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Retaining wall in back garden
So I have a very large rear garden sloping up away from the house, I will be digging most of it out to create a large patio but at some I will have to terrace it as the house at the back of ours is higher.
Do I use sleepers which look nice but are expensive and won't last forever or I could use gravel boards and concrete posts which I can get for free from work, I also have the option of making the gravel boards with stronger reinforcing in them. Once the patio is laid the height difference will be around 1m higher and around 11m in length and the higher area would stretch back around 12 ft to the rear fence. Which ever I choose I would have to put in some steps to allow us to get to the upper level. Drainage would be via French drains laid at the back of the retaining wall. Any ideas/tips etc would be great. Thanks |
Originally Posted by the shreksta
(Post 12002712)
So I have a very large rear garden sloping up away from the house, I will be digging most of it out to create a large patio but at some I will have to terrace it as the house at the back of ours is higher.
Do I use sleepers which look nice but are expensive and won't last forever or I could use gravel boards and concrete posts which I can get for free from work, I also have the option of making the gravel boards with stronger reinforcing in them. Once the patio is laid the height difference will be around 1m higher and around 11m in length and the higher area would stretch back around 12 ft to the rear fence. Which ever I choose I would have to put in some steps to allow us to get to the upper level. Drainage would be via French drains laid at the back of the retaining wall. Any ideas/tips etc would be great. Thanks |
Originally Posted by andy97
(Post 12002715)
Get the drainage spot on and drawn away or face flooded patio whenever it rains for more than 5 minutes. My in-law has the same design albeit a longer shallower garden. He did an half arsed job with French drains which can't cope with the amount of water. Behind the retaining wall it would be best to have some sort of water barrier which feeds the water into a weeping sick tube and then drain away into a drain. If it's a new house with soak away roof drainage, either increase soak away pallets or find a way to run water in a sewer.
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I would go over kill and have two lines of French drains, aswell as weeping sock. One French drain directly after the retaining wall another by the house and carefully lay the patio to direct water into both drains
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Originally Posted by andy97
(Post 12002719)
I would go over kill and have two lines of French drains, aswell as weeping sock. One French drain directly after the retaining wall another by the house and carefully lay the patio to direct water into both drains
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I would go for recycled sleepers if taking that route, not the overpriced sh1te available from builders merchants and garden centres. I looked at doing something similar a few years ago and was advised reclaimed sleepers imported from Poland are the best of the bunch, hardwoods soaked in a bath of creosote for long periods of time.
Post up the pics in the DIY thread as you go along. |
The only issue with sleepers is that the preserve is so strong it can burn skin if not careful. my neighbor has done it and his daughter got minor arm burns from the creosote/ bitumen
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if I were to use sleepers I would want them vertical, would I concrete them in a trench and maybe use steel ties behind them to hold them together?
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You could have two terraced levels, just depends on the height difference from first retaining wall to rear garden fence.
Draw the rear garden area with dimensions and a side profile of heights and overlay what you propose. |
Originally Posted by andy97
(Post 12003081)
You could have two terraced levels, just depends on the height difference from first retaining wall to rear garden fence.
Draw the rear garden area with dimensions and a side profile of heights and overlay what you propose. |
the current slabs will be removed as I don't like them, you can see the level they are at compared to the rest of the garden so plan was to dig out to their level and build up the back so its level with a retaining wall holding it back.
