concrete drive covering airbrick

[antonyelliot]

hi

sorry this post may not be in the right area, and it is quite long but i wanted to get in as much info as ossible

i am looking to buy a semi detached house at the moment, the house has a patterned concrete drive that looks like it has been laid over the original drive.

the drive extends around as a path to the front and the rear of the building.

as it slopes up towards the detached garage at the rear of the property it cuts up and halfway up one of the air bricks. around the rest of the property the bottom of the air bricks are approx 5-10mm above the height of the drive.

i have had a drive contractor out to have a look and he is working on an estimate for fitting a drainage channel around the house.

the vendor has had her builder out he suggested either a drainage channel or that the air bricks could just be raised leaving the driveway intact. Is this an acceptable solution? (i believe the dpc is 2 courses of bricks above the air bricks.)

many thanks for any advice

p.s any suggestions for a better forum to post this in are welcome

[welsh brickie]

it would be cheaper and easier to change the airbrick height,if the rainwater was puddling by the house perimiter I would fit a drainage channel,but it sounds like its not so its unnessasary

[antonyelliot]

ok thanks, there was a bit of puddling on the drive, im not sure if with heavier rain it would go up the side or not.

in terms of air brick height is the distance they should be above the drive 150mm? what height below the floorboards should they be. does it matter if the air brick is above the dpc?

[welsh brickie]

the dpc is above 150mm the airbricks are always situated below,by raising the airbrick you can buy plastic periscope design this allows the air to be directed at a lower level.