Child Item

How to fix side of house drainage?

Hi all,

Long time lurker, first time poster!

I have a drainage issue on the side of my house which is causing issues when it rains heavily as the water just pools and has no where to go. Unfortunately the only stormwater points are under a driveway and are unlikely to work due to the levels of the property in this part of the house.

Option 1: using geofabric, scoria and the megaflo to create a French drain to drain out into the backyard into a soak well https://www.bunnings.com.au/reln-soakwell-rapid-flow_p4770021

After which I would put soil and grass on top.

Option 2: Same as above but instead of draining out to the backyard, connecting the megaflo to the bottom of a silt pit lifted up to the concrete level in the lowest corner then allowing the megaflo pipe to fill up and peculate out (hopefully evenly underground). Unsure if this will work but it will allow me an access point to pump water out in the event of very heavy rains.

Option 3: take much more soil out, sloping the ground away from the house backfilling with scoria, geofabric on top of the rocks then soil/grass on top. However don't think this would be ideal in case of very, very heavy rains.

Any thoughts / ideas?

Many thanks! 😀

Find more posts tagged with

Tools and Materials

Repairing

Plumbing

Landscaping

Comments

EricL

Hello @plentyofq

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community. It's sensational to have you join us, and thanks for sharing your question about your house drainage.

Between the three options, I would probably vote for the first one because if your Soakwell is done properly you should get good drainage, this is on the condition that you don't have clay soil underneath. If you do and the drainage is not that great, I suggest cutting a channel in your concrete walkway and redirecting the flow of water to the front where you might have a drain where you can connect to. I recommend linking it to a surface drain such as the Everhard 3m EasyDRAIN Polymer Grate And Prejoined Channel.

The other option of course is having an overflow pump, but this means that you'll need to find a way to layout the overflow pipework without it getting in the way.

Let me call on our experienced members @Dave-1 and @Nailbag for their recommendations.

If you have any other questions we can help with, please let us know.

Eric

Dave-1

Good Evening @plentyofq

I like option one as well out of your three. Tho as @EricL mentions clay could be an issue for the water being able to drain away long term.

How much concrete would you need to cut through before you get through it and head towards the road? And that made me re-read your question. So I take it your water level is pretty much the same as the gutter out front? Mmmm I am starting to head towards a sump pump of some kind with decent drainage pit.

So next question, yeah I always end up with a bunch of them 🙂 Before you dug the soil from your driveway, which way did the water tend to travel when you had heavy rain? Towards the shed at the back, under the house, towards the neighbours or down the front?

If the concrete isnt too far you could potentially use a hose inside a 50mm pvc pipe and gradually push your way through. Hard work yes but if you are lucky no concrete cutting. (Actually saw a video of it working tho havnt had a chance to do it myself)

Dave

Nailbag

Hi @plentyofq

Is cutting 100mm path across the driveway completely off the books?

Appears to me to be the only solution guaranteed to take all the water away once connected to the storm water system. The other options still potentially move the water issue from one area to another.

Nailbag

plentyofq

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/45346#Comment_45346

Thanks for your input @EricL !

Unfortunately I do have clay as I am in Melbourne's West. I was thinking of improving the drainage by removing a good chunk and backfilling with scoria, in addition to the soakwell. The lawn is in an extremely dry spot and gets full sun all day and hasn't had any drainage issues.

With the overflow pump, that could be an option, can you use it when it's raining? Which option would you suggest it for?

plentyofq

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/45349#Comment_45349

Hello @Dave-1 , no probs at all with the questions, got plenty myself, hence the username! 🙂

I have replied to Eric, would appreciate your feedback on it.

Back to your questions, there is a pipe there actually at the moment but I've found that water tended to sit underneath the pipe in the driveway and fall back to the property. I assume that there's not enough fall on it under the driveway to go out to the stormwater unless there is enough volume of water to push it down there. But even still, water was likely sitting there the hole time in the pipe and not flowing.

Previously before I dug the soil out I had a concrete strip there which was angled towards the house at some parts which was causing issues so had to be removed. Under which there was a PVC pipe connected to the abovementioned pipe under the driveway that came from a slit pit in the back of the property (that was connected to a downpipe) which used to overflow and had to be manually pumped out and water ended up coming back into the pit from the front. I was told to remove the concrete before I could get the house restumped. They did say that there was a bit of water coming off it.

Good idea about the pipe and house, I saw that on youtube as well! It would have to travel 3m, but I wonder if the existing pipe may get in the way? I did notice there have been rocks in the soil I dug up so I wonder if it may be too rocky for this endeavor?

Thanks again 🙂

plentyofq

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/45353#Comment_45353

Thanks @Nailbag

I was actually thinking of cutting a full strip down the driveway and running it down into stormwater but I was a bit concerned about the structural integrity of the driveway as it's very thick and reinforced. I was also planning on using this stormwater outlet to reangle the front gutter to it. I'm sure I could do both with a proper overflow as the last thing I would want is for the downpipe water to push back into this area!

Putting a strip down the driveway would hopefully result in less runoff from it leading into the problem area.

