Garden Help

[Seanie_230]

Firstly thank god for finding this forum that is dedicated to older houses
my house was built in 1903.

I have put a picture of my front garden below.
As you can see it needs some tlc, I'm thinking of digging out the soil (already started) and then filling it in with some hardcore and cement and putting victorian quary tiles over it so it looks authentic and does t look out of place as the house is 1903.
My question is where the original path is cracked should I pull it all out and lower it and start again with fresh cement?
Or is it better to screed or something over the top and fill the mud area level with the existing cement.
I am going to use some original rope top edging around the hedges.
The house has been damp proofed at the front with the injection stuff but if I cement upto the wall and use tile grout right up to the brick will this stop water sitting and soaking into the bricks.
Also as you can see the path is the same level as the big old step. should i add a layer of cement to the step as the quarry tiles will be higher than the step.
Can anyone offer any advise i want to keep my garden looking nice and not to modern for the house.

should i leave a gap between the wall and the concrete with some pea shingle or use grout for the tiles to stop trapping water between then cement and brickwork?

 

[AMc]

Welcome to the forum.

I would be very wary of using cement close to your house, especially as the injected damp proof course is likely to be a remedial measure because there was previously/still is damp. While cement is generally waterproof it is rarely able to provide a perfect water seal, once water has penetrated it is trapped and will find the path of least resistance to escape, probably through your more porous solid brick walls.
As a rule on here we're all unconvinced of the effectiveness of injecting silicone into solid walls to "cure" damp, in practice you rarely get a continuous unbroken line of silicone to act as a real damp proof course, quite often you end up with a series of holes plugged with silicone and some damage to the facade YMMV.

If it were mine then I would remove the cement in a strip at least 6" wide across the front of the house and create a "french drain" to prevent water being trapped against the house wall.

What you do with the rest of the path and garden is largely up to your own personal preference but I think trying to set the path level with the stone step at the boundary is likely to be appropriate and ensuring that any and all paving has a fall to direct water away from the house is a wise thing to do.

My house is much older but where I was paving (almost) up to the house I dug out a good depth and filled with hard core, blinded with sand and then laid paving over a lime mortar bed. I aimed for a fall of around 1:60 (IIRC) away from the house and into the garden.
Lime mortar isn't substantially more expensive or complex to mix, is able to transmit moisture a.k.a. "breathe" and is less destructive than portland cement in its manufacture.

 

[Seanie_230]

Hi there
Thanks so much for your reply.
I think leaving a 4 inch gap between the house and where the tiles start is a great idea filled with slate or pea shingle as this will give the rain somewhere to soak away into the soil rather than just sitting in the space between the cement and e brickwork.
I think this would be the best idea. Do I need to install the perforated pipe in the gap or will a gap with some shingle do to allow the rain water to Soak into the earth.
I will need to remove the existing path to level off the garden a little and put the path on a new base.

 

[robgil]

I wouldnt bother with hardcore unless you want to park a car on it. Dig down to find a more solid soil (not too deep) , you can either use ballast and cement in a weak mix then bash it down with a whacker plate then set the quarry tiles on a sand/cement mix or instead of ballast you can use type 1, however type 1 may be overkill.

Ballast mixed 5 to 1 ish with cement (a dry mix is best), level it off with a rake then whack it down with a whacker plate. Find your level with a string then build up to it with a dry mix of sand/cement 4 to 1 ish laying the tiles as you go.
I dont think I have ever seen a victorian quarry tile path with grouting, usually the tiles butt up to eachother.

If you wanted to continue over the path I would go over the top of the existing concrete with a sand/cement mix keeping it as thin as possible with tiles ontop, this would dictate your finished level.

 

[Feltwell]

victorian quary tiles over it so it looks authentic and does t look out of place as the house is 1903.

I'm not sure that will look quite right for an Edwardian house like yours.

The path has clearly had it, whatever you do it needs to come up and start again. It's down to personal preference, but I would say that covering all the (admittedly small) garden in quarry tiles won't look right. I also tend to think of quarry tiles as more of an indoor finish, although they should be tough enough to survive outdoors.

Personally for a path appropriate to a working class house I would lay blue diamond pavers, which will look good and be highly slip resistant. The soil bit I would plant with something and not pave at all.

I don't know what your house is like, if it was more of a middle class abode then you could go for a black and white tiled path which would look lovely if done right. However, it would be expensive (although it's a very short path), requires a higher level of skill to lay properly and will be much more slippery when wet than a diamond paver path.

Not paving up to the wall as mentioned above is a good idea. For what area you've got there I'd just fill the gap with gravel and not worry about putting a pipe in it - but do lay any paving so it drains away from the house!

A final thought - have you tried lifting a bit of that concrete path? You may find that someone has just put a thin layer of concrete over the original path.

 

[Seanie_230]

Wow mosaic black and white paths are beautiful especially with limestone large tiles for the rest of the garden.
Where. Can I buy these or is it best to get them put in?
Complete change of plan still need the base but the mosaic is so lovely

 

[Feltwell]

See this Ebay seller:-

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Victorian...187828942&po=&ps=63&clkid=8287705651367552482

Not tried them myself, but was planning to use them for a hearth. You'd need to check if they are suitable for outside use. They would need careful laying but I don't see why you couldn't do them yourself if you're proficient at tiling.

I still like blue diamond pavers though, which would be cheaper, easier to lay and more practical! But it's your garden of course.....

 

[Seanie_230]

hi i have gone back to next door with an example to see what she things as we are mirroring our garden's