Linear drainage channel: driveway, terrace, garage

What the price depends on

It’s priced per running metre of channel. The total depends on the load class, the depth, the surface that has to be cut and relaid, and how far it is to where the water ends up. Cutting into existing block paving takes longer than fitting the channel while the paving is being laid. Labour rates are in the table.

Channels, grates, the silt trap, pipes, concrete, and taking away soil and broken paving are paid separately, as agreed in the handyman’s offer.

Rather hand the job over? More here: drain unblocking in Warsaw.

Channels, grates and load classes

Channels come in polymer concrete, plastic and concrete. Plastic ones are light and suit paths and terraces. Polymer concrete and concrete are heavier and go where cars drive.

The key choice is the load class under EN 1433. A15 is for pedestrians: terraces and paths. B125 is what a driveway or parking space by the house needs, where cars drive over it. C250 goes at the edge of a road and wherever heavier vehicles come in. Grates are made of galvanised steel, cast iron or plastic, and the channel and grate classes have to match.

Where the water goes matters more than the channel itself. Options: a storm sewer, if there is one and its operator allows the connection, soakaway crates or a soakaway on the plot, or a rainwater tank. Sending water onto a neighbour’s plot isn’t allowed, and it usually can’t go into the foul sewer either. Check with the water utility or your local council.

Safety when digging

Before anyone digs, find out where cables, gas, water and fibre run. A utilities map of the plot and whatever the owner remembers both help. A cut cable or damaged gas pipe turns a small job into an emergency. Cutting concrete and paving throws up a lot of dust and noise, so a mask, goggles and ear protection are needed.

How fitting works

1. A level is used to see where the water runs, and to decide where the line goes and where it drains to.
2. The line is marked, the surface cut and a trench dug.
3. On a concrete bed, channels are set falling towards the outlet, or pre-sloped channels are used.
4. The channels are haunched with concrete on both sides, with a silt trap and basket at the outlet.
5. A pipe runs to the discharge point, and the paving goes back tight against the channel.
6. Finally the grates go in and a hose test shows how it drains.

Common mistakes

• An A15 grate where a car drives, which cracked in its first winter.
• A channel sitting higher than the paving, so water pools in front of it instead of running in.
• Channels laid on bare sand with no concrete: they shifted, and the grates rattle.
• No silt trap, so after one season the pipe is full of sand.
• Water from the channel has nowhere to go: a short stub of pipe by the fence, or next door.
• The channel went where digging was easy, not where the water actually runs.

What to prepare

• A video during rain: where the water comes from and where it collects.
• A rough length for the line and photos of the surface.
• An idea of where the water could go, and whether the plot has a storm sewer.
• Information on underground services: a map, drawings, or at least what you remember.
• Spare blocks or slabs if any are left from the paving, for relaying the surface.

Frequently asked questions

How to order

Describe in the app where the water collects, how long the line should be and what the surface is, and add a video from a rainy day. Tradespeople near you will send offers with their own price and timing. Compare them by reviews and pick one; only that person sees your address.

You pay the handyman directly and they issue the invoice. They stand behind their own fitting and will fix it if the channel shifts or water pools because they got the level wrong. Services nobody warned them about, an old base that settles and a blocked municipal sewer are not on them.

Fit linear drainage channels? Create a tradesperson profile and requests from your town show up straight away. You work for yourself and decide how you register.