Lost my battle with water :(

Andy

Honorary Member
I've been fighting a losing battle with water at my property. Even though we live near the top of a hill, because of the topography, we get big problems with fast flowing water across our property. Well, this years crazy UK "summer" weather (thank you Mr. sunken jet stream) has me beat. Fast flowing flood water has finally deposited 30 tonnes of my drive substrate 1 mile, yes, 1 mile from my property!!!!!! The same water also lifted a 10 tonne slab of concrete & moved it 3' off it's footings. Enough is enough. So rather than drumming, yours truly + friends are part way through constructing a new drive (read small road) c/w storm drains. It's a big project. 80 tonnes of concrete should see things stabilised. Another worry off my mind.
 

Attachments

  • Drive.jpg
    Drive.jpg
    933.5 KB · Views: 511
  • drive end.jpg
    drive end.jpg
    884.8 KB · Views: 510
  • Slab.jpg
    Slab.jpg
    861.3 KB · Views: 518
...Another worry off my mind.

... and quite a few £££ less in your pocket I'd imagine, phew, that a very long drive you've got there Andy, and draining systems are not cheap, nor is a JCB's rate per hour :(

I hope it will do the 'trick" and stops the flooding.

Where is the water drained? into the sub-soil or into the council's drains?
 
... and quite a few £££ less in your pocket I'd imagine, phew, that a very long drive you've got there Andy, and draining systems are not cheap, nor is a JCB's rate per hour :(

I hope it will do the 'trick" and stops the flooding.

Where is the water drained? into the sub-soil or into the council's drains?
I prefer not to mention the cost :(, It's why I've been putting it off for three years. We're doing this job as economically as possible (by using "mates rates" labour, etc. + I know a lot of people with machines :) ), but to a high quality. My mantra is "make the first job the best job", then I don't have to worry about it again. That said, there's no getting away from the fact that we're constructing a small road. The drive is 500 foot long :(

I have two storm drain systems. One's already in place around the house. It was the first job I took care of when I bought the property. It's a 12" system with 5,000 gallons of underground capture capacity, that then goes to overflow ditches. I use the stored water to extract heat from in the winter via a heat pump linked into my geothermal & air source heating. That then pumps heated water under all the floors in my house. You can probably tell I'm into my system stuff :)

The new drains will go into a new culvert I'm constructing, & then onto the lane storm ditches.

Wow! Quite the project indeed!
Yes, it's a bit of a job alright, but nothing compared to the work I've already done on the property.

That sucks but at least you guys are taking care of it! And I thought I had problems when I had my house re-piped the other day....
Yes Bo, I hate spending hard earned money on benign stuff, but if I left it any longer, it would be a much bigger (& more expensive) job. We both needed piping work done, but mine's on a more brutal scale :(
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Ah, now I geddit. Andy. I thought you lived in Heresford but now I realise that the town is located in the western side of your grounds :)

You're amazing. You do so much work and get so much done. If I had grounds like that I think I'd just find a spot with a nice aspect and stay put ...
 
If I had grounds like that I think I'd just find a spot with a nice aspect and stay put ...
Pretty much what we've done Grea :)

Ah, now I geddit. Andy. I thought you lived in Heresford but now I realise that the town is located in the western side of your grounds :)
Hahaha, not even close ;) We live about 18 miles from Hereford, & about 1.5 miles outside our local village.

Wow..that looks expensive.
A sore subject in my household right now, especially as we're dropping a ton of cash on the Origin project.
 
That's brutally large job to get done. I could only imagine how much resources in time and money it costs. Hopefully once it's done - it's over.
 
Holy deluge Batman....Goes to prove that the more you have, the bigger problems you have. My sympathies go out to you and your family Andy. And your bank account, poor thing. If you don't get this taken care of, the thread title could read, Lost my battle with alcohol....
 
I used to run drainage pipe and set dry wells for a living

that looks like a pretty big job

smart to take care of it now Andy

old H2O has compassion for no man
 
Sorry to hear about your drainage problems.

That English countryside is so pretty. It kinda reminds me of the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains between Tahoe and Sacramento.
 
This is what I imagined I would see when I opened this thread:

johndolmayan22.jpg


Sorry to hear of your woes, man. Hope it's all resolved quickly and relatively inexpensively.
 
Holy cow Andy, I can't believe the substrate was washed that far away let alone that concrete moved :-o

Looks like you are taking the right approach. Hope the fix goes quickly with no unforseen added cost!

Best wishes to you on getting it done. If I didn't live a few thousand miles away I'd lend a little elbow grease.
 
Thanks for all your support, offers of help, & general humour. Although this is a fair sized task, it's no bigger than 10 or so other jobs I've done on the property since taking it on, & smaller than many. That said, it's come at the worst possible time financially. But hey, shit happens :)

Taking a day off digging & drainage today, as I'm installing my daughter in her accommodation in London. She's attending London film school at Ealing studios. Gotta give 'em wings & let 'em fly eh!
 
I always enjoy photos you post of your "estate", even during bad times. If you cover my airfare & lodging I could promise one full week of free labor. Think about it. I am open to negotiating :)
 
Back
Top