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House perimeter apron: slope, expansion joints, insulation
Service description
I take on the full apron around a house, from setting out to the finished edge. People usually call me when hairline cracks show up on the plinth, the basement starts to smell damp, or meltwater stands right against the wall every spring. In almost every case the old apron has settled, lost its fall, or was never built at all. The first thing I check is the roof overhang and the position of the downpipe outlets, because the width of the strip is measured from them: I make it 20 to 30 cm wider than the overhang, so runoff lands on the surface instead of soaking the soil next to the footing.
The sequence is always the same. I strip 30 to 40 cm of topsoil, dig out soft pockets, lay geotextile and build the base in layers of sand and crushed stone, watering and compacting every layer, because a base that was only levelled will ripple after the first winter. The fall away from the wall is held at 2 to 3 degrees, roughly 1.5 to 3 cm per metre, and I check it with a level along the whole run rather than eyeballing it from one corner. At the plinth I always form an expansion joint, a compressible strip or a board of extruded polystyrene, so the apron moves independently of the house and never tears the render off the wall. Transverse joints are cut every 2 to 2.5 metres and at the corners, then filled with sealant.
Three versions are available: concrete with mesh reinforcement and a protected edge, a soft apron of gravel over a membrane, and paving slabs on a rigid or semi-dry bed. On heaving soils I recommend the insulated build, with 50 to 100 mm of extruded polystyrene under the surface, so frost is pushed away from the foundation instead of lifting it. Downpipe outlets, gullies and porch steps are tied in neatly.
What is included:
— site visit, perimeter survey, width and fall calculation;
— excavation, geotextile, compacted sand and stone base;
— formwork, reinforcement, laying the chosen surface;
— expansion joint at the plinth, transverse joints, sealing;
— insulation where required, clean-up and removal of spoil.
For a typical detached house the work takes 5 to 9 working days, allowing time for the concrete to gain strength before the edges are loaded.
The sequence is always the same. I strip 30 to 40 cm of topsoil, dig out soft pockets, lay geotextile and build the base in layers of sand and crushed stone, watering and compacting every layer, because a base that was only levelled will ripple after the first winter. The fall away from the wall is held at 2 to 3 degrees, roughly 1.5 to 3 cm per metre, and I check it with a level along the whole run rather than eyeballing it from one corner. At the plinth I always form an expansion joint, a compressible strip or a board of extruded polystyrene, so the apron moves independently of the house and never tears the render off the wall. Transverse joints are cut every 2 to 2.5 metres and at the corners, then filled with sealant.
Three versions are available: concrete with mesh reinforcement and a protected edge, a soft apron of gravel over a membrane, and paving slabs on a rigid or semi-dry bed. On heaving soils I recommend the insulated build, with 50 to 100 mm of extruded polystyrene under the surface, so frost is pushed away from the foundation instead of lifting it. Downpipe outlets, gullies and porch steps are tied in neatly.
What is included:
— site visit, perimeter survey, width and fall calculation;
— excavation, geotextile, compacted sand and stone base;
— formwork, reinforcement, laying the chosen surface;
— expansion joint at the plinth, transverse joints, sealing;
— insulation where required, clean-up and removal of spoil.
For a typical detached house the work takes 5 to 9 working days, allowing time for the concrete to gain strength before the edges are loaded.
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