Our build thread, renovation and extension
Discussion
It wouldn't be possible to get it level, taking it to road level the driveway would be half way up the front door.
Our builder has suggested sticking the first 2 thin layers of gravel down with cold bitumen to provide a bit of a key against the compacted concrete which will stop it migrating as much.
It's quite a large area of gravel, but reducing the size of it will just give more garden to look after. I had considered a little plastic grass but I'm not sure it would look right or add very much.
Our builder has suggested sticking the first 2 thin layers of gravel down with cold bitumen to provide a bit of a key against the compacted concrete which will stop it migrating as much.
It's quite a large area of gravel, but reducing the size of it will just give more garden to look after. I had considered a little plastic grass but I'm not sure it would look right or add very much.
DocJock said:
I looked at those but I don't like the way you can see the plastic grid in every one of those systems, I would rather get the rake out a few times a year if I need to.Seems like a lot of extra parking space, when you already have a decent size driveway and garage on the way*. That said, from what I can see of the other houses, it's not that unusual to have mostly parking in front. The borders look big enough to provide a bit of a green barrier. What do the immediate neighbours have?
...* Says the man who has 420m sq of tarmac going down on the drive next week.
...* Says the man who has 420m sq of tarmac going down on the drive next week.
Minemapper said:
Seems like a lot of extra parking space, when you already have a decent size driveway and garage on the way*. That said, from what I can see of the other houses, it's not that unusual to have mostly parking in front. The borders look big enough to provide a bit of a green barrier. What do the immediate neighbours have?
...* Says the man who has 420m sq of tarmac going down on the drive next week.
Yeah it is, but parking can be handy round here, at the weekends if you had a few visitors they would need to park on the drive, so it's not such a bad thing....* Says the man who has 420m sq of tarmac going down on the drive next week.
It varies really as to the neighbours, on one side they have two driveways either side with loads of grass and a pond in the middle, but that's a much wider plot. The larger houses down the road are mostly gravel out the front with a few borders.
http://www.railwaysleepersonline.co.uk/
£17.50 plus VAT and delivery for used dutch oak ones. I can get new softwood ones for the same price from my local builders merchants but I think the used ones will look better.
£17.50 plus VAT and delivery for used dutch oak ones. I can get new softwood ones for the same price from my local builders merchants but I think the used ones will look better.
One thing I was told when planning the driveway was that you never want to mix gravel with tarmac or resin bound surfaces. No matter how you do it, the gravel will stick in tyres, and it will gouge the surface. We looked at all sorts, and in the end it was easier and cheaper (cheap being a relative term in this context 
) to dig the whole thing up and put down tarmac.
) to dig the whole thing up and put down tarmac. jep said:
Would a resin bound drive be too expensive an option? You could always lay resin bound on the slope, edged with a nice brick, and then gravel the flat "parking bays" if it was...
It's far too expensive, I have better things to spend my money on. I like the fact that gravel is quite resilient, if I have to uncover a manhole cover I can without too much effort, if a heavy vehicle ruts it, it can be fixed quite easily.[quote=Muncher]Other than a magnolia tree being planted in one of the beds I don't have any other plans other than plants in pots underneath the front windows.[quote]
I have a love hate relationship with Magnolias - they are beautiful to look at for about three weeks a year, and for 3 months they drop massive petals which are a pain to clear up, and fall at the merest sniff of wind.
Luckily both my neighbours either side have them so I get to look and not have to clear up!
Looking good
I have a love hate relationship with Magnolias - they are beautiful to look at for about three weeks a year, and for 3 months they drop massive petals which are a pain to clear up, and fall at the merest sniff of wind.
Luckily both my neighbours either side have them so I get to look and not have to clear up!
Looking good
te
Some more work on the digger this weekend, almost all of the crushed concrete from the front garden used up. It's proving quite difficult to compact, maybe the whacked plate we have is not quite up to it, the concrete is too tough and there probably aren't enough fines. Hopefully the bought in crushed concrete will help fill the gaps and stabilise it a bit more.
A productive Easter! I managed to cut them all easily enough with a very used chainsaw chain, lifted into place using the digger and fixed in place with 200mm screws from Wickes. I had bought some 300mm Timberlok ones but they were rubbish, there was no way on earth they were going through without pre-drilling, they would manage about an inch and then require a breaker bar to remove. The sleepers are from Holland and a mixture of different kinds of woods, some are slightly softer but most of them are incredibly tough.
Next up is filling the bed on the side with soil scraped up from down the side of the house, access there is a bit fiddly and one of the tracks on the digger now only moves very slowly unless reversing...
Any reason you haven't left the actual entrance-way wide enough for 2 cars? Might it be useful to be able to get past an obstructing car for example?
I'd also echo the point about angling the front bed. Not only will it reduce the chance of someone hitting it (and someone will!) it will soften the profile of the angles as you look at it.
It's all coming along nicely.
I'd also echo the point about angling the front bed. Not only will it reduce the chance of someone hitting it (and someone will!) it will soften the profile of the angles as you look at it.
It's all coming along nicely.
I'd have to lose some of the wall and I just don't think it's necessary, the entrance is approx 4.5-5m wide as it is.
There is one parking space out the front on single yellows and making the entrance any wider would make that space unviable. The bowls club next door struggle with parking and losing another space would just make life more difficult for them. We are going to plant some larger shrubs and small trees in there anyway which will soften it up somewhat.
There is one parking space out the front on single yellows and making the entrance any wider would make that space unviable. The bowls club next door struggle with parking and losing another space would just make life more difficult for them. We are going to plant some larger shrubs and small trees in there anyway which will soften it up somewhat.
Gassing Station | Homes, Gardens and DIY | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff