sniederb

There is land lower than this, but it's far away, and digging a drain would mean exactly that heavy machinery (even a mini digger) which we want to avoid. But I do understand ... that's really the only option, isn't it

Our back garden has a patio right by the house, surrounded by grass which is raised above the patio by about half a meter. There's a path along the house, crossing the patio and then along the house again. The patio is at the lowest point of both path segments, and as such the default place where water pools. There's a pipe at one end of the patio, clearly for drainage, but that seemed clogged. Some lifting of flagstones revealed the layout of the drainage (French drain kind of thing), the far end was completely full of mud. However, looking at the area where the drain led to, it seems we have a combo of lowest point of the back garden + clay preventing water draining. One image shows the patio layout, the black drainage pipe can just be seen at the left, and then coming out again at the right where the black bucket is. The other image shows our involuntary pond, which holds water even after days without rain. So our situation is: water seeps to the lowest point of our back garden. That lowest point happens to be on clay, and holds water for days with hardly any drainage. Putting in a proper drainage leading away from the entire back garden would require heavy equipment, as everything around is at least 50cm higher (some areas more like 80cm). How can we get rid of that water? The only thing I can think of is a pump, but that seems a bit silly. I'm stumped.

Cool, that sounds pretty much exactly like what I have in mind.

Conor, I'm worried about the strong winds we get. So the "tethers sunk in to the ground" is why I'm thinking to pour concrete piers.

Yes, it's really just a wooden box with some chairs in it. Maybe a place for the tea kettle, if I get that to work with solar. I was thinking to pour 4 concrete piers with beam connectors on top, I fear timber stilts will rot too quickly. But from your reply I gather that those 4 concrete pier will easily do the job.

I'm planning to put up a bird hide in our back yard, Western Isles (Scotland). The structure itself will be timber, approx. 3m x 2m and 2m high, slanted roof (maybe with solar panels). The structure doesn't need insulation, but damp and rot is a concern (did I mention Western Isles?) The ground seems to be a mix of gravel and soil about 50cm deep, then solid rock. (The image shows roughly the intended size, using some spare clay liners to indicate the corners) I'm struggling to decide on the type of foundation. We're quite a bit away from the road, so the amount of concrete needed is fairly relevant. My understanding so far is that I could do pier & beam, which would mean to dig 4 holes, use some sort of sonotube and put in beam connectors. The alternative would be a monolithic slab, which would mean digging the entire area down about 20cm, add a frame on top and then fill it all with concrete. The pier & beam option is attractive because it needs so much less concrete, but what I read on this forum is that most people put down a slab. What are the things I need to consider to reach a decision?

Thanks for the reply. I'm a complete noob, but doesn't backdraught prevention stop the air flow in the opposite direction? In my case, the vent sucks air out of the bathroom (stating the obvious), and the wind makes the vent turn and also suck air out of the bathroom. Thus the air flow is in the same direction both times. (The wind doesn't blow in through the vent. I assume the wind passing the outlet creates a slight vacuum and thus "pulls" the air out)

In one of our bathrooms is a Vent-Axia ventilator, I believe a Silhouette 100T Extractor Fan. When there's a good wind (and there often is), the vent will start spinning on its own, and cause a draft which sucks the warm air out of the bathroom outwards, and cold air from wherever the insulation is poor. Has anyone encountered this issue and solved it? I'm thinking about crafting a cover for the fan, but maybe there's a better approach? Thanks for your help Simon

I got all figures from here: https://www.homebuilding.co.uk/renovation-assessing-the-potential/#damp. As stated, they seem low, but I don't have the experience to know for sure.

@ProDave, is there a difference in this whether we go for UFH, or central heating with radiators? I assume for both you'd need insulated pipes running across the floor, but maybe there's a difference I'm unaware of.

Thanks for the advice there, @Thedreamer. The property was de-crofted quite a while ago. We'd obviously verify that through our solicitor, but honestly, with the current replies in this thread I'm starting to doubt this renovation project.

Thanks Ferdinand. With approx. 110m2 that comes to be £55,000 - £65,000, which fits pretty good with our expectations. Currently that rough estimate is really all we need to know.

Thanks Dave. The house is really nice, the location fabulous, but I hear you ... from this thread I'm getting the impression dampness in these old buildings is not something easily fixed, but more an issue you learn to live with. Not the outcome I was hoping for.

I apologize for possibly not getting the humour here .. but would you say that dampness in those old croft buildings is something not worth the effort, and building new is the way to go?

We're looking at buying a property which would need renovation of pretty much the entire interior. The original building was built around 1870 (afaik), and later extended. There is a damp issue (see other post), no central heating, and the entire interior is rather old. Furthermore, there is a separate building labeled "barn" which we'd like to refurbish as a home office. So, our list: Resolve dampness in 150 year old building (sustainably? £1,000 Install central / underfloor heating: £2,500 Rewiring: £2,500 Replace all floors (probably with stone and/or wood): £3,000 Replace all windows and doors: £4,000 Replace staircase: £1,000 Replace all wood panel walls: £2,000 Reopen fireplace living room: £800 Put in new kitchen: £5,000 Put in new bathroom: £2,000 Finish "barn" to be used as office space (additional window, redo bathroom, change sink, finish walls, ceiling, floor): £8,000 The price estimates are taken from https://www.homebuilding.co.uk/renovation-assessing-the-potential/, and I personally find many of them ridiculously low. However, having absolutely no experience with house building / renovation, who am I to judge. From the above, I get the feeling with a budget of about £50,000 we might be ok. Does that seem rather low, high, or reasonable?