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.sco...bb0204bea0.jpg plan was to come off the fence by 18" or so and then lay sleepers to create a planter up to the fence enabling us to then dig out to the required level for the patio https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.sco...44e59e90a8.jpg https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.sco...833170519d.jpg https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.sco...c384949732.jpg |
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.sco...f9a9cd507e.jpg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.sco...3df7dc01d7.jpg the garage has 2 downpipes on it (1 front and 1 back) where would these go into? could I tap into them for my garden drainage? https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.sco...eb50ea452f.jpg so this is at the front of our property, I'm guessing its a storm drain to combat flooding https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.sco...dfcb9a680c.jpg I would guess if a line was pulled from ground level at the back of the garden to the patio doors there would be around 1/2 meter difference in height https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.sco...4bd642682f.jpg https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.sco...f14a5fac34.jpg https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.sco...3d46f15598.jpg area behind garage I would like slabbed for a shed and bin store https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.sco...a5e9db71bf.jpg the corner of the garage is how far I would like my patio to come out-so pull a line straight across the garden to the fence for total patio area,anything beyond that would be behind a retaining wall https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.sco...6355fd65cf.jpg |
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.sco...d571c06f86.jpg
The only downpipe at the back of the house, where would it go into? Same as the 2 from garage? |
Not soo steep the rear garden. Current regulations for new building s is that rainwater from roofs goes into soak away. These have to be minimum 5 metres from main house and a metre from boundary. I would be very surprised that on a new estate that any other downpipes went into the main sewers. You will need to check details on planning application and conditions set with approved plans to verify. with such a large area, you cold put in extra soak aways far enough away from house. You get them from building merchant, very efficient run drainage into one or more to get rid of surface water and run off from lawn.
see here https://www.planningportal.co.uk/info/200130/common_projects/15/drains_and_sewers/2 Speak to planning department aswell, you don't want to fall foul of planning application issues or restrictions with new buildings and conditions set down by planners. You could do most of this yourself by going through the planning application in detail |
Originally Posted by andy97
(Post 12003399)
Not soo steep the rear garden. Current regulations for new building s is that rainwater from roofs goes into soak away. These have to be minimum 5 metres from main house and a metre from boundary. I would be very surprised that on a new estate that any other downpipes went into the main sewers. You will need to check details on planning application and conditions set with approved plans to verify. with such a large area, you cold put in extra soak aways far enough away from house. You get them from building merchant, very efficient run drainage into one or more to get rid of surface water and run off from lawn.
see here https://www.planningportal.co.uk/inf...s_and_sewers/2 Speak to planning department aswell, you don't want to fall foul of planning application issues or restrictions with new buildings and conditions set down by planners. You could do most of this yourself by going through the planning application in detail would a soak away crate in the middle with land drains running into it be suitable? |
Originally Posted by the shreksta
(Post 12003416)
its steeper than it looks in the pics. I'm pretty sure the site manager told me that the downpipes run into a drain rather than a soak away so will have to double check.
would a soak away crate in the middle with land drains running into it be suitable? you could excavate the down pipe to trace where it goes. Time and labour plus mess of garden, but you will make a big mess before it looks better. |
Originally Posted by andy97
(Post 12003529)
Depends on water table height where you're. I know that last to building s I did the water table was 1.2 metres down so no issues with 2 crates for a house was plenty.
you could excavate the down pipe to trace where it goes. Time and labour plus mess of garden, but you will make a big mess before it looks better. |
Originally Posted by the shreksta
(Post 12003532)
obviously I'm thick lol............how the hell do you find your water table height?
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a little update on this......
so I have had a few companies around now and a lot of them are saying the same thing, they suggest that drainage wont be a major issue as long as the patio is laid with a built in fall towards the gate leading to the driveway. a perforated land drain will have to be laid behind the gravel board retaining wall and a 6-8 inch border of decorative gravel will be in place between the house and the patio/front of the retaining wall. I have spoken with jelsons who ensure me that there is no soak-away in the rear garden and all the water from the downpipes run into the storm drains. I still may install a soakaway whilst its dug up (better to be over cautious me thinks). just got to choose my preffered landscaper now and the style of slabs I require. |
You'd have thought the house builders would have done something really - in one of your pics you can see standing water - a waterlogged lawn next to house - so it was plainly obvious that you would have a major drainage issue in the garden.... Worth approaching their site manager/trouble shooter handover manager whilst they are still on site and raising your concerns?
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