Ideas for "finishing"shed base trench

boardtc

This is what the back of our shed looks like after we had a shed put in on uneven very rocky land. I roughly weeded out this trench the other day after it was grassy.

It's roughly 30cm deep, with the grass level above the top of the base.

Any thoughts on the best idea of what to do with this "trench"?

irishbuzz

Decorative stone?

grassylawn

Line it with weedproof membrane. Fill it with gravel.

Fine Cheers

Beach pebble on a fabric membrane would be my choice

boardtc

Would ye do the pebble to the grass line, i.e above the base going against the steel shed?

seamus

Yep, weed control fabric and decorative stone. Hide the base completely with the pebble, keep it even with grass line.

Will stop it getting all soggy around the shed, and will make it way easier to keep the grass neat and tidy.

Idioteque

As above but I'd also put some edging between the small bank of soil and the stone/gravel - looks neater IMHO

boardtc

Never used weed fabric before, is something like this good https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00N3454UQ ?

@Idioteque I'm not sure how to put edging in, the "edge" of the soil is currently somewhat unstable. When I fill the trench with stones, I wonder what I could pot against the side to create an effective edge?

boardtc

Another thing, at the far end of the trench I fitted a 100l water butte last Sunday on some blocks. The instructions had a short hose pipe connecting the drain to the butte which I didn't really follow so I hacked a solution and cut a hole in the top of the butte. I was surprised last night that it was nearly full so I added an overflow spout, it's at an angle but I hope it works! That will be draining straight down into the trench/stones. Not sure what else I can do there.

Calahonda52

so the butt has no filter, dogs dinner of a job TBH

jmBuildExt

boardtc wrote: »

Another thing, at the far end of the trench I fitted a 100l water butte last Sunday on some blocks. The instructions had a short hose pipe connecting the drain to the butte which I didn't really follow so I hacked a solution and cut a hole in the top of the butte. I was surprised last night that it was nearly full so I added an overflow spout, it's at an angle but I hope it works! That will be draining straight down into the trench/stones. Not sure what else I can do there.

Did the "short hose pipe" come with the butt?
It attaches to the downpipe and allows the butt to overflow back into the down pipe when it is full.
Have you got a drainage shore or are you just spilling back onto the soil?
Soak pit would be the job, but failing that, people often just pipe it a few feet away from the shed.

boardtc

jmBuildExt wrote: »

Did the "short hose pipe" come with the butt?
It attaches to the downpipe and allows the butt to overflow back into the down pipe when it is full.
Have you got a drainage shore or are you just spilling back onto the soil?
Soak pit would be the job, but failing that, people often just pipe it a few feet away from the shed.

When they installed the shed they just let the drain feed into the trench, albeit on the opposite side of the butt than I put the spout. It's been there about 18 months and we've seen no water build-up.

I got the butt in Lidl with the short hose. I was wondering if that's the way it worked but could not figure out how to do that and to have it filling also, so hacked it. The instructions did not make sense to me:

jmBuildExt

looks straight forward to me
Looks like its only made for round downpipes though - yours looks square

jack of all

I got a rainwater diverter with overflow suitable for square downpipes for my water butt; think I got it in Screwfix atr the time, couldn't find anything like it in any of the local hardware/ DIY stores.

awec

seamus wrote: »

Yep, weed control fabric and decorative stone. Hide the base completely with the pebble, keep it even with grass line.

Will stop it getting all soggy around the shed, and will make it way easier to keep the grass neat and tidy.

If the grass line is higher than the shed base, would this not result in water potentially getting to seep / run between the shed and the concrete base?

grassylawn

Mosquitoes can enter the overflow pipe and breed in the water butt.

seamus

awec wrote: »

If the grass line is higher than the shed base, would this not result in water potentially getting to seep / run between the shed and the concrete base?

It's a good point. Probably not a major issue. Water still wants to go downwards, so once it hits the stones it should go down rather than pool and run under the shed.

To be sure, you could go with bigger pebbles, say 20mm+

boardtc

jmBuildExt wrote: »

looks straight forward to me
Looks like its only made for round downpipes though - yours looks square

It was square before I cut it, now it's 2 sections of square! I can't understand the instructions myself at all, I should have posted here before I hacked it! Great you understand but I have no idea how the diverter works and how it moves water into the butt until it's full and then allows water through the drain as normal.

Accepting it works though I was not sure how to fit it to the drain, was I meant to cut the drain like I did and then fit it around the 2 halves I cut?

I could get a square diverter https://www.screwfix.ie/p/floplast-rainwater-diverter-70mm-black/27866. I could probably move my platform to the right of the drain on the corner. I kept the piece I cut out of the top so I could glue the hole back in and use the butt as designed.

boardtc

awec wrote: »

If the grass line is higher than the shed base, would this not result in water potentially getting to seep / run between the shed and the concrete base?

