cjj
Part of things
Posts: 275
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(hopes this is the right place to ask...)
I'm in need of a minimally-sized driveway to be constructed, and I basically only really need a concrete slab to be honest.
It will be adjacent to my already-existing concrete hardstanding driveway slab, which is also connected to 2 other slabs of the same look and construction, so any other material in the short term will just look daft. I know this from a neighbour's recent construction!
Anyway, I just need it to be the smallest size allowed really, 4.8 by 2.4, before I can convert my garage, but before I can have a kerb done. All a bit of a structurally-ordered process, but should be the cheapest part.
I'm not historically one for paying people to do thing I can do myself, but making an exception for having this done. The driveway will incline a good 5-10 degrees (estimate) towards the house, so the run-off will be towards, rather than away, from my property.
I'm aware I'll be right in the lusting eyes of many a bodge merchant or travelling tradesman by advertising such a task - any advice or experiences I can hopefully learn from, as opposed to risking repetition of? Obviously I'll want to avoid paying out for much up-front and all that.
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Your council will have a list of approved contractors who can do your drop kerb and driveway entry and they will sign it off.
You will need to apply for permission to do the kerb and pay the fees.
You can DIY the drop kerb but you will need confirmed £1 million public liability in place (or about that locally) and you will need to do it to the council's exact spec.
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Hi, You need to speak to the council about the dropped kerb because some insist they or their approved contractor do it or some will let you do it to spec and they will inspect. There will still be a cost because some of the fee is the legal work to give you permission to cross the footpath or grass verge.
HTH.
Colin
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cjj
Part of things
Posts: 275
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Your council will have a list of approved contractors who can do your drop kerb and driveway entry and they will sign it off. You will need to apply for permission to do the kerb and pay the fees. You can DIY the drop kerb but you will need confirmed £1 million public liability in place (or about that locally) and you will need to do it to the council's exact spec. Hi, You need to speak to the council about the dropped kerb because some insist they or their approved contractor do it or some will let you do it to spec and they will inspect. There will still be a cost because some of the fee is the legal work to give you permission to cross the footpath or grass verge. HTH. Colin This is nothing to do with a kerb, that's a separate matter as per the OP. This is purely about the driveway itself
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So what were you asking because I've no clue
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You can do the basic dig out first, then get a builder in to do the rest. Expect to need to dig down nearly 1ft. My mate is a builder so gets me things like skips on his account (£40 cheaper) but he also had cheap good suppliers for things like hardcore/crusher etc.
In all honesty dig it out and then get someone else to do the rest, they know what they are doing and generally get quantities right! (I tend to be under or over by a lot 😂)
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cjj
Part of things
Posts: 275
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So what were you asking because I've no clue "any advice or experiences" of getting a simple driveway constructed. Not the kerb, the driveway.
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cjj
Part of things
Posts: 275
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You can do the basic dig out first, then get a builder in to do the rest. Expect to need to dig down nearly 1ft. My mate is a builder so gets me things like skips on his account (£40 cheaper) but he also had cheap good suppliers for things like hardcore/crusher etc. In all honesty dig it out and then get someone else to do the rest, they know what they are doing and generally get quantities right! (I tend to be under or over by a lot 😂) There's not really a lot of point to doing the dig, to be honest, as it's got a crusher run/rubble substrate only a few inches down. I tidied it up as a garden a few years ago and it was a pain to do anything with it as there's hardly any actual soil there. I also did some DIY imprinted concrete to replace a paved path, and had no need at all to do anything but stick concrete down then. The original quote I had had from someone who has since gone ghost protocol on me mentioned using a reinforced steel mesh, so I'm not going to bother with it myself on that basis, although at the same time it's not really too strenuous a task to do it all I expect - just a matter of digging out and filling in. I'll have to see what any quotes come back like, but I was generally looking for a "ask them for this" or "watch out for that" type thing. A lot of these places seem to go for block/tarmac/resin stuff, but that's not hugely useful to me as I expect (as ever) to be using jacks/stands a lot - of which a lot of those surfaces can be problematic.
