A customer has asked me to try and solve a problem
They had a raised bed constructed from sleepers and filled with topsoil by a neighbours gardener in the corner of their garden at considerable cost .
They noticed that not long after construction a downpour of rain washed a considerable amount of topsoil over the edge of the raised bed after carving out a deep channel in the surface of the topsoili which landed next to their property
it looks as if the water runs off and surges from the property above whenever it rains and unfortunately the raised beds location is part of its overflow route .
The gardener has had a look but so far not responded but i dont feel he would have built the raised bed where it is had he known it would have being impossible to know in advance .
The customer has asked me to come up with a solution and suggests building a rockery in the raised bed to deflect the water . I cant see this being a long term solution should the flooding get worse .
my thinking is the water is just going to rot the sleepers prematurely over time , then i am thinking install a drainage channel but the water doesn't appear to penetrate into the raised bed although the soil is very wet .
Who would be liable for any work it seems to me that the raised bed is incidental to the water surging from above , its going to run off regaedless of whats underneath .
Customer is unsure what to do for the best and disapointed with the outcome of the situation .
Any suggestions welcome . Thanks
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Is there not a gutter off that roof?
No Honey Badger the water is coming off the propertys land up above , apparently they have had lots of work done in the garden and its quite high up above my customers property .
I dont know if the the run off is due the work carried out or its always being this way as its a new client .
the raised bed is also a substantial size so not easy to move it would be expensive .
Sounds like a drainage problem that your customers neighbour need to sort it's not on.
Surely there's some kind of law that states that you can't drain your land on to someone else's property.
I am aware that when you get a new block paved drive you have to have a soak away. I believe it's building regs.
Could be a potential law suit if it damages your customers building.
yes its difficult to know what work has being done and if its changed the way the water goes . to be fair these are big properties built on a hill and with further develpments going on all the time further up the hill and a river at the bottom it seems like its natural for water to find a way down when we get the amount of rain we have lately .
The positive is there is no standing water in the garden so it must be going down hill but such a shame its passing through the raised bed .
Customer has never noticed any water previously but they havn't lived there long .
building a rockery will not solve it, it will just scour it and the water will just carry on you have to find the source of the water first before you can start thinking what to do and find out if it has only started since the above work has been don
Thanks David my thoughts exactly it might be a job for a surveyor , its getting that balance of wanting to do your best for your customer but not making it worse .
Perhaps monitor the water and if its just ocassional when it rains heavy something may work , perhaps its the raised bed which has changed the waters course and its highlighted the fact water is present .
Its not my main work spec there its just one area i have to plant up but its coming up with a solution its a big and prominent feature .
The guy who built the raised bed is not responsible.
I think I would keep away from getting involved with this.
I agree he is not responsible its just unfortunate , no one could predict the outcome unless they knew in advance , job done with the best intentions as instructed .
Did the guy who built it line the sleepers with DPC membrane to stop the sleepers getting too wet... if so, and if the underlying soil is clay, that could point to the problem??
I agree with Andrew.... it could well be above our pay grade.
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