Reasonable price for work on block driveway?

[KTF]

Part of my block driveway has sunk so I have been getting quotes to get it repaired as it is slowly getting worse over time with use.

The section to the right of the driveway is grass with two raised manhole covers so I also asked for quotes to lower the drains and run a line of slabs to create a path to save us walking on the grass all the time.

To fix the driveway is coming in around £600. To lower the manholes and lay the slabs is are around £800. Prices include all work, skip for material that is removed, etc. South coast area.

It seems reasonable given whats involve but never any harm getting a second opinion. Any thoughts other than it needs a jet wash

Pictures of the drive and area next to it:

Edited by KTF on Saturday 6th February 11:31

[TA14]

Do you need to lower the manhole covers? Might be easier to raise the sunken blocks and nerw slabs to the height of the manhole covers.

[astroarcadia]

Have some steps built at the same time!

[herewego]

I would extend it a metre to the right instead of laying flags. I expect those manholes are at the same level. You just need the drive raising to match the manholes.

[KTF]

Have steps going down the side of the driveway instead or level the area between the front door to the height of the concrete drain and steps down from there? It's only a slight slope but might work.

I was looking at lowering as then you get more usable driveway space and there isn't the edging strip to catch on the wheel.

I think that raising the drive up to the level of the concrete manhole may look a bit strange as its would be obvious compared to the rest of the drive but I will go out with a level and see what the difference actually is.

[KTF]

The spirit level was level to show the difference in height (click for big).

Edited by KTF on Sunday 7th February 16:44

[TA14]

Does the drive carry on sloping to the left of the first picture? At the moment it appears to be a 13" drop o/o the front door to the lowest point and slope up to the right.

astroarcadia said:

Have some steps built at the same time!

If you have a nice plinth as you step out of the house then you could have a 9" step down to the drive which would probably mean lowering the higher manhole only, by about 3". Or you could have two 6 1/2" steps, one to either side of the plinth, and lower both manholes to suit, assuming that you've got the cover to the drains. Either way finish it with the pin kerb level with the top of the blocks and just batter the lawn back slightly.

[ndg]

Think about gettin g the drains checked. If one is leaking it could be the cause of the driveway sinking, and we'll worth fixing when you have everything apart.

[ColinM50]

Find a lad doing another local drive and offer him £150-200 a day to fix yours. Should be a day's work to fix that properly but I bet he does it in half a day if you offer him a full day's pay for the job.

[Pan Pan Pan]

Where block pavers are laid on sand, ants will go underneath to build their nests, and lift the sand they excavate to the surface where it just blows away in the wind, over time this leads to slumping, and hollows in the paved surface.
Pavers should be bedded on a lime sand mix, as this stabilizes the sand, but also deters ants as they will not make nests where lime is present.
Perhaps the next option would be to bed pavers on dry laid weak mix mortar.

[Spudler]

Pan Pan Pan said:

Where block pavers are laid on sand, ants will go underneath to build their nests, and lift the sand they excavate to the surface where it just blows away in the wind, over time this leads to slumping, and hollows in the paved surface.
Pavers should be bedded on a lime sand mix, as this stabilizes the sand, but also deters ants as they will not make nests where lime is present.
Perhaps the next option would be to bed pavers on dry laid weak mix mortar.

Don't forget the worms!

[KTF]

TA14 said:

Does the drive carry on sloping to the left of the first picture? At the moment it appears to be a 13" drop o/o the front door to the lowest point and slope up to the right.

astroarcadia said:

Have some steps built at the same time!

If you have a nice plinth as you step out of the house then you could have a 9" step down to the drive which would probably mean lowering the higher manhole only, by about 3". Or you could have two 6 1/2" steps, one to either side of the plinth, and lower both manholes to suit, assuming that you've got the cover to the drains. Either way finish it with the pin kerb level with the top of the blocks and just batter the lawn back slightly.

Here is the other side. The man hole that is in the driveway is level (left right) and the drive to the left of it is also level. There is a slight run from the front of the house down to the pavement.

There is a slight upward slope on the right hand side to the section where the front door is - not sure why - as you can see the line of bricks that the existing step is on disappear slightly.



I am confused about the description of the steps. The round cover nearer the front door pretty much the same level as the step in front of the door and the existing path that runs round to the side of the house even though the ground around it has shrunk.

You can see the path on the google maps image here: https://goo.gl/maps/n2KwiXntR4x

My original idea was to get both drains lowered to the same level as the drain in the driveway which would then make the driveway itself a bit wider and give us a path to walk from the front door to the road without having to squeeze between the cars. So you would come out of the front door, step down on to the extended part just as you do on the drive at the moment.

I am confused about your descriptions of the steps. Do you mean extend the path out from the driveway in a straight line - minor tweaking of the height of the round drain - to the square manhole then lower the area from there to the pavement or something else?

Edited by KTF on Sunday 7th February 16:34

[KTF]

ndg said:

Think about gettin g the drains checked. If one is leaking it could be the cause of the driveway sinking, and we'll worth fixing when you have everything apart.

The link between the manhole in the drive and the one in the garden has been checked and they are OK. The dip in the driveway has not changed in the past few years so if there was a problem with the drains I would expect it to slowly get worse over time?

[TA14]

KTF said:

I am confused about your descriptions of the steps. Do you mean extend the path out from the driveway in a straight line - minor tweaking of the height of the round drain - to the square manhole then lower the area from there to the pavement or something else?

Something else. Take the level and profile (garage to pavement slope) of the drive in front of the garage and extend it across the full width of the drive plus an extra 750mm or 1m or so into the grass with a path edging the top of which is also at that level. This process will involve lowering the manholes.

The steps are a separate issue. We're saying that it might be more pleasant if the top step were at the same level as the house floor; this would then give you a 13" step to the drive so introduce another step at the mid level to either side. Or just don't bother with the steps - it's just to finish the job off nicely and comply with building regs although no-one will chase you if you don't.

[KTF]

Ah, OK. I see now. Remove the existing step, lower the two manholes, make everything the same level then build a new step in front of the door only.

Personally I would prefer to have no step at all at then you can park the cars further up the drive without worrying about driving into the existing step that you cannot see from the drivers seat anyway.

I think if there was no step then it would look a bit strange as there would be a big gap between the drive and the door. Looking at the neighbours houses, two bricks between the bottom of the front door and the top of the step seems so be common.

Maybe have something like this instead so it matches the existing line of slabs that run along the front of the house already?



Or this if replaced with blocks:

[Pan Pan Pan]

Spudler said:

Pan Pan Pan said:

Where block pavers are laid on sand, ants will go underneath to build their nests, and lift the sand they excavate to the surface where it just blows away in the wind, over time this leads to slumping, and hollows in the paved surface.
Pavers should be bedded on a lime sand mix, as this stabilizes the sand, but also deters ants as they will not make nests where lime is present.
Perhaps the next option would be to bed pavers on dry laid weak mix mortar.

Don't forget the worms!

Worms don't like it either....gives them terrible indigestion!