Front garden paving and bay window downpipe

[cld88]

1870ish London terrace

We're having some our masonry sorted out and at the same time this rendered plinth.

Unfortunately the front garden is quite untidy with cables and a concrete slab which has eroded from the downpipe and has lots of cracks - doesn't look like it was the best job to begin with.

You can just see the corner of some pavers which form a path across to the mosaic tiled pathway to the front door. On the outside there's a bed topdressed with bark with a shrub or two in it.

I'd quite like to remove the concrete slab and replace but what considerations should I have with the downpipe, paving level, plinth etc?

There are no damp issues at the moment and would like to keep it that way!

Thanks in advance!

 

[malcolm]

The floor level outside should be at least a couple of bricks lower than inside floor level. For that to work the wall ought to be lime pointed without that nasty waterproof paint.

I have a drainpipe like that draining to nowhere. The pavement has a slope and I'm planning to extend the pipe so that it dispenses on to the pavement rather than into my foundations. Your concrete looks like it is sloping away from the house and that's a very good idea. When there is a bunch or water falling on it it's important to have it sloping away from the house.

Where are external ground levels compared to inside ground levels at the moment? That's going to be the big driver in what to do.

 

[cld88]

I think the render plinth was probably put in to stop rain splashing back onto the bricks at one time. The side of the house doesn't have a plinth and the pointing isn't great at low level where there's a concrete path next to it.

Other houses on the street do have a plinth and it's a conservation area so reluctant to remove and rather repair. No damp issues at the moment. The pointing is lime where there are bare bricks, though I'm not sure about the age or composition of the plinth. It has been painted with Weathershield but we're separately in the process of stripping all the stonework and using Wethertex instead - unfortunately in some areas it's been repaired so much that bare isn't really an option.

Floor levels (ground floor over a cellar) are probably about two bricks above ground level at the moment. In the picture you can see an old scalloped edge that was presumably the original level though the render plinth doesn't seem to extend down that far.

 

[Cubist]

If you are determined to take the concrete out, and that sounds like a good idea to me, you need to be careful to cut and break it up to minimise the risk of damage to services and the wall of the house - particularly as that brickwork represents the outer face of a cellar. You may just find the remains of a coal hatch under there as well.

 

[cld88]

Pretty determined as it has cracked further with s affording on top so that downpipe is discharging into a crack in the slab rather than across the slab and pavers into the flower bed opposite.

Point taken about services - I think any plan will involve sorting out the Virgin Media cables to the left and the telephone cable running through conduit up to the junction box, preferably into conduit that will allow cables to be pulled in future.

I think the slab has detached from the main wall pretty much along its entire width so hopefully not too much risk.