Absolute novice - advice please - Extending driveway

[Jim S]

Hello everyone, I'm Jim.

I wish I had found this site prior to getting my drive laid. It looks quite good but preparation was questionable and edge finishing dreadful

I now want to extend part of the driveway and add a path where flower beds were.

My first question is related to this picture:



Should I continue the charcoal soldier course in line with the concrete slab and infill to the house brick with small chips or should I lay the soldier course to the house brick and trim around the concrete or is there a better solution overall?

My second and third and fourth questions relate to this picture taken from upstairs window:



Q2: should I keep the path in front of window and the continuation at right angles the same width or can I make the bit along the fence narrower without it looking wrong

Q3: This is probably my main question. As you can see the right hand side of the driveway is too short for a car. I want to start at the path and curve to meet the new path at the RHS. How would a craftsman do it?


Q4: The original layer left in the dividing edging and only put some mortar to hold the soldiers, which is now breaking away.
I want to remove all of my old edging and the mortar and lay edging kerb right up to the house. My neighbour is getting complete garden laid soon in block paving. Will the concrete holding my kerbs give them a problem?

Lastly is an elderly not too fit novice capable of this job?(reasonable DIY skills ).

I hope you can understand my questions and thank you for reading.

Jim

[seanandruby]

welcome jim. i wonder why your man alternated between soldier and single stretcher edging. i suspect they guessed the bottom right hand. if you set it out correctly you could do away with the dogs leg so that it sweeps round in a curve. the edging should be in tight with the turf. personally i would pave the lot and do away with the turf, then place pot plants etc. i would break out the concrete slab outside the door and and infill with blocks. also continue the paving under the window. take out the edging as your neighbour should edge your lawn when he does his drive. its all doable by you jim. don't forget you have Tony's team to guide and support you. remember these are just my opinions and no doubt you will get others. ultimatly its your decision m8 good luck.

[Jim S]

Thanks, Sean.

After I read your reply I phoned the original contractor and he is coming today to price completing the lot and I'll also ask about other options.

You say the edging should be tight to the turf. I couldnt do that with what I was left with as he only dropped some mortar at the back of the soldiers and there is no depth for turf so I just covered the mortar with the chips.

What you say about the concrete slab makes sense but I lack a wee bit courage for that - I wonder how easily it would come out ???

I'd still like to tackle the smaller option myself but I'm scared off doing the whole lot myself (COPD).

Any other comments/suggestions are welcome and I'll let you know what the "pro" says.

Thanks again
Jim