Water leaking through garden wall

cork_south

I have a 12 foot high garden wall where the soil is 3 foot higher on the neighbours side.

Issue I have is that after heavy rain the water continues to leak through a gap near the bottom of the wall on my side, turning the garden into a bog.








Anyone know what I could get in b and q or woodies to stop this leak?
Am thinking some sort of cement or something?

Lumen

There should be proper drain holes (embedded pipes) to relieve the water pressure on the high side.

cork_south

Lumen wrote: »

There should be proper drain holes (embedded pipes) to relieve the water pressure on the high side.

Houses were thrown up during the boom so it looks like that was not done. Walls been leaking like this since day 1 but I've decided to try to do something about it.
If I try to stop the leak do you think it would put too much pressure on the wall?
It's the only part of the wall that's leaking and I'd say the wall is 50 feet long.

Lumen

cork_south wrote: »

Houses were thrown up during the boom so it looks like that was not done. Walls been leaking like this since day 1 but I've decided to try to do something about it.
If I try to stop the leak do you think it would put too much pressure on the wall?
It's the only part of the wall that's leaking and I'd say the wall is 50 feet long.

I think you're best off getting advice from an engineer.

Aside from that, I'd sooner drill holes than plug them. You want water coming through the wall in a controlled way, not being forced through the mortar joints.

Maybe there is a way to build a wall with no drain holes, but the ones I have are obviously drained.

2011

I don't think you will be able to stop the leak. The wall would be too porous. I would have drain holes through the wall to allow the water through in a controlled manner. I would also install a soak pit to prevent having a bog in your garden. I tend to avoid Woodies and B & Q for a number of reasons, but mainly their prices. Chadwicks for example offer far better value for money despite the fact that they share the same parent company as Woodies.

Markcheese

Theres a strong chance your garden will be a bog wether you "seal" that wall or not , there's probably not that much water actually coming through the concrete at the moment , if they have enough rain falling on their garden to soak the soil enough to do that ,then so do you .. ( position of their soakaways and drains could make a difference though. )
It may be worth checking the drainage and soil type on your side ,
Plus as was said above ,maybe drill some holes through the blocks to allow the water seep through in a more controlled way (safer for the wall ), maybe have a deep gravel border/ french drain thing , against the wall to catch that if you think it's affecting your lawn ,

Calahonda52

can we have a wider angle shot along the wall?
From what I see the leak is not material to making your lawn a bog.
.
As suggested consider putting a french drain along the wall and then the rolls royce solution would be to fit a submersible pump in a sump connected to the french drain that would pump it out.
Have you access for a JCB?
As for drilling the wall, do a decent job, maybe a 3" core, anything else will just block

cork_south

Below is a wider angle of the wall.
After heavy rain you can see water pouring out of the area circled.

The driveway falls away from the wall on the side with the ivy so if blocking the hole is not an option, somehow redirecting the water over there might be a solution?





As a result of the water pouring in, this whole area gets flooded and earth\mid pours out onto the driveway.
I think, as was suggested above, that drilling a few holes over by the flower bed/ivy side and letting the water drain off there might help alright.

Lumen

There are two separate issues here: getting the water through the wall safely, and dealing with it on your side.

You can't solve both together without co-operation from the neighbour, e.g. digging drains on their side with falls to a pipe going through the wall at a specific point you are aiming for.

Once the water is on your side you pretty much have to go with gravity. You can dig a french drain to stop the water pooling in the grass, but that water is just going to flow downhill.

In my own garden I just direct water along the boundaries behind hedging using a combination of stone and perforated pipes and then back out to a soakage area with a load of trees to suck it up again. I could just let it flow over the boundary but that's antisocial and invites disputes.

GreeBo

Ideally there would be a french drain on the other side of the wall taking the water away from the wall and bringing it somewhere suitable (a council drain for example)

What's over the wall and have you spoken with your neighbours about it?

