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I'd rather the house didn't subside
Are you trying to collect moisture or get rid of it?
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I'd rather the house didn't subside
As long as you don't go below the footings, you're probably going to be fine.
Obvs I am not a builder, / structural engineer, - if you think there's a risk, you should probably find one of them to opine.
I will not be having any qualms about digging a French drain down the side of my house though.
That paint on the side of your house may be contributing to damp too - It's (I'm assuming) a solid wall with lime mortar, which likes to be exposed to the air so that it can dry out.
Losing the concrete on the ground is a probably a good start though. - it looks like it's breaching the DPC.
And as with all damp problems, it's usually a question of trying one thing, seeing if it works, and if not, trying another.
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I had one put in just over a year ago. We had a lot of water coming down the hill and into our brick - once the clay soil had reached its full capacity there was only one way to go and that was into the house.
It shouldn't be dug deep enough to affect the structure but it did affect the water table. As the water was being taken away from the clay efficiently, when the weather wanted up and the clay dried out it did increase seasonal movement in our house. Which was quite a concern at the time but we had a structural engineer round and he wasn't particularly concerned.
He said water tables change all the time - a more standard culprit is a neighbour chopping down a large tree, but this can affect seasonal movement as the soil dries out.
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Howard
NotThamesWater
Bainbridge
@moocher
Has anyone dug a french drain alongside their external wall
I need to cut through the paving slabs but have big angle grinder and disc so that should be possible. Then just dig it out, a bit deeper further away from the wall side, and fill it with pebbles?
I'd rather the house didn't subside