Browse Forums Outdoor Living 1 Jul 10, 2011 4:54 pm Hi, we have just moved into our new home. We have a retaining wall on the side of the house, it's 600mm high. Naturally the block next door is higher than ours and has not been built on. We noticed water sitting there when we were building, we have a patio on that side and from the end of the patio to the retaining wall there is a meter. We put sunset toppings down and pavers to make a path. The toppings have dried perfectly everywhere, except for about 6 meters long by the one meter to the retaining wall. Water is still pooling there and today with the rain it is filling up with puddles and heading back on to our patio. The problem looks like it is coming from the empty block next door, their is water coming up through our ground and you can see it sitting on their block, right on the edge of our boundry, fences. What can we do? Re: HELP WATER POOLING 2Jul 10, 2011 5:03 pm Lay some drainage pipe in a trench filled with gravel along the front of the wall. Drain the pipes to a soakwell away from the patio. As soon as you cut into a slope to level a block there is always a risk of water at the base of the retaining wall. The Harder You Try - the Luckier You Get ! Web site http://www.anewhouse.com.au Informative, Amusing, and Opinionated Blog - Over 600 posts on all aspects of building a new house. Re: HELP WATER POOLING 3Jul 10, 2011 5:11 pm Thank's for your help bashworth, we will try that, is it worth getting a plumber to add some extra drainage pipes or is it easy enough for us to do? we are getting some limestone paving done on the patio soon and we don't want to get it done and then it gets swamped with water. Re: HELP WATER POOLING 4Jul 10, 2011 5:15 pm http://i1188.photobucket.com/albums/z411/bail2000/020.jpg it looked worse before, hubbi has been out getting rid of the excess water Re: HELP WATER POOLING 5Jul 10, 2011 5:19 pm I'd always be lead to understand that the drainage should be behind the retaining wall..... Also, water from your neighbours property is their responsibility.....we currently have flooding from both neighbours propertys When the ground is less sodden they have to create drainage on their side of the fence to stop the water flowing onto our property. Deemaree Kyndylan Capers: viewtopic.php?f=36&t=46852 My blog: http://www.sufficientlysufficient.blogspot.com/ Re: HELP WATER POOLING 6Jul 10, 2011 5:32 pm Deemaree I'd always be lead to understand that the drainage should be behind the retaining wall..... Also, water from your neighbours property is their responsibility.....we currently have flooding from both neighbours propertys When the ground is less sodden they have to create drainage on their side of the fence to stop the water flowing onto our property. I read that somewhere Deemaree, when I was googling , the block next door has yet to be built on, but our builder is building the house. I suppose I could contact the council tomorrow about it, one of my clients had water flooding into his yard and I remember he said the council came out and had a look, they told him they would contact the neighbours to fix it. Re: HELP WATER POOLING 7Jul 10, 2011 5:35 pm Good idea! Deemaree Kyndylan Capers: viewtopic.php?f=36&t=46852 My blog: http://www.sufficientlysufficient.blogspot.com/ Re: HELP WATER POOLING 8Jul 10, 2011 5:54 pm Looking at the photo it would be difficult to construct the drainage behind the wall unless you take the fence down. If you did you would need to drain it to your side. As you (or the builder working for you) have cut into your block and constructed the wall its your problem to solve. Not the neighbor's. The Harder You Try - the Luckier You Get ! Web site http://www.anewhouse.com.au Informative, Amusing, and Opinionated Blog - Over 600 posts on all aspects of building a new house. Re: HELP WATER POOLING 9Jul 10, 2011 6:08 pm Bashworth has a point about the area available to work in for drainage....however, I'd call the builder and have a chat. If the water from the property next door would have pooled and entered your property regardless of the site cut, then there is a responsibility by that property owner. If it is purely a case of water finding it's own level because of your site cut then yes, it is your problem. Deemaree Kyndylan Capers: viewtopic.php?f=36&t=46852 My blog: http://www.sufficientlysufficient.blogspot.com/ Re: HELP WATER POOLING 10Jul 10, 2011 6:23 pm Basically if naturally occuring stormwater drains naturally from a higher block to a lower block then there is no liability on the higher block. The higher block owner only becomes responsible if they direct additional water or concentrate the flow to a particular location. As the neighbour has not started to build the only change to the natural situation is the construction of the