Botched waterproofing on garden beds

4 years ago

I'm sure I'm not alone here. My husband and I spent way more than what we budgeted for on renovating our house. When it came to the last bits like the garden, we looked for ways (and other people) to help us cut costs since we were being fleeced by our contractors and architect. Our original contractors built our garden beds and used a sika render to supposedly waterproof it, but they also used breeze blocks for the outer walls. Cheaper contractors then came to cover and paint over the breeze blocks. Now most of the walls have deep cracks, and whatever was used over the breeze blocks is hugely porous and essentially just crumbles if you bump it. We don't have the money to tear all of the beds and walls out now, so we are looking for a solution that will last a few years. Once we peel back the paint and scrape off all of the sodden plaster or whatever it is, I'm wondering what we do next? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Paisley

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Linsey Evans Garden Design
4 years ago
You need to 'tank' the inside of the planters (just like a basement they are holding water). Dig back the soil from behind the retaining walls, let them dry out, then paint on two coats of bitumastic paint - ask at your local builders merchants, I usually specify Permaseal.

Then you have options. You can either re-render the walls, or you can clad them with almost anything. I like to use a stone cladding tile, although they are quite expensive to buy they are really quick and easy to fix. It's also a good idea to prime the front face of the wall before applying any cladding. You can use treated timber for a cheap alternative to stone. I love the pebble mosaic sheets, particularly the stacked pebble, they look great on outside walls. You can stick sheets of stainless steel to the faces of wall, also Corten steel looks great and is very cheap.

Here's a photo of some slate clad retaining walls at one of my projects.

Hope this helps.
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Botched waterproofing on garden beds

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Linsey Evans Garden Design

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