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https://www.askthetrades.co.uk/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl DIY Forum >> Building Questions >> soakaways https://www.askthetrades.co.uk/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1084135455 Message started by cupid on May 9^th, 2004, 9:44pm

Title: soakaways
Post by cupid on May 9^th, 2004, 9:44pm

To take my rain water off of my extention,i was hoping to use water butts via the guttering&downpipes,but alas :( the man from delmonty)BI he say NO :'( it seems i have to dig a soakaway 5m from building into a pit,
question:
1, How big does pit have to be?
2, What do i have to use in pit?

Title: Re: soakaways
Post by HandyMac on May 9^th, 2004, 10:09pm

I dug a soakaway 20+ years ago. It was about dustbin size and nowhere near big enough. I think the water table at that property was not far from the surface so it had no chance of draining away. It was clay soil as well, and that sure didn't help.

You really have to get below any clay layer to subsoil which allows water to soak thru. If you dig down and you are coming out with clay type material, keep digging.

The soakaway should consist of some gravel, sand or other material which takes up a bit of room but has lots of gaps where moisture can seep thru. The top few inches can be regular soil though.

Andrew

Title: Re: soakaways
Post by cupid on May 9^th, 2004, 10:26pm

Thanks andrew
Have just rang a mate of mine,his reply to this was:
dig trench 5m from building,dig 1.5m2 hole,sub structure to base,(concrete) insert drainrings (WTF)are they?,backfill with pea shingle,cover plate to top, trench to filled with pipe and pea shingle,topsoil then turf,
there ya go, when you start digging it dont call me iwill be busy, see ya.
SOME MATE HE IS? :-/

Title: Re: soakaways
Post by thescruff on May 9^th, 2004, 10:43pm

Without getting the rules out again, and anyways its too late tonite, a soakaway should be about a meter square and backfilled with builders hardcore, old concrete blocks and white bricks are ideal, cover top with a sheet of polythene about two spits down and resurface with whatever was there before.

scruff

Title: Re: soakaways
Post by thescruff on May 9^th, 2004, 10:47pm

Drain rings are precast concrete rings made by ARC and others, you stack them up to the required height than it has a sectional concrete lid to finish the job.

Ps you will need a JCB or Geof Capes to lift them.

scruff

Title: Re: soakaways
Post by Dewy on May 9^th, 2004, 10:51pm

When my house was built I had a drainage problem.
There is a brook at the bottom of the garden so there was a slope down to it. The builders bulldozed the roads & piled all the blue clay along the bank of the brook. Once the houses were finished they spread this clay between the house & the brook. This raised the garden 18" above the house with impermiable blue clay. I dug a trench filled with rubble to provide a drain to the brook but at the highest point of the garden dug a hole trying to find the original flood plain. This was 3ft down & had a layer of blanched grass on top. I dug some of this out & filled the hole with rubble & ballast. I also dug a herring bone pattern towards the brook joining the main trench & extra soakaway. This helped stop any waterlogging of the garden. When I dug for a garage base 10 years ago I joined the original trench to the hardcore of the base which was topped with skalpings before adding the concrete. Now the water has 2 ways to go. To the brook & also to the garage & drive helping to stop the ground shrinkage often suffered on clay soil.
3 months ago our old dog died. My son dug a grave on the edge of the lawn where she always sat. I was expecting it to be all blue clay but was surprised that over time it had become a crumbly clay soil. This can only have been because the water had a good soakaway.

Title: Re: soakaways
Post by thescruff on May 9^th, 2004, 11:14pm

When my house was built 300 years ago I remember they dug a well about 200 feet deep.

Then I built an extension, the well is now in the kitchen, made a lovely soakaway.

scruff

Title: Re: soakaways
Post by cupid on May 9^th, 2004, 11:17pm

fxck that i aint digging that deep :o

Title: Re: soakaways
Post by HandyMac on May 9^th, 2004, 11:21pm

wrote on May 9^th, 2004, 11:14pm:

When my house was built 300 years ago I remember they dug a well about 200 feet deep.

I can't for the life of me imagine how they would have dug that deep down! Even today with modern equipment that'd be quite a project!

I assume the only way they could have done this job is with a spade, buckets, and long bits of rope.

Andrew

Title: Re: soakaways
Post by cupid on May 9^th, 2004, 11:27pm

they seemed to have managed ok with them pyramids,same thing only in reverse i assume. :-/

Title: Re: soakaways
Post by HandyMac on May 9^th, 2004, 11:31pm

Yeah, but with pyramids you can get a few thousand slaves to pull on ropes to drag the stones to the top.

Digging a hole has to be the work of one or two individuals - there ain't room down there for a big team! ;)

Andrew

Title: Re: soakaways
Post by cupid on May 9^th, 2004, 11:37pm

question:
If it takes 4 men 2 weeks to dig a hole ,how long for 2 men to dig half a hole?

Title: Re: soakaways
Post by thescruff on May 9^th, 2004, 11:45pm

Depends if there Council workers ;D

scruff

Title: Re: soakaways
Post by Kesh on May 9^th, 2004, 11:46pm

So what's half a hole?? ???

Title: Re: soakaways
Post by thescruff on May 9^th, 2004, 11:54pm

An Ellipsis. ;D

scruff

Title: Re: soakaways
Post by big_all on May 10^th, 2004, 8:48am

wrote on May 9^th, 2004, 11:27pm:

they seemed to have managed ok with them pyramids,same thing only in reverse i assume. :-/

what a lovely idea �a round pyramid 8) 8)

or a pointy well :D :D :D :D

Title: Re: soakaways
Post by mr_spanton on May 31^st, 2004, 10:46pm

Evening Handymac
I think I read somewhere that they built wells by digging down so far, shoring it with barrel-like staves, then removing soil/clay/stone etc below the shoring so it would sink down- add more shoring above, dig below, sink it etc etc Probably used plumb line to keep it vertical I guess, until you find't watter. I think they still use the same principle now with big concrete rings.
Mr Spanton

Title: Re: soakaways
Post by John Davies on Jul 22^nd, 2004, 4:01pm

Wells didn't always need shoring. They would cement a circle of stones, undermine them, and then add more to the top, undermine at the base again etc. It normally took two blokes, one digging in the well, one removing spoil and stonelaying.

John D.