retaining wall. The Harder You Try - the Luckier You Get ! Web site http://www.anewhouse.com.au Informative, Amusing, and Opinionated Blog - Over 600 posts on all aspects of building a new house. Re: HELP WATER POOLING 11Jul 10, 2011 7:09 pm ok, so how will we fix it? as there is not much room as it is a very small area on that side of the house, would a plumber be able to do something to fix the problem without taking the fence down? I was said to my hubbi, the poor neighbours, they havn't started building and we have this problem. Re: HELP WATER POOLING 12Jul 10, 2011 7:22 pm PM sent. Deemaree Kyndylan Capers: viewtopic.php?f=36&t=46852 My blog: http://www.sufficientlysufficient.blogspot.com/ Re: HELP WATER POOLING 14Jul 10, 2011 7:39 pm The builder did the retaining wall and cut, I would have presumed that they would have put in enough pipes to stop this sort of thing happening. The sideway and retaining wall is 21 meters long and it is only happening in about six to eight meters of this area. I will be speaking to Bentley about this tomorrow. Re: HELP WATER POOLING 16Jul 11, 2011 5:35 pm Spoke to the builder, our SS came and had a look, still waiting to hear back from them, hopefully they will hear back again tomorrow. The Council have responded very quickly and seem interested , asked us for some extra info, I had allready sent them photos, and we should hear back from them very soon. We had an independant person have a look today, said there should have been pipes laid on our side also, considering the site cut and the proximity of our house to the wall. Whatever the outcome, we will have to have pipes laid on our side of the wall and when the house next door gets started they will have to have the correct plumbing done, so that we are not getting any overflow from their side. I will keep you updated. Re: HELP WATER POOLING 17Jul 11, 2011 7:53 pm Good result Deb! Do keep us updated! Deemaree Kyndylan Capers: viewtopic.php?f=36&t=46852 My blog: http://www.sufficientlysufficient.blogspot.com/ Re: HELP WATER POOLING 18Jul 11, 2011 8:09 pm Deb, we have a much bigger cut but in effect the same situation. We have rock work, but at the bottom of this we have aggi pipe running the whole length, it also runs in front of the concrete sleeper retaining wall next to the garage. The builder put all of this in when they did the site cut. The concrete sleeper retaining wall also has aggi pipe behind that is connected to the stormwater and that was done when the wall was constructed after handover. Even after the heaviest downpour, the water clears away so it works really well. As it has been explained to us, my understanding is that if the neighbours' block is naturally higher, they have no responsibility to stop water going downhill unless it is running off a hard surface such as concrete or paving. If a neighbours changes their levels to make water run in an unnatural direction, then it is their responsibility. I am not sure if this is something that differs within different councils though. I leave you to fend for yourself, figure things out yourself. Terrence Malick Re: HELP WATER POOLING 19Jul 12, 2011 3:45 pm Thank's Deemaree and Joles, well today the builder said that it is rubbish, concrete etc.... underneath the soil, said when the site got cleaned it was hard to get down that side. Hubbi, started digging and the only thing he didn't find was a body , that's probably further down. Cement, big pieces, bricks, lunches, etc.... lots and lots of ---- spent half the day digging, but the rubbish just keeps coming. Joles, we will be doing the same thing, that you have done, thank's for telling me, as it is what we were thinking of doing and if it works for you, we will go ahead, and sadly have to spend more money fixing the problem. we just presumed that it would have been done, as our last build we had ag pipes all around the house, the builder even had drains on the pergola, so when it flooded at the back of us, an empty paddock, hubbi would take the lid of and it would all drain away. Hubbi also went on to the block next door last night and dug a trench right at the back of the fence all the way along. Just shows you that a site clean, is not actually what it seems, it will be interesting what the Council have to say about it, I will let you know. This certainly doesn't look good. I would be engaging with an independent inspector to have a look at this. As for the unscheduled site visits, most builders are quite… 1 28327 Need more photos from around the house including your gutters. We have had 3 of the wettest years in a row for some time so that wouldn't be helping 3 6958 the sun master is the solar heating to "warm" the water in the tank the S26 is your hot water system which will heat the water (25 degrees?) so with both turned on you… 2 14076 |