Bad workmanship..?? - Help before i pay my bill..!!

[Lilypop]

Hi,

Three weeks ago i had a new driveway laid and the paving company used products from the Brett Omega range. The blocks were 50mm deep and were laid in a 45 degree herringbone pattern. It looked very nice until today when I had a delivery of topsoil for my garden. The lorry must have weighed, with the load, about 6 tonnes and now the paving has sunk about an inch where the wheels had been (about 3 metres onto the paving). I would have thought the paving could take this but am i wrong or was the wrong size block used in the first place..??

Your advice would be most valuable - thanks.

[swifty2001]

I have had a block paved drive layed after having my 50 swuare meter slab drive taken up by a block paving company working in the aarea ( they have been around for a while so i was pretty much ok with them). But after only 4 days my transit van was showing signs of sinking tracks where i pull on and off my drive, and parking up. I did not see what kind of base was put down but was surprised that the blocks were laid during the horrendous downpours we have had the last week or so. The excuse given for this was that it was the fault of the weather and the blocks were taken up more sand applied and wacked down again with the vibrating pad. Will this be ok? I do not know but my slabbed drive was down for approx 15 years with hardly any sinking before, do you think it will be ok or am i being conned? I do not know. Lets just hope and prey. I have been parking my transit on it all week now and seems to be ok.

[Stuarty]

If you know what kind and what depth of subbase was put in Lilypop it would be handy to know. Domestic drives aint really constructed with 7.5 ton trucks in mind unless otherwise specified really, it all depends on what was agreed between the contractor and yourself in the job spec.

Swifty: Blocks shouldnt be laid on waterlogged sand. So rather than it was the weathers fault the lads doing the work shouldnt have really laid it in the first place. If they have only lifted resanded and whacked the areas that sank where the Tranny parks, the rest of the drive will eventually sink too.

[swifty2001]

Stuarty
thanks for the quick reply mate, No other part of my drive was sinking. I had parked the van on the other side of the drive with no problems, that side was laid in the dry. The side that was sinking was taken up re packed with sand and then laid back down again and re whacked with the whacker. I just hope that this cures the problem, only time will tell i supose. I will keep you informed if my van starts to sink. The contracor knew that I parked the tranny on there so was well aware of the weight that the drive would take.
swifty

[Dave_L]

It's a "problem" we all too often see.......poor sub-base and compaction, leading to sinking.

And people wonder why we are *just* a little more expensive.......

[Rich H]

Stuarty, I always assume that at some point in the future a truck will be on the drive, whether it's a delivery lorry or a skip wagon or whatever. Even with 50mm blocks with a proper sub base and screed it should take the weight.

[Dave_L]

with a proper sub base and screed it should take the weight.

Hit the nail on the head there Rich!

[Tony McC]

Lifting sunken blocks and re-bedding on additional sand is a bodge. It is simply re-levelling the blocks and not addressing the real problem which is poor construction and an inadequate sub-base.

Lilypop's contractor has a valid case that the driveway was not designed to take the weight of a 7.5 Tipper, and while Rich is correct in saying that a proper sub-base and screed should take the load, the contractor could argue that a 7.5T tipper can not be considered as 'typical domestic traffic'. I've seen this in cases before and, like it or not, the judgment has always gone with the contractor.

As for Swifty's drive, I fail to see how the weather can be blamed for a sinking driveway. The contractor must have been aware of the weather conditions while installing the driveway and therefore should have taken any steps necessary to ensure the completed work was up to the job. If they are claiming the sub-grade was saturated, then they should have used a geotextile or suspended laying until the weather improved. If it's a matter of sodden sub-base, then again, they should have suspended work. When a contractor elects to continue working in adverse weather, it implies that the contractor believes there will be no adverse effect on the construction or that they will amend their standard construction practice to accommodate the inclement conditions.

"Well, it was raining..." is not water-tight defence!

[Lilypop]

Thanks for the advice. Before the paving was laid i had a 50mm thick concrete base which was all cracked. I believe they broke this up then laid a sand/small stone mix on top then compacted it before laying the blocks. Not sure what type of sub base this was though. The driver of the wagon that dropped the topsoil off assured me that even though the paving was 3 weeks old it would take the weight. you can now see that I'm in a 3 way argument and fear the only one to lose will be me. I'm trying to apportion the blame on the pavers as everyone I have spoken to has said exactly what Rich H and Dave_L has said - NIGHTMARE..!!

DJ

[Lilypop]

Tony - I did tell them that I wanted to park a caravan on the drive which weighs quite a bit (sorry not sure how much exactly). I also paid just short of £100 per sq.m which given the circumstances warrants a sturdy driveway, is that a reasonable rate or am I expecting too much..??

Thanks

[lutonlagerlout]

i never use them 50mm jobbies,not worth a carrot imho
and if we arrive on a job with a block paved drive we always make the client sign before any lorries skips etc go on to it
cheers LLL

[Dave_L]

and if we arrive on a job with a block paved drive we always make the client sign before any lorries skips etc go on to it
cheers LLL

In an ideal world.......

[Tony McC]

100 quid per m² is expensive. From your descripition, they used the broken up 50mm concrete slab as some sort of sub-base, which is NOT acceptable.

You need to get a written statement from the contractor as to just what was laid. You really ought to have had this before they started work, in the form of a written quotation.

Finally, if the wagon driver said "it'll be alright", then he has accepted liability and is the one responsible for the cost of any repairs. If he can then show that the drive has been constructed in a sub-standard manner, then he can try to push the responsibility onto them. The one person who is not at fault in all this is you.