Patio above damp proof course?

[mad despot]

Does the patio in this picture look ok? There's a strip of gravel between the slabs and the wall, but I think this is above the DPC; anything to be concerned about? I'm not sure where the DPC is tbh, or if having gravel above it is ok.

 

[sxturbo]

Need a closer photo of the wall.

Usually you can see the dpc through the mortar (or at least some of it)

 

[mad despot]

Thanks sxturbo, unfortunately that's a picture sent to me by the landscaper who did it; it's my house but about 150 miles away.

 

[conny]

In that case you need whoever is living there at the moment to send you close up pictures, especially around that open door step. If the house has a gable end you may be able to see a bit of dpc showing along one of the horizontal mortar joints. Sometimes looking closely you can see a tiny bit at the base of the mortar. Select an small section of wall and scrape gently at the lowest mortar run. You only need to scrape about 5-6mm into the joint where it sots on the brick. If it's not at the lowest point move up to the next horizontal run and try again. This is the lowest point it should be, and usually is. If it isn't then the ground level may have been raised over the years so it is not visible. Do you have damp issues inside the house?
There should be 6" (150mm) between the dpc and ground level though you may get away with 3" (75mm) if the gravel is deep enough. The gravel helps stop 'back splash' by preventing the rain bouncing back off the ground to a point above the dpc

 

[foxhole]

I would expect the dpc two courses below threshold in which case gravel is too high.

 

[mad despot]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I think the gravel is too high, but hopefully being gravel there won't be too much splash back as conney says. The patio replaces some decking that was there before and until now there haven't been any damp issues; I guess time will tell.