Flooding Garden

[battison10]

Help!! Have been in a Barratts home for 8 months now and had some snagging problems virtually every week. Main problem was that the back garden kept flooding with slightest bit of rain, contracts manager told us that it 'is only rain water'!! This rain water smells stagnant and i have a 2 year old daughter who will probably not be able to play in the back garden due to the stagnant water. Ground was very uneven with slopes in all directions. they have semi sorted this out and put land drains all round the garden but the grass is still saturated. because of the lie of the land the garden does not get any sunlight in Winter and minimal in Summer and i cannot see how the ground will dry out (grass in parts is now dying due to so much water) How can i get this sorted? please help!!

[Tony]

I would be tempted to get the stagnant water checked out by the Environmental Health people from the local council. If it smells, it could be coming from the drains.

The land drains should help, but the soil may still be of a poor quality. Ideally you want 100mm topsoil, not compacted sub-soil and builders' rubble. No grass will surive on this for long and it won't drain well either.

I would get a landscape gardener in to get a professional opinion.

Hope this helps

Tony

[battison10]

Just to let you know that I had some people come round from Barratts to look at other snagging problems which we had. I bought up the topic of the garden with them again and they have sort of admitted that yes there is a problem with the garden which they will sort out in March when the weather gets a bit better. Will keep you updated on the progress.

[tonyw]

If they have not done anything to date, ask them just to put there proposal in writing to you, they will if you ask them, all you require is what they are proposing to do, no big deal eh ? :unsure:

[battison10]

Well we are on the 24th March which leaves Barratts one week only to come and do what they promised, sort out the garden. As up to yet we have had no contact whatsoever even though i have filled in yet another service request form. But who knows what can happen in a week!! I have taken on board what you said about getting their proposal in writing and i will hopefully request this over the weekend via the sales centre or by fax. Will keep you updated.

[battison10]

Still waiting for contracts manager to contact me with a date and proposal of when and what they are going to do. come across another problem now, our concrete garage floor(which is level with the back garden)is now soaking wet!! could this have anything to do with our swamp?

[battison10]

Well the contracts manager and site manager finally inspected the garden again. Their proposal was to re-turf a section of the garden but not to take up the old grass!! their plan was to lay more top soil on top of the dying grass and then put more turf on. although they did put some drains in last year this still does not drain all the water away from the uneven garden. I tried to explain that there was no way they put down 100mm of top soil when the garden was first done because of the amount of rubble and bricks close to the surface, they argued that they always put down a minimum of 150mm, i don't think so. Can someone please point me in the right direction as to who i can ask to get this problem sorted out. i know that most peoples gardens are wet this time of year but ours is at the stage where you can see the water rising up your shoes when you walk on it. All i want is a garden where my 2 year old Daughter can play without getting muddy, wet and being bitten by midges which seem to love our damp conditions in the garden. Anyones help would be greatly appreciated.

[Hopeful]

Well Tonyw

Here you are again dishing out advice. Yet did I not read somewhere that you have bought many newbuilds and did not have all this bother? So how come you know so much about what everyone else should be doing?

I can tell you from experience that the developer will not give you a method statement. For the last 3 years in every case we have had to produce method statements, drawings and even quotations for much of the work we have had to have done. And unless a building surveyor is breathing all over them as they execute the work, they will still get it wrong or damage something else. In what other industry is such blatant disregard for customers and quality control tolerated? Oh but of course this is a handcrafted work of art and mistakes sometimes happen. What?????

[Hopeful]

'I would be tempted to get the stagnant water checked out by the Environmental Health people from the local council. If it smells, it could be coming from the drains.

The land drains should help, but the soil may still be of a poor quality. Ideally you want 100mm topsoil, not compacted sub-soil and builders' rubble. No grass will surive on this for long and it won't drain well either.

I would get a landscape gardener in to get a professional opinion.'

Battison 10 you need to take the advice given by Tony (NOT Tonyw) that I have repeated above. You must write to your developer and say that you find their approach unsatisfactory and intend to take further advice. Then contact your local council office and ask for the Environmental Health Officer. Get them down to check out the water if you suspect it is stagnant. We did this and the EHO arrrived the same day. Make sure he understands your concerns for your 2year old daughter. Contact a local landscape gardener. He will give you an opinion and a price for the work and then send the opinion and the quote to your developer and ask them when they will do the work to this specification. Take photographs and send them to your developer. Be persistent and above all remain calm but firm. Good luck. You can do this!!

[Karla]

Sorry to interupt! But i also have a sloping garden (away from house) and am also worried that this will happen to my garden as well. What should the developers/or me be doing to prevent this?