Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @Benk. It's great to have you join us, and many thanks for your questions about solving drainage issues.
If you were to provide some information about the issue you are trying to solve, our helpful members would have an idea of how to assist. From your images, I can't identify any obvious drainage issues. Do you want to install a drainage line between your house and the concrete slab to prevent water ingress to the foundation?
We are looking forward to some details so we can assist.
Mitchell
@MitchellMc Hi and thanks for your message. I will update with more details. Cheers
Hi All sorry missed dsome crucial information on my post.
I would like to install a drain betwwen the slab and the house to prevent water ingress under my house. Currently i have some water under the house which is concerning.
My initial thoughts was to cut the concrete so that i have a wider space then install some kind of drain to run the water into the storm drain. Then later put decking and pagola over the slab area to prevent more water getting tonthe slab in the first place.
Tge question is what kind of syatem would be best to achieve this. Thanks
Cutting the concrete back and adding a strip drain will certainly help divert any surface water that is running towards the house wall away from it @Benk. Do you have any idea where the water is coming from? If the rain is saturating the soil surrounding the house, hitting a clay layer, and they traversing across it under your house, the strip drains won't solve that. You need to dig a trench that runs parallel to your walls down to the same level as under your house. An agline would then be installed at that depth and the trench backfilled with aggregate. That way, any water traversing under the soil will hit the aggregate and fall into the agline, which will transfer it to the stormwater lines.
Thank you @MitchellMc . The water i reckon is from surface runoff as well as seepage under the footinh. I am to install a retaining wall with an agi pipe trenched near it. As for the surface runoff, just wotking out how to go about it and get the right fall to be effective.
Again i want to thank you foe taking the time toprovide a response. Cheers
Hi @Benk,
I'm not sure whether you'd need to create a retaining wall. Simply digging the trench, laying the agi pipe at the bottom connected to stormwater and backfilling the trench with aggregate would suffice. You'll barely be able to tell it's there.
You'll need to slope the concrete away from the dwelling at a 2% fall. So, 2mm for every meter of width.
Keep us updated, and shout out if you need further assistance.
Thanks @MitchellMc . I am planning on adding a retaining wall to one side of the building where the backyard slopes onto the house and a strip drainage onto the concrete side. in addition erect a patio on the concrete to create an entertaining deck which should limit the amount of water in that area.
I want to thank you for your advise and thoughts and I have more clarity on what i should do to solve the problem. Again thank you so much.
Keep us updated @Benk, and reach out if you need further assistance. We're here to help.
@Benk
Dig your trench using the courses on the brick work of your house which are level, as a guide to the slope of the trench.
Make a simple water level using your hose and a clear piece of plastic tube.
Alternatively use a very tight string line with a bubble level positioned in the middle.
Hi Max (@MaxBan)
Many thanks for joining in the discussion and sharing your knowledge. With 12 years of experience as a handyman, I would expect you to have a great deal of knowledge and experience that you could share with our community members. We are looking forward to seeing more of your posts soon, and trust you will get plenty of inspiration and helpful information in return from other members. You have joined a wonderful community of many clever and creative members.
Welcome to Bunnings Workshop. Please let me know if you ever need a hand getting the most from the site.
Jason
The Reln Plastic brand storm water grate in my driveway had warped over the past 20 or so years due to summer heat waves.
This resulting in the slotted lid no longer clicking into the locking tabs on the box drain.
It created a problem because the ends of the panels tipped up and presented a tripping hazard. see attachment 1
Removing the Box drain and replacing it was not an option because the plastic box is concreted into the drive way.
I checked with Bunnings staff but they did not have a solution to my problem.
So I solved it myself by posting a message on Marketplace Facebook asking, if anyone was tossing out their old BBQ could I have the cast iron grill please for a project I was doing. Very soon I had 20 of them, free of charge.
I stripped the old BBQ grease off them using paint stripper and hosed off the residue,
Cut them up using an angle grinder fitted with an abrasive disc .
Sprayed painted them with undercoat and top coated that with flat black paint.
Then I rebated the edges of the concrete either side of the drain with a diamond tipped disc fitted to my angle grinder.
And dropped the grills into place. see attachment 2
Being cast iron, the grills are more than capable of supporting the weight of my car as I drive over the drain.
The weight of the cast iron means the wind can't blow them around.
They are much more easily removed so I can clean leaves and soil out of the box drain than the old slotted plastic lid ever was.
This project was the ultimate in repurposing a defunct product, it beat recycling hands down.
Problem solved.
@MaxBan Thanks mate for your input. Would you know what is the min distance away from the house the trench should sit?
My current slab will be higher than the trench, i.e. there will be a gap between the end of the slab and the house wall. This will be covered by a deck so not to worried about it. Should i just stem it and create my trench and what trench would you recommend, just the normal easy drain or something else?
Thanks
BK
Keep in mind the end of bottom of the trench nearest the house, has to be higher at that end, than the bottom of the trench where water is to flow through a hole in the kerb then into the gutter.
You can make yourself a water level using your garden hose and about 500mm of clear plastic tube whos external diameter is similar to the internal diameter of the hose.
Take the hose click fitting off one end of the hose and force one end of the clear tube into it about 20mm, if it is a loose fit use electrical tape to seal the fit to make it water tight.
Attach the end that has the clear tube. to a tomato stake (that has the pointed end pointing up) at eye level with electrical tape or similar.
Note. Placing the blunt end of the stake on the ground will stop the point sinking down into the soil giving a false reading.
If you have a plastic ruler, also tape it to the stake mid way along the clear section of tube once again positioning it a eye level
This will assist you to determine whether the water level is rising or falling.
Position the bottom of the tomatoe stake on the bottom of the trench nearest to the house and have someone else slowly turn the tap on to force air out of the hose and adjust the water level in the clear section of the tube so it is rises to mid way along the ruler then tell them to turn off the tap tight.
You can then move the tomato stake to various sections along the bottom of the trench to ensure the water level gradually rises in the tube as you make your way in the direction of the kerb.
Buy a roll of '100mm slotted plastic aggi-pipe covered with a sock' from Bunnings and poke one end into a hole in the kerb and lay the agi-pipe into the trench rolling it out until you reach the upper end of the trench, cut off excess pipe.
Back fill around the pipe with blue metal just covering it by 10mm.
At the end of the pipe closest to the house, cover that of the pipe end with a PVC plastic bottle which has been cut in half, that will stop any soil from entering the pipe there.
Bear in mind you may want to remove it some time in the future to poke you hose down the pipe down to flush mud out of the whole length of pipe .
I suggest you lay a strip of poly weed mat or similar, on top of the blue metal before covering it with soil.
The weed mat will prevent the blue metal becoming pugged up with soil and grass roots which will increase the efficiency of your drainage system.
