What is the best place for a drainage channel at back doors?

Threshold channels are there to protect the building first, and the paving second. The guide will look at door details, step heights and how to avoid water tracking under frames or across damp proof courses.

Drainage Channels Explained

This deep guide is being prepared

You’ve found one of our deeper technical pages. The full guide to drainage channels is currently being written and illustrated. Rather than send you to a 404 page, we wanted to let you know what will live here — and how it fits into the wider drainage story.

When complete, this page will explain how linear drainage channels actually work, where they should and shouldn’t be used, and why positioning, falls and outlet design matter more than the brand of channel you choose.

What this page will cover

How channels collect, slow and discharge water from patios, drives and thresholds.
When a channel is genuinely needed vs when falls and detailing are enough.
Common failure patterns: channels that sit too high, too low or with nowhere sensible to discharge.
Threshold logic at doors and garages — avoiding water tracking back into buildings.
How channels interact with sub-bases, membranes and retaining walls.

In the meantime, the main drainage principles we apply on real projects are already covered in our Garden Drainage Explained guide. If you’re planning work soon, those pages will give you the structural thinking we design from every day.

Thank you for your patience while we finish this section — we’d rather take the time to write something genuinely useful than publish a thin placeholder and call it done.

Ask About Drainage Channels on Your Project

Drainage Channels – Upcoming Questions We’ll Answer

Do I need a drainage channel along every patio edge?

Often, no. Many patios drain perfectly well using careful falls and permeable borders. The full guide will explain when channels genuinely solve a problem, and when they simply add cost and future maintenance.

What’s the best place for a channel at my back doors?

Threshold channels are there to protect the building first, and the paving second. We’ll look at typical door details, step heights and how to avoid water tracking under frames or across damp proof courses.

Can a badly positioned channel make drainage worse?

Yes. A channel with no sensible outlet, or one set lower than surrounding ground, can fill with silt and simply become a wet trench. The finished guide will show how to tie channels into a complete water route, rather than treating them as stand-alone products.

Start a Conversation About Drainage & Groundworks

If you are considering drainage channels as part of a new patio, driveway or retaining-wall project, we can talk through whether they are genuinely needed, and how they should connect into the wider drainage and groundworks design.

Call: 01428 654812 · 07500 877949

Email: richard@tlchaslemere.co.uk

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