Cerco

The water accumulation is probably worsened by the amount of concrete surrounding the patch. I also suspect the “bog” is caused by other water seeping through the wall at other points possibly under your garden.
As Calahonda said.... that leak is not making the bog.

Digging along the wall might show further ingress points.

tricky D

Lumen wrote: »

I think you're best off getting advice from an engineer.

Aside from that, I'd sooner drill holes than plug them. You want water coming through the wall in a controlled way, not being forced through the mortar joints.

Maybe there is a way to build a wall with no drain holes, but the ones I have are obviously drained.

Retaining Wall Weep Hole.

Drilled through the mortar NOT the block which would result in water in the wall. However it will tend to clog unless there is filter material, typically gravel, on the neighbour's side.

Then probably some sort of drain option to get through the grass depending on topography etc.

https://www.google.com/search?q=weep+holes&tbm=isch&chips=q:weep+holes,g_1:retaining+wall

Lumen

tricky D wrote: »

Retaining Wall Weep Hole.

Drilled through the mortar NOT the block which would result in water in the wall. However it will tend to clog unless there is filter material, typically gravel, on the neighbour's side.

Then probably some sort of drain option to get through the grass depending on topography etc.

https://www.google.com/search?q=weep+holes&tbm=isch&chips=q:weep+holes,g_1:retaining+wall

I think those mortar weep vents are intended for ventilating cavities, not draining retaining walls.

I think retaining walls should have approx three inch PVC-sleeved holes drilled down at an angle.

(I am not an structural engineer)

edit: like this?

tricky D

Lumen wrote: »

I think those mortar weep vents are intended for ventilating cavities, not draining retaining walls.

Nope. Mainly for water drainage. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weep

Lumen wrote: »

I think retaining walls should have approx three inch PVC-sleeved holes drilled down at an angle.

Ideally, but best done at construction time. Afterwards it's a real pain to do properly with good sealing. Getting the filler in is hassle enough wrt excavation, but piping and sealing is harder still.

Lumen wrote: »

(I am not an structural engineer)

I am.


Weep holes seem strange to a few in my experience. Da asked about hem once but steadfastedly refused to believe me. After showing him the lecture notes he was still skeptical. :mad:

Lumen wrote: »

edit: like this?

More like:

Calahonda52

While My Guitar Gently Weeps:D

I think common reference to weep holes is when the are down at the sub 25mm level and drainage holes once we get up beyond that.

listermint

tricky D wrote: »

Nope. Mainly for water drainage. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weep

Ideally, but best done at construction time. Afterwards it's a real pain to do properly with good sealing. Getting the filler in is hassle enough wrt excavation, but piping and sealing is harder still.

I am.


Weep holes seem strange to a few in my experience. Da asked about hem once but steadfastedly refused to believe me. After showing him the lecture notes he was still skeptical. :mad:


More like:

Realistically digging a trench and drilling holes in a wall inserting piping and back filling with 20mm plus gravel isn't difficult. It's bread and butter work for landscapers.

This isn't difficult stuff.

Cerco

Calahonda52 wrote: »

While My Guitar Gently Weeps:D

I think common reference to weep holes is when the are down at the sub 25mm level and drainage holes once we get up beyond that.

So , in this case, a weep hole on one side of the wall would be a drain hole on the other.

tricky D

listermint wrote: »

Realistically digging a trench and drilling holes in a wall inserting piping and back filling with 20mm plus gravel isn't difficult. It's bread and butter work for landscapers.

This isn't difficult stuff.

Agreed, but it is harder as I said for the simple reason that more room is required. Perhaps more awkward is the better phrase.



Another potential pain is that work is needed on the neighbour's side.

cork_south

Thanks everyone. I had always assumed that the leak was just down to shoddy brick work but I defo won't be trying to block this up now.

I think the only option I have without asking the neighbour to dig up their garden is to try to redirect the flow of the water to the wall with the ivy and let it flow down into the garden there