A puddle that sits on your driveway or patio for hours after rain is more than a nuisance. It can make paving slippery, encourage moss, freeze in winter and, if it is next to the house, let water towards the walls.
Common causes
A blocked channel drain or gully
Many driveways have a channel drain (a long grated drain across the entrance or in front of the garage) or a gully. Leaves, silt, moss and grit build up under the grating until water cannot get away. This is the most common cause and often the easiest to fix.
What to check: lift the grating, if it is safe to do so, and look inside. If it is full of silt or standing water, it needs clearing. If the channel or gully is clear but water still does not drain, the pipe beyond may be blocked.
A blocked soakaway
In some properties, driveway water drains to a soakaway, an underground pit that lets water soak into the ground. Over time soakaways can silt up and stop working, especially on clay soils. Water that drains very slowly from an otherwise clear gully can be a sign.
Sunken or uneven paving
Blocks and slabs can sink where the base beneath has settled, where vehicles turn, or where a leaking drain has washed soil away. Dips collect water. If paving has sunk along the line of a drain, see signs of a broken drain pipe.
The wrong fall
Paving needs a slight slope so water runs towards a drain or onto a permeable area. If a driveway was laid flat, or slopes towards the house, water has nowhere to go.
Moss and blocked joints
On permeable block paving, water is meant to drain through the joints. When joints fill with moss, silt and dirt, water sits on the surface instead. A thorough clean and re-sand can help. See how to clean a patio or driveway.
A note on new driveways
In England, paving over more than five square metres of a front garden with an impermeable surface normally needs planning permission, unless the water drains to a permeable area or soakaway within the property. Permeable paving or proper drainage avoids this and reduces surface water problems.
What to do next
- Clear the gratings of leaves and silt.
- Check whether water drains away once the channel or gully is clear.
- If it does not, the pipe or soakaway beyond is likely to be blocked.
- If the problem is sunken paving, find out why it sank before relaying it.
We can clear blocked channel drains, gullies and the pipes they connect to. See blocked drains, or ask about clearing gullies alongside driveway and patio cleaning.