Driveway costs - Am I being ripped off?
Discussion
Recently moved house and need an alteration doing to the driveway. Had 3 companies out to quote for the work. Just received the first quote and when I opened the envelope I was shocked at the cost. It's a relatively straight forward job, 33 sq m. Any builders on here care to give me a ball park figure of what they would charge. I'm in Scotland if that makes any difference to labour costs. Thanks.
multijet said:
Recently moved house and need an alteration doing to the driveway. Had 3 companies out to quote for the work. Just received the first quote and when I opened the envelope I was shocked at the cost. It's a relatively straight forward job, 33 sq m. Any builders on here care to give me a ball park figure of what they would charge. I'm in Scotland if that makes any difference to labour costs. Thanks.
multijet said:
This is a new build property, nothing to dig up apart from top soil. Considering I'm up north I would have thought labour charge would be cheaper?
33m of topsoil is not "nothing" though is it. Also arent there rules about soakaways when building new driveways that they have to take in to account?You want to call some people near where I am in essex.
The last few quotes I've done are adamant that a top quality job by a professional company is around £40 per m2, even when I show a list of materials it falls on deaf ears...... There's only one way you do it like that and it's cut every corner there is to cut, work for £80 a day and claim benefits!
The comment about nothing and topsoil made me laugh. Last year I did a job for a bloke, he had about 20sq meters of raised patio, about 9" higher than the rest, he was adamant that there was 'nothing' under there, when I explained there would be he actually got a bit aggressive, anyway I still got the job and of course there was about 8 tonne of 'nothing' which ended up being grabbed away
The last few quotes I've done are adamant that a top quality job by a professional company is around £40 per m2, even when I show a list of materials it falls on deaf ears...... There's only one way you do it like that and it's cut every corner there is to cut, work for £80 a day and claim benefits!
The comment about nothing and topsoil made me laugh. Last year I did a job for a bloke, he had about 20sq meters of raised patio, about 9" higher than the rest, he was adamant that there was 'nothing' under there, when I explained there would be he actually got a bit aggressive, anyway I still got the job and of course there was about 8 tonne of 'nothing' which ended up being grabbed away
mattdaniels said:
33m of topsoil is not "nothing" though is it. Also arent there rules about soakaways when building new driveways that they have to take in to account?
Sorry should have said, I am digging the top soil up and moving it myself round back of house leaving builder to dig up some sub soil then for him to compact and lay base for blocks. The blocks themselves are the new type with drainage space between them so water soaks through.multijet said:
mattdaniels said:
33m of topsoil is not "nothing" though is it. Also arent there rules about soakaways when building new driveways that they have to take in to account?
Sorry should have said, I am digging the top soil up and moving it myself round back of house leaving builder to dig up some sub soil then for him to compact and lay base for blocks. The blocks themselves are the new type with drainage space between them so water soaks through.multijet said:
The blocks themselves are the new type with drainage space between them so water soaks through.
What has led you to that decision?You now have to check the foundations of your house and surrounding buildings, do soil tests, accept that the finished product will be weaker than normal blocks...
http://www.marshalls.co.uk/homeowners/pdfs/drivewa...
and cost more.
Price is certainly king around here
There is a co. who have done loads of work and have large boards up on every drive they are doing.
The standard of work is appalling, scratch the surface, 2-3" crushed brick, tarmac / pavors the finish is terrible but joe public seem to accept it.
I would suggest giving each co. an exact spec of what you require then watch them doing the work to ensure that is what you actually get.
There is a co. who have done loads of work and have large boards up on every drive they are doing.
The standard of work is appalling, scratch the surface, 2-3" crushed brick, tarmac / pavors the finish is terrible but joe public seem to accept it.
I would suggest giving each co. an exact spec of what you require then watch them doing the work to ensure that is what you actually get.
I know the price should reflect the quality of workmanship. Been caught out before in last house using locals one man band style set up, looked good for a couple of years then started to sink in places. The 3 companies I've chosen this time are all Marshalls approved, I was just taken aback by the first quote. Thanks for all the replies.
m3jappa said:
You want to call some people near where I am in essex.
The last few quotes I've done are adamant that a top quality job by a professional company is around £40 per m2, even when I show a list of materials it falls on deaf ears...... There's only one way you do it like that and it's cut every corner there is to cut, work for £80 a day and claim benefits!
The comment about nothing and topsoil made me laugh. Last year I did a job for a bloke, he had about 20sq meters of raised patio, about 9" higher than the rest, he was adamant that there was 'nothing' under there, when I explained there would be he actually got a bit aggressive, anyway I still got the job and of course there was about 8 tonne of 'nothing' which ended up being grabbed away
^^^ This I was shocked at the amount of soil M3Jappa took out of my (soon to be) driveway - I guess if I'd actually thought about it it should have been obvious, but actually seeing it is a big WOW!! The last few quotes I've done are adamant that a top quality job by a professional company is around £40 per m2, even when I show a list of materials it falls on deaf ears...... There's only one way you do it like that and it's cut every corner there is to cut, work for £80 a day and claim benefits!
The comment about nothing and topsoil made me laugh. Last year I did a job for a bloke, he had about 20sq meters of raised patio, about 9" higher than the rest, he was adamant that there was 'nothing' under there, when I explained there would be he actually got a bit aggressive, anyway I still got the job and of course there was about 8 tonne of 'nothing' which ended up being grabbed away
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