Ground levels and gravel

[dalivar]

Hello all,
Opinions please!
The ground levels around our house are high, causing damp in the two front rooms. The walls are stone but covered in cement render which we are not in a position to deal with yet. However, tomorrow Mr D and his brother are removing the concrete from the front of the house and also addressing the drain which appears to be a soak away directly next to the wall (it overflowed during recent heavy rain confirming our suspicions). The concrete will be replaced with gravel which is where I need help!

Does anyone have an opinion on which type, specifically colour would look appropriate? We know what size we need and the volume, but want it to look right (and not be too pricey!). Hopefully a picture is attached and the area in question is between the grass and the house, its not actually very visible but I hope you get the idea.
Any suggestions?

The downpipe at the righthand corner leads into the soakaway, so most of the rain hitting the roof ends up in our foundations, I really hope this helps with the dampness!

 

[JoceAndChris]

Your location seems to suggest chipped flint would be appropriate, or am I making a hopeless mistake with that?!

Gravels in the garden should reflect the local quarries' produce. I ought to have used chipped pale limestone here, but I preferred chipped flint ( going by the name of "Gold Coast" ).

Good work there by the way!

 

[JoceAndChris]

PS 20mm gets kicked about a lot less!

 

[angrybird]

At the cottage we are living in at the moment (until all the messy jobs are out of the way at our project) we have Welsh slate!
This is nice and flat and with all the cats and dog running around it doesn't get picked up in their paws,It looks very pretty with Acers and flowers in blue pots.

 

[Lime]

I can't stand gravel of any sort.
It is always wet and dirty or abrasive and dusty and creates a constant tread into the house.
The coloured chips so common today remind me of graves in cemeteries that were popular just after the war.
It is a lazy short-term method to create a surface, which never ever succeeds for any length of time and contaminates/ruins the soil with stones.
UGH!


..............
On the other hand, I don't quite understand the description of the soakaway.
Where is it and how is it constructed?

In torrential downpours I'd expect a soakaway to flood because it will have a limited ability to store water while it soaks away.

 

[Keith Bowman]

Gravel can be useful in making it harder for unwelcome visitors to enter quietly - burglars usually tend to look for the easiest pickings - so it has a place on entrance driveways. On the other hand it makes life very difficult for people in wheelchairs as well as ending up being traipsed into the house in wet weather.

 

[dalivar]

Thanks for the replies. We are using a type 1 hard core base to give a decent surface for the gravel and we do intend to use 20mm for reasons mentioned. The soil beneath the current slab is truly rubbish, it mostly contains spoil and rubble from when the extention was build way before our time. In places the concrete was 12" thick!
I am coming round to the idea of slate chips as there is a lot of slate around here (not so much flint as it happens!), however a previous garden was wall to wall with it and we removed it slowly and by hand, to reinstate the grass!

Lime, if we didn't put gravel down what would be your 1st choice out of interest, given that we are doing it to allow more breathability? We rarely use the front door at the moment so dust etc travelling into the house doesn't worry me, we also have a lovely ruabon quarry tile floor in the room adjacent to the door so cleaning should be easy to keep on top of. The soakaway itself is still an unknown, it is one of the jobs being tackled today. All I know is that water going down the drain doesn't appear at the main drain a few feet away. They are digging a trench today to investigate this and fit a pipe to connect the two properly. In the picture above, it is located where the black downpipe terminates directly next to the wall of the house. I have a better picture to post later.

Its a fair point about wheelchairs, the area of gravel that would need navigating is fairly small so hopefully not too big a problem, access around the back is awful at the moment for wheelchairs and pushchairs as there is a path made narrow with horrible concrete steps which have no obvious purpose! Another job for the future!

 

[Lime]

Lime, if we didn't put gravel down what would be your 1st choice out of interest, given that we are doing it to allow more breathability?

Candidly you'd be better off lowering the level of the ground outside while ensuring a general slope away from the house and growing grass.
The major problem with most old houses is that each occupant adds additional material to the outside level and slowly but surely the house gets buried.
The additional material may be in the form of stones, sand, hardcore, soil or leaves from plants and may be intentional or not but over time the outside level rises in relation to the house.

 

[plasticpigeon]

The additional material may be in the form of stones, sand, hardcore, soil or leaves from plants and may be intentional or not but over time the outside level rises in relation to the house.

Or, as has happened at my place, the house has also sunk. Double whammy!

 

[Flyfisher]

The additional material may be in the form of stones, sand, hardcore, soil or leaves from plants and may be intentional or not but over time the outside level rises in relation to the house.

. . . don't forget the stardust: http://www.eduplace.com/kids/hmsc/3/d/cricket/cktcontent_3d.shtml :wink:

 

[Lime]

The additional material may be in the form of stones, sand, hardcore, soil or leaves from plants and may be intentional or not but over time the outside level rises in relation to the house.

. . . don't forget the stardust: http://www.eduplace.com/kids/hmsc/3/d/cricket/cktcontent_3d.shtml :wink:

True!

But I forgot, perhaps the greatest burier of houses, tombs, ancient monuments or anything man made, the humble earthworm.