@awec, see the picture showing it's higher. I don't understand your question but hopefully, someone does!

sky6

The Shed Base should have been kept higher than the outside ground.
Too late now so all you can do is keep the water away from the Steel of the Shed to prevent Rot.

A simple stone or Pebble trench should do the job but to make sure there is no build up of Water you could put in a length of land drainage first then cover with pee gravel or stone which should take the water away quickly.

awec

boardtc wrote: »

@awec, see the picture showing it's higher. I don't understand your question but hopefully, someone does!

You don't want water flowing toward your shed, as it will eventually cause rot.

As it is right now, you are fine, as the shed is higher than the surrounding terrain.

If you fill your trench, you need to make sure that either:

1. Your fill doesn't reach the top of the concrete base
2. You fill it with something that will allow water to drain away very quickly so there is no risk of water pooling against the bottom of your shed

My question to the thread was if I was right, or talking crap when saying this.

boardtc

Thanks for explaining @awec!
The shed has a full-length gutter with the one drain pipe I am messing with. In the 48 hours between Sunday and last night, the 100L butt was almost full, so for the last 18 months all that water was coming out of the drain into the end of the trench and I never saw any water build-up whatsoever.
That said bases on your point #1 I'm unsure about filling with pebbles, if keeping under the bases then the pebbles would still be up 8-10cm may be lower so still leaving a drop-off from the grass... that said, maybe that's the way to go...

boardtc

sky6 wrote: »

A simple stone or Pebble trench should do the job but to make sure there is no build up of Water you could put in a length of land drainage first then cover with pee gravel or stone which should take the water away quickly.

What would the idea being of using say a 160mm Non Perforated Land Drainage pipe running the length when the water is draining at the opposite end of the trench?

Fine Cheers

If the ground below the decorative stone is free draining (any water ponding at present?) then rain run off should percolate down through the stone. Keep the stone down slightly from existing ground level and it will be easier to cut the grass. Timber edging would look well too or just cut a straight line with spade.

Idioteque

boardtc wrote: »

Never used weed fabric before, is something like this good https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00N3454UQ ?

@Idioteque I'm not sure how to put edging in, the "edge" of the soil is currently somewhat unstable. When I fill the trench with stones, I wonder what I could pot against the side to create an effective edge?

Something like this...(bout 18months old, trimmed grass today hence the temporary Green staining but still looks good after all sorts of weather.)

boardtc

Idioteque wrote: »

Something like this...(bout 18months old, trimmed grass today hence the temporary Green staining but still looks good after all sorts of weather.)

Brilliant, I like that! Your trench might have been shallower than mine. It averages about 25cm wide and 20cm deep, I could put a treated beam like that on its edge I think, with some pebbles underneath and a weed barrier under that and may be stapled to the side of the wood. Thanks!

jmBuildExt wrote: »

looks straight forward to me
Looks like its only made for round downpipes though - yours looks square

Thanks for your patience here Jim - do I insert the cut drainpipe on either side of the divider? Hopefully, I can salvage the job yet.

boardtc wrote: »

I have no idea how the diverter works and how it moves water into the butt until it's full and then allows water through the drain as normal.

The Screwfix site educated me as to how it works:
The rainwater diverter will divert a majority of the water to the water butt. It is estimated that approximately 70% of the rainwater is diverted to the water butt. It will then fill the water butt up to the height of the inlet hose which should be 100mm from the top of the water butt. Once the water rises above the inlet pipe it will then feed it back to the downpipe.

boardtc wrote: »

Never used weed fabric before, is something like this good https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00N3454UQ ?

It's 5m x2m, the trench is 10m, in terms of weeds at the joint, am I better getting a 10m piece rather than joining two 5m sections ?

Idioteque

boardtc wrote: »

Brilliant, I like that! Your trench might have been shallower than mine. It averages about 25cm wide and 20cm deep, I could put a treated beam like that on its edge I think, with some pebbles underneath and a weed barrier under that and may be stapled to the side of the wood. Thanks!

No worries - it's 150mm x 75mm treated timber sitting on about 20 - 30mm pea gravel I think from memory.

One other thing I did which I don't think you can see in the picture, is I staped some DPM to the side that sits aginst the soil bank.

boardtc

Idioteque wrote: »

No worries - it's 150mm x 75mm treated timber sitting on about 20 - 30mm pea gravel I think from memory.

One other thing I did which I don't think you can see in the picture, is I staped some DPM to the side that sits aginst the soil bank.

I'm wondering the best way to fix this in place. Because of my space I'll be putting mine on it's side. Maybe just hammer down little stakes on the pebble side every metre, the topos of which would be lower and covered my pebbles.