Garden help! Any ideas for sloped concrete and public sewer access?

last year

The back of our house is a bit of a pig! We have a sloped concrete patch between the back of the house and the outhouse and also a public sewer which we have to allow access to if needed.
The part with the lovely brown stain running down it was where the old boiler was, boiler has been removed and that housing for it will be knocked down.
We have a large garden the other side of the out house but I'm struggling with what we can do with this small section. We were going to deck it but I think it will just be to costly and also be above the 300mm so will need permission. I'm thinking of just having some large planters there instead that run along the back which we can move if access is required.
Eventually the window to the left will be full length or possibly be the back door and we will change the colour of the render.
I just don't know what else to do with it which will not cost the earth but make it look more attractive.
We also have a sloped side access path but the whole of the concrete is such a mess.
Any ideas will be greatly appreciated.

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Comments (10)

H Batarfi
last year
What about artificial grass for the garden or a part of the outer space. Adding some potted plants and a paint the concrete using your prefered sketch
H Batarfi
last year
you also may add wood panels and some accessories
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I am a retired garden designer. Sorry I don’t have time to read all the comments, so apologies if I am repeating what others have said. I think your plans show that you have thought this out and worked hard. I would n’t have a brick arch. It will look heavy. I can’t gauge the scale, but your borders look as if they may be under a metre wide in some places. If a border is 60 cm wide you will probably get in a climber at the back and a perennial layer at the front. It won’t look ....substantial but may just about fill the bill. It seems as if something less than this is what you will look out on from your patio. The border around the edge of the lawn tapers to a point. Generally speaking there isn’t really a plant that you can put there and expect to form that shape. Sorry that is all I can remember without referring back to the drawing which doesn’t seem possible without posting or deleting! Good luck and have fun.
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Have you thought of gabions, provided you put the facing layer of something attractive that you like you can fill the back with all the old bricks and rubble (no soil) that would save on the amount of money you would have to spend on the facing and journeys to the tip to get rid of rubbish. If you wanted you could add a decking board, or anything you fancied on the top to use as seating this doesn't need to be the full width of the garden and is quite cheap to buy but do treat with preservative to give a long life, I definitely would put plants behind to stop people tripping over and falling on to the patio. Hope this will helps you.
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Sounds like you will need to apply for planning permission because of the roof heights from ground level. Best thing to do though is to call and check with your planning department - if you can speak with someone! Ask to speak to the duty officer. Alternatively, if a quick call isn't possible you can go the paid for pre-app route, although more effective once you've got some sketch plans done.. I've found some variance in interpretation on what would be considered ground level from one city to another, so yours might take a particular view that may or may not be helpful to you! I think the permitted height you mention is to gutter level off the ground level - so the ridge / abutment can be higher than that. (This is all a bit off the top of my head - as in I'm not reading directly from any planning policy or guidance here but it sounds like you're reasonably familiar with the documents anyway). For the drain that runs under the patio you need to check with your local water board or building control department for what you need to do if it's their responsibility. Again different water boards have extremely different requirements and guidance. Some, like United Utility tend to let the building control department deal with it and have reasonable rules around altering manholes etc. Other water boards like South West Water insist that you apply directly them and have really strict and onerous requirements and allow very minimal to no alterations to things like manholes. If you do have a shared drain then you will need to have permission to build over it and you will probably need to make sure it can be accessed via a rodding eye or manhole - all dependent on the specific requirements of the water board in your area and the specific layout of your drain and property. You may also need to have a structural report to show that no additional load is being put on the drain that might cause cracking or other problems, and possibly other requirements... It can be a bit of a pain to be honest depending on the specifics, but if it's important enough to do it then there are usually (though not in every case) ways to achieve a build over. For internal changes in level compared to external - this is up to you and how you plan to use the space, how mobile you are and comfortable with steps - for example if you have young kids, or plan to have, then some steps in the middle of your family room might seem a bit dangerous. A good designer can incorporate steps within a room well if you prefer that, or you can do them externally within a raised patio, but you will need to include for that patio within your planning application if it's over (if I remember right) 50cm off ground level. In relation to the neighbours you may need to prove that they will not have their enjoyment of their property reduced or limited by your proposal. In some areas there are strict house extension guidelines that you have to follow - for example Farnham and Trafford. The main things are privacy and overshadowing. Your architect should be able to create diagrams to help support any design and show the planners that this has been taken into consideration and won't have a majorly negative effect on the neighbours. If you'd like my free checklist to help you with your fundamental decisions making you can get that here: https://bit.ly/2P1quQ6 Hope this helps, Jane, i-architect.co.uk
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H Batarfi
last year
or may be a spiral garden, just like raised beeding
H Batarfi
last year
spiral
Jonathan
last year
I would save up unit you can do it properly. If it were mine I would knock down the garage and excavate all that concrete. Then put doors on the back of your house to connect the house with the garden.
Sonia
last year
Decking is one of the cheapest options, but it doesn’t last long. Mine started to rot around the edges after 8 years, but it may do the job for a while until budget allows. Another thought is gravel contained within wooden edging. It may be a bit difficult to walk though, but again pretty cheap. With the drain cover you could cover with the gravel and then sweep it aside when access to drain is needed. With decking we actually built a hinged door over the drain within the deck. Now we have laid porcelain tiles and we had a drain cover that incorporates the tiles so it is “sort of invisible” and it can be lifted to gain access (see below). I think you idea of plant pots is a great way to tart up a concrete patio, add an outdoor rug (they are weather proof) and some garden furniture.
VRP
Original Author
last year
@Jonathan we would love to do that but unfortunately it's not an option. It would cost too much and we don't plan on staying forever, we might move in 6 years.

Our bathroom and utility are at the back of the house and we are going to use the outhouse as an additional room eventually.
VRP
Original Author
last year
@H Batari. The only problem with the concrete is its all broken so don't think painting it would make it look any better but good idea.
kazzh
last year
Large planters might be the way to go. Pop them on the roller bases so you can move them round easily. Given the expanse you have, I think the larger the better to be proportional to the wall space. A large one full of flowers, or a miniture tree, could sit in the middle between the buildings. Another idea that would add color would be window boxes at the windows. Usually they bring a garden to window height, but for your space it would reak up the blankness of the back walls. Planting could be flowers or you could cultivate a drapey style plant to hang dpwn.
Coil Alians
last year
last modified: last year
I would remove most of the cement and plant some trees and flowers, and make like little paths between them. That's the optimal way in my opinion to give some life to that back yard. Almighty Construction is doing this kind of work. They have a lot of projects on which they worked, and you can see the results on their website, maybe some of them will be exactly what you need. If not, then you can discuss what exactly do you wanna change, and they can come up with some ideas and suggestions.

Garden help! Any ideas for sloped concrete and public sewer access?

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Garden help! Any ideas for sloped concrete and public sewer access?

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