soak away test.

Cheers

Vic

 

[Grahamshed]

Depending on your soil type I think Carls idea is a good one. maybe a nice tall flowerpot in the middle ?

 

[Vic Perrin]

Depending on your soil type I think Carls idea is a good one. maybe a nice tall flowerpot in the middle ?

Yes Graham, I think this the way I am going to go ( when it stops peeing it down!!)

Vic

 

[Grahamshed]

Depending on your soil type I think Carls idea is a good one. maybe a nice tall flowerpot in the middle ?

Yes Graham, I think this the way I am going to go ( when it stops peeing it down!!)

Vic

Putting in a soak away will probably guarantee that it never rains enough to cause the problem again.

Just think, you hold the future of the UK in your hands