Dave-1

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/84806#Comment_84806

Afternoon @plentyofq

I wonder if you the existing pipe under the driveway is filled with sediment or roots? That could be causing the water to back up. Ive had old stormwater pipes compress over time down to a cm high, The old rules said no blue metal/scoria was needed around the pipe so they were just backfilled with clay/soil. Nowadays the ruling is different.

Clay takes forever to absorb water so even digging out part of your back yard and filling it with scoria will only shift the issue from one area to two areas 😕

After you mentioning the house being restumped and the installers saying there has been a lot of water there. Id be really tempted to get a nice straight drain to the street gutter and be done with an issue. Might take some hard work with the cutting the concrete but when its done its done. (if you go that route id suggest to run extra conduit in case you ever want lights/power/gate power or sockets for Christmas lights at the same time 🙂 )

Dave

EricL

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/84806#Comment_84806

Hello @plentyofq

I'm afraid the clay soil is not going to help. I suggest instead using an Everhard Industries Series 600 Stormwater Pit in combination with Everhard Industries Class A Galvanised Grate - To Suit Series 600 Pit. In regards to the pump I recommend using an Ozito 350W Dirty Water Submersible Water Pump to pump the water out of the pit out into a proper drain point. I recommend using Vinidex 25mm x 25m Metric Blue Poly Pipe with Philmac pipe connectors.

The pump can be left plugged in as it has a floating mercury switch which will activate pump as soon as the water reaches the proper level and will shut itself off when it pumps enough of the water out. Please do not tie any rope or clip to the mercury switch to prevent burning the pump out.

If you have any other questions we can help with, please let us know.

Eric

plentyofq

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/107470#Comment_107470

I will try to see if I can find someone to run a camera through the existing drain. A nice straight drain would be the dream, but a last resort I think!

I had a closer look into the yard and it seems that clay only starts from around 1 meter down. Would this be acceptable for a soakwell?

I have previously emptied multiple wheelie bins of water (around 150L each) onto the lawn surface and it seemed to handle the volumes very well even when raining. Soakwell with maybe a bigger size slit pit as an overflow?

I find that the water in the problem area does drain out eventually, but takes a few days. Surely having it redirected to a much larger area to disperse into should ease the problem with an oversized overflow?

Many thanks for your thoughts.

EricL

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/120990#Comment_120990

Hi @plentyofq

It's important to remember that transferring excess water is best done during dry periods, as heavy downpours can quickly overwhelm the system. Without a proper solution, you'll likely face the same issue again. I strongly recommend considering a long-term drainage solution to prevent large puddles from forming in your backyard, which could potentially impact your home's foundation.

While the upfront cost may be significant, the long-term benefits are invaluable. Proper drainage will safeguard your home's foundation and effectively redirect excess water away from your property. I suggest considering a solution that involves digging and levelling the area, then concreting the open space with a dedicated drainage channel to ensure water is efficiently redirected.

If you have any other questions we can help with, please let us know.

Eric

Nailbag

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/84806#Comment_84806

Hi @plentyofq

Driveways are typically only about 100mm thick and will have red mesh in it. You can easily cut this by hiring a demolition saw. I've had to do this myself some years back when I needed power to be run to a new carport.

Otherwise the design you're conversing with @EricL will also work using a submersible pump with an auto-float level switch. I've also done this before to contain and more underground water entering in to my lower renovated level when living on the side of a mountain. Once the water level reach I think around 20-30mm the pump would common and pump the water out automatically.

Nailbag

plentyofq

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/107485#Comment_107485

Thanks. I actually bought a demo saw to remove the concrete that was next to the house. Removing it was a bit traumatic though! 😢

I think I've landed on my preferred option for feedback.

Red will be a megaflo green pip laid horizontally in a trench in the middle with sand feeding into the blue easydrain 3m cut to length which will feed into the yellow existing pipe under the driveway. Then will connect the pipe into a slit pit on the driveway (either cutting the concrete or putting the pit in the lawn). Purple is a gutter which needs to be reangled which will also feed into the slit pit then feed out onto the stormwater outlet on the road.

Will I need a plumber to connect some of this stuff even though it's being discharged onto the curb/road and not straight into the drains?

Dave-1

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/120996#Comment_120996

Morning @plentyofq

🙂 Glad you have a plan. tho thought at first you were going up the side of your house 🙂

Makes sense what you say and yeah I had a mate use the demo saw as I was a little nervous, now I think I could but first time it was a woooooo nope.

As to the question regaurding a plumber. I live in NSW and my plumber told me I could connect stormwater no issues HOWEVER other members from differant states have definently been told otherwise. I would suggest you hit up a local plumber to back you up on what you want to do for peace of mind. I do know Sydney water take a dull view on non standard things for sure.

Dave

MitchellMc

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/120996#Comment_120996

I'd agree with @Dave-1, @plentyofq. You should check with a plumber, council or waterboard in your area to determine whether professional assistance is required.

Otherwise, your plan sounds fine.

Mitchell

Child Item