[Piccolo]

I haven't put a query on the construction site before so please bear with me...... I have a potting shed (7 x 5) with a sloping roof (front to back) which is backing onto a set of garages with (at best) a gap of approx 7-8 inches.  Its stood on 3 bearers(?) on  paving slabs (mainly large ones - slightly smaller ones at the front).  My soil is clay.  Although it was fine it has now started to leak along the back.  I am having trouble drying it out (a lot of trouble  )
I have tried the following actions but with little success:
1) Some of the soil had slipped down and was touching at least one of the bearers( big pieces of wood under the shed) so I taken that back from it.
2) I scraped away a percentage of the soil at the back of the shed to below the level of the paving slabs thinking if the clay was holding the water this might help.
3) As there is a small sloping area on either side of the garden it was suggested to me that the water might be running down those areas and chanelling in behind the shed so I have reduced the slopes (a bit difficult on the one as a previous  owner's kitchen is underneath it  )
4) I have put a layer of horticultural sand between the shed and the garages in the hope that the water would draw towards that instead of the shed.

The water doesn't appear to be coming down the walls as it is the inside bottom horizontal wood at the base of the back wall (oh, this is where I sooooo want to draw a picture!!!) that is affected though it has leaked up one of the vertical struts a couple of times.

Sooooooooo, please, any suggestions would be gratefully accepted - its a great shed and I really want it to last.

Thanks

Piccolo 

[poultrygeist]

Hi piccolo

Do the garages behind drain into the gap between ?

I wondered if there was any runoff from the garage roofs running down and splashing up onto the lower rear of your shed, causing it to become saturated.

Is a photo possible ?

Rob

[Piccolo]

Hi Rob

Thanks for replying - I will try and get a picture on here in the next couple of days (will need my husband's help for that one..) and will put one showing the area inside the shed that is affected as well.  The garages are flat roofed with a a slightly raised edging around.  They have a raised, almost pebbledashed effect on the outside but are made of concrete panels.
If it is splashback would putting a layer of gravel down help?

Piccolo

[Piccolo]

Hi Rob,

Here are the photos as promised.

[RichardA]

not easy to make out but do any of the roofs have gutters to take the rain water away before it drops to the ground and gets blown back onto your shed If not can you get one in to divert the rain to where you want it to go not where it gets sent by wind and run off etc.
R

[noshed]

It looks like rainwater is running off both sets of roofs, meeting in the middle and puddling onto your shed. The foundations may not have much to do with it. Could you run a gutter along the back of your shed? That would catch the run off from your roof and might provide a bit of shelter from the garage roofs.
The only way of working it out would be to go and have a look when it's raining very hard or get a hosepipe and spray it about.
A bit of guttering is cheap and you could lead it into a water butt.
My greenhouse is a right bodge-up and I have redirected water from the roof, via bits of plastic into a wheely bin. And it is mostly dry, contrary to what you would expect. I have put a lot of gravel round the bottom, which helps with the gallons which escape my jury-rigged system.

[Chappers]

Would it be possible to move the shed away from the wall by a foot or so, it may help abd enable you to get behind to treat it with preserve if needed.

Paul

[Thrift]

Guttering seems to be the answer but I suspect there is very little space to fit it. Would it be possible to fit a gully along the ground between the shed and the garage to run the water away?

Guttering would be too narrow but half a drainage pipe might do ( necessity is the mother of invention). Good luck, lots of water ahead of us!

[Piccolo]

Thankyou all for your answers I am SO grateful you all took the time to reply - I am going shopping soon and will add a length of guttering to my list - not sure how I'm going to support in in the middle yet but I'll get around that somehow.  I cannot move the shed forward unfortunately so only have the small gap to reach down (after arms length I've improvised with extending garden tools to scrape the soil level down).  I've been offered some log roll (the taller type) so thought if I tether the pieces together and then stretch it across the back of the shed leaving a gap that could make a barrier for the water to hit instead.  Good idea about the gulley - does it have to be higher at one end than the other so the water runs away?  Not too familiar with drainage pipes but I think they may be wider than the gap but when I go hunting for guttering I will have a look.  Will  also put some gravel down.  Thanks again

[RichardA]

get a piece of wood long enough and stiff enough to span as a bridge from side to side of shed and fix gutter to top of that or side of that depending on overhang of roof. Push through gap and get a friend to pick up far end and you pick up near end to right level, very slight slope in direction of outfall of gutter. Mark it. Then fix wood at each end of shed on a  bracket and pick up guttering from there. Like an eaves board on a roof in effect
R

[Thrift]

That's a brilliant idea. Shall file it away for future use if needed.

[Piccolo]

Hi

Have been given some guttering today - hurrah! - I don't care that its house guttering if it solves the problem - it is polypipe 112mm  -  hope it works with the ideas above.  RichardA, your suggestion should compensate for the restricted access and the difficulty of middle support for the guttering won't it? 

[RichardA]

If the gutter is fixed to the timber or supported by it then it should not deflect or sag in the middle as the timber acts like a bridge for it.
If you then make sure the water off the shed roof goes in the gutter you can pipe up the gutter and the water will go where you want it to and not under your shed
Best of luck
R