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You will need mesh or it will crack over time. Usually 6" wacked down MOT type 1 then 4 to 6" of concrete - your mesh should be around 2" off the type 1, tell them you want it smooth finished not tamped down or it makes it difficult to move jack's etc on.
Also if getting anybody in to do the job chances are they will be wary of not putting a new base down in case the layer there is not thick or compact enough.
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time
Part of things
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When you get a quote ask them about drainage Cause if the driveway inclines toward the house you may need channel drains to carry away the rain water
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Standard requirement of the crossover agreement is that no water will be discharged onto the public highway. This usually means you need an acco type drain to take the water if it slopes towards the pavements.
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cjj
Part of things
Posts: 275
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Standard requirement of the crossover agreement is that no water will be discharged onto the public highway. This usually means you need an acco type drain to take the water if it slopes towards the pavements. It flows towards the house, as per the existing ones, so it isn't an issue. Had someone come out today who gave the impression he was from the travelling community. Quoted easily 4 figures for the job, but I'm going to get a few quotes together. It's not a large job at all, so if the other quotes are similar I might be tempted to save a bit of money by doing it myself, rebarring it, and getting some pre-mix delivered. Basically this guy quoted nearly as much for the hardstanding as the last guy did for the kerb plus hardstanding together.
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cjj
Part of things
Posts: 275
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Jul 17, 2020 22:49:58 GMT
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Got this done in the end, reasonably quickly.
Contacted a dozen or so landscapers and driveway people a week or two ago. Some arrived for quotes, some promised and never did, some didn't so much as reply. Wanted to avoid the romany type folks due to experience of knowing and working around guys who were a bit more fast and loose with morals and honour.
First guy was romany-esq and plucked a number out of his derriere of £1200. Second sounded regional on the phone, but was more of the above in person. Quoted £900 out of thin air after simply eye-balling the job.
I ideally wanted to help a local tradesman out, but was a bit nervous about hiring someone who could easily disappear, so kept looking. Ended up getting a local gardener type guy out who was the first to actually do some measuring and not invent a figure out of thin air. He said he'd come back with a quote and when he did it was almost half of the cheapest one I'd had. I kept thinking it was a typo but got him in anyway and, yeah, it wasn't a typo. £500.
I was thinking that it would have cost me that much to hire a mini digger and get the concrete delivered, so the numbers worked out well considering there were 2 or 3 lads involved (albeit half a day). The mix came later in the day and so I can only assume it was done in tandem with another job, with the mix being somewhat 'left over' from another maybe, which is a sort of economy that you can't find when you DIY.
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Last Edit: Jul 18, 2020 8:51:47 GMT by cjj
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Jul 18, 2020 20:14:40 GMT
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As an aside I know a couple of the local travelers who do block paving and to be honest they do a good job for a fair price, I've watched them do enough jobs around the area to know how much soil they are taking out and how much type 1 they are putting in too and they are doing it right.
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cjj
Part of things
Posts: 275
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Jul 18, 2020 23:09:02 GMT
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As an aside I know a couple of the local travelers who do block paving and to be honest they do a good job for a fair price, I've watched them do enough jobs around the area to know how much soil they are taking out and how much type 1 they are putting in too and they are doing it right. As ever with any company, you judge people by when things go wrong, rather than when things are right/normal. One of the traveller 'companies' around here (so say reputable) tried to bully me into a pretty expensive quote including not getting the appropriate permission "don't bother" etc, and when I refuse politely and advised them I already had a better quote agreed (which was the previous guy who disappeared over lockdown), he got aggressive and said something along the lines of "stuff it up your then" followed by an indecipherable insult. I didn't ask for a quote, he put 2+2 together when driving past and saw me outside with the car parked on the lawn. I'm generally quite resolute, but I got the feeling that they would easily pressure someone into overpaying for something they didn't need doing. On the flip side, they are often (as you imply) good at the stuff they do - it's just a case there are some romany tradesmen that are best avoided. Of course you can say that about anyone else, so whilst I wouldn't want to generalise, I know from previous experience as a younger adult that should anything go less than perfect, there are few authorities that are interested in getting involved with romany communities.
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