[jaykay]

I have a land drain that runs outside the garden fence but only just. And it failed recently, so out the back, where the duck houses are, has been like a swamp - and the garden has got pretty wet too.

So having talked about it all, I got a neighbour, who's done all our building/digging work, to come and re-dig it. He began on Tues afternoon. Tues eve he rang to discuss it all, including where to get the stones to fill round the pipe (the beck we decided since the goose pond needs digging out again since the last torrent brought down loads of stone) and where the excess soil could go. I agreed to labour for him at the weekend digging the stone.

Tonight I came back to find he's put all the soil back in the trench  There's standing water on top of it all, there's no way it can drain through this heavy soil and he knows that because he told me it himself. I can't imagine why he's done what he's done?

I should ring but I don't know what to say; 'a day and a half's labour, two nights of stress with the ducks and the back of the house looking like the Somme, all for nothing....'?

I don't know that I can really afford to fall out with him, I don't know who else would do the roof, sort this drain out etc. But........

[Hermit]

Just ask him. Be polite and ask how everything went and what needs doing now or is it finished. The trouble is with doing any work in soil at this time of year it will look like the Somme.Then give it a few days and then if the water is still not draining then tell him so and ask him to have a look and see what he has to do then. He will want to know if it is not working and then he can correct the work or think of another solution.After all he has a reputation to keep  and there may be an awful lot of water to drain off before you see the difference. The drain you say failed so the water must have been getting through to the drain at some time, I would give him a ring and also give the land a few days to react. All the best Hermit

[jaykay]

Thanks Hermit 
Yes, I was expecting the mess and didn't mind as long as it started to drain again.
You're right, I'll let him have his tea and then ring and find out what he did in the end - thanks for the wise words 

[SallyintNorth]

First off - {{{hugs}}} and 

Well, I don't know your neighbour but he must have a reason for doing what he's done, so you have to ask him!  People who see me banging on on here may be surprised to hear me say this - but one of the most powerful conversational devices is silence.  As in, "I see you've covered over the trench?"  PAUSE.  PAUSE till he says something.  (And then try to find some good sense and neighbourliness in what he's done?  I hope there is some!)

And if the conversation goes badly, leaving you not sure what to say - then say that.  "Well, I don't quite know what to say.  I'll have to think it over."

As you say, you don't want to fall out - but you don't want to be a pushover, either.

Here's hoping there's some good reason and there will be a happy outcome... And if not, we're busy Saturday but can come over if needed on Sunday, with digging tools and (unless he's got a commitment I don't know about) land drain know-how.  Shout if you need us. 

[jaykay]

Thank you and bless you 

I don't want to fall out and I don't want to be a pushover, and I do want a functional land drain!

The upside is that I did get all the ducks to bed with no trouble tonight 

[jaykay]

I rang and asked - said it looked like he'd finished and I'd expected to be digging stone for him at the weekend.

He says he's put stone around the pipe and then put what he dug out back over, but that in fact was quite a bit of rubble in it, so he thinks it will drain, it will look dirty and mainly soil at the moment. Plus he says he thinks the main issue was the water from the top spring not the surface water and he's directed the spring into the pipe and checked that.
He says let it settle and dry out and see how it goes. He thinks I might want to dig a couple of side pipes in due course. Well, ok.
It feels a bit better, he has thought about it and done what he thought was sensible. He does usually, I usually feel as though i can trust him to make good decisions for me. So - I hope it will be ok.

[Hermit]

Good , sorted . We were recomended to have dug some side drains when we had ours done years ago. Ours was like the somme and it was summer!

[Remy]

Glad you got to the bottom of it and asked - the best thing is if you are uncertain as to why something has been done, is to ask why (tactfully of course!  ).  There's usually a good reason for it and if you didn't ask you might spend needless hours worrying and fretting.  Then if you didn't get the answer you wanted or things weren't right you'd know not to use that person again ...

My friend has dug a couple of land drains for us, he put a lot of stone and rubble around the pipe, then put the turf back over the stone.  You might find once the grass has regrown over the soil, the roots will hold everything together and it won't look half as bad.  Fingers crossed!

[jaykay]

Sadly, it's worse than it was before, since the surface water running off from the fields above, which is about 2/3 of the issue, doesn't seem to be able to drain at all now. He presumed the main issue was the run-off from the trough, and that I was being a stupid female for not putting a ballcock on it 

We're going to dig narrow 'herringbone trenches'' into it, the depth of the pipe and completely fill them with rubble/stones, probably at Easter now as the ground was frozen at half-term when my willing helpers were last able to stay.

[Mammyshaz]

Oh sorry to hear your still squelching. 
Will keep fingers crossed the gravel trenches do the trick 

[SallyintNorth]

... and that I was being a stupid female for not putting a ballcock on it 

grrrrrr... ain't that just the most infuriating thing!  I could tell gazillions of stories about 'helpful' males making assumptions about what poor ickle female had or hadn't done... and, as in this case, ending up making it worse.

Sorry guys - I know it's not all of you, but it's enough to be really irritating! 

jaykay, I've been wondering whether some of that honeycomb plastic path stuff woulld be helpful?  You could at least stabilise a section of the mud to give you - and the stock - a safe route up and down.  English Heritage use it on high traffic areas along Hadrian's Wall near us and it does seem to work.

[jaykay]

I think I will use that stuff Sally, once we've done the extra trenches, to 'firm up' the temporary holding pen at the bottom. Actually, now I'm saying that, I might use it in the field holding pens too. It will prevent entertainment of watching Dad step out of his wellies, but it might be worth that small sacrifice 

[bazzais]

You will probably find that he will ahve put asmany stones in the trench as possible and has put doil over so it can be reseeded - once gas is growing on it it will hold it together and help drainage as they break the soil up.  Mud doesnt drain to well - thats why its mud.

Hope it gets sorted - horrible having sticky s**t everywhere - makes this really hard.

Baz

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