Why gardens in Bognor Regis and the coastal plain stay waterlogged, and how a correctly sized soakaway or land drain system solves it.
Why West Sussex gardens get waterlogged
Much of Bognor Regis, Chichester and the surrounding coastal plain sits on heavy clay with a high water table. Rain has nowhere to go, so lawns turn to bog, patios flood and sheds sit in puddles through autumn and winter.
The fix is usually one of three things: a soakaway, a French drain / land drain system, or channel drainage — often a combination.
What is a soakaway?
A soakaway is an underground chamber or rubble-filled pit that collects surface water from drains, downpipes or land drains and lets it slowly disperse into the surrounding soil. Modern soakaways use plastic crates wrapped in membrane, sized to the area draining into them.
Where Building Regulations apply (new builds and extensions), soakaways are sized to Part H with percolation tests. For garden drainage, we size from experience and the volume of water involved.
Signs you need one
- Standing water on the lawn more than 24 hours after rain
- Water pooling against the house, patio or shed
- Moss, mud and dead patches that never recover
- An old soakaway that overflows or has silted up
What we do
We survey the site, find the falls, and dig in the right combination of land drains and soakaways to move water away from the problem area. All spoil is removed and the ground reinstated. Free surveys across Bognor Regis, Chichester and West Sussex.