The Brew Cabin

Hi Tony,

I contracted someone to block pave an area around 50 m2. I have walls from three sides and some places are open like the entrance to the driveway and another doorway to the side. My contractor insists that fixing the blocks at the edge of the drive way on these opening are enough to hold the blocks once compacted. I challenged him that this is not strong enough to withstand the pressure generated by compacting the blocks with joining sand. I came today and found the sand is being spread and he said he has compacted the blocks and the job is finished. With little inspection I can see some of the block that he fixed with cement are moving and the gaps between the blocks are still visibly empty. When I told him about it he said these would be settled by the rain and not to worry about it. For the gap between the blocks and the pavement, he had put some cement to fill it up. From what I read on this web site and in my DIY book, this job is not complete and the guy is requesting the rest of his money but I still think the job is not done, please advise as I need to know what to do with these soft edges that he used to retain the block that are very weak to hold anything.... Please help.

Regards

Jafar

A couple of points....

Are the blocks at the free edges laid on and haunched with concrete, as detailed on the Edge Courses page? This is the key factor in the long term performance of your pavement. If the edge course blocks were simply plopped down on sand and the gap between them and the public footpath filled with a concrete, this is not an acceptable construction.

Secondly, the joints should not be empty at this stage of the work. Yes: some of the joints will appear empty over the next few weeks as traffic and surface water force the jointing sand into the joints, but, a couple of days after completion, when we've had no appreciable precipitation, those joints should be full.

Further, the contractor should make arrangements to re-visit the site some time around the end of January to check over the joints and top up the sand. This is not mere courtesy; it is a vital part of the work as the jointing sand is responsible for generating the interlock between adjacent pavers, and therefore the long term perfomance of the paving.

You could hold a 'retention' of up to 10% pending that return visit in 6 weeks time. This is something we often did with our clients (although we preferred 5%), and it is something that is becoming standard practice on commercial projects. Being told 'not to worry' is patronising and misleading. It is a cause for concern, so soon after so-called completion, and any good contractor would be aware of this.

And given that it would take no more than 10 minutes to re-sand the joints, why don't they just bloody well do it, thereby puttting your mind at rest, making themselves look like concerned, professional and caring contractors, and getting you off their back until well into the New Year? Fobbing you off at this stage is self-defeating.

Hi Tony,
Thank you very much for your reply. I had a look at the edge courses section of the website and I nothing like the suggested step is done to my driveway. The blocks at the edge is just fixed on a thin bed of cement and the gap with public footpath is filled with cement and in other gaps (side door) they are loose and can be removed easily by hand. I guess they got loose as a result of the compression they done with vibrating plate. I took some photos of the job and will post them when I get home.

The contractor think that he did a great job and it is finished despite the fact that you can feel the blocks moving under you feet while walking on them, I don’t know what will happened if I drive the car over them.

Thanks to your excellent web site, I know the job is not done and I can see ups and downs in the surface. I still have some of the money unpaid to them and thinking of giving them an ultimatum to do a proper job or calling the trading standards office. I don’t know where else to turn to or what to do.

Thank you very much for your help.

Regards,

Jafar

Blocks should not move when you walk on them, Jafar. Summat's not right, and they should be prepared to explain why the blocks are moving or to put them right.

Let us know how you get on.

jafar, do u live in the midlands, if so give me a shout and i will sort things for you

Thanks Tony, I will keep you posted on this saga. Thanks for the offer bobinalongnicly, I am afraid I live in the London Area. I called the trading standard today and suggested the use of an independent surveyor and get someone to do the job and get the cost from the contractor through a small claims court. I still got about 25% of the cost to pay though.

Cheers,

Jafar

25% is a very nice lever. :)

You are legally obliged to offer the original contractor "reasonable opportunity" to correct their own work. You should put your concerns in writing and send the letter to the contractor's registered office by recorded delivery, giving them 7 working days to respond with a statement of intention, outlining what they propose to do, how they propose to do it, and when.

Only if they ignore your letter or refuse to carry out the requisite repairs are you legally free to approach another contractor for completion.

For 25% of the contract cost, it's in their own interest to correct the work as soon as poss!

i cannot understand why contracters do this , at the entrance to any driveway where the pavement meets the driveway i always set in concerete paving edgers which are 8inches deep by 3.3ft long x 1inch thick they are easy to set and haunch in and solve the problem u are having add to that when the job is done if the council ever comes out and digs the pavement near your driveway (gas,water etc..) then whats stopping your subabse going in a lateral direction thus your driveway sinks in that area. the edgers finish a job off and show the customer you care about there job and your workmanship plus u know what your doing. i would suggest the company doing your job are tinkers by the sounds of it. how much are u paying per square metre?

Thank suki for your reply. As I am holding 25% of the payment, they have agreed to correct the mistakes as they were banking on the fact that I dont know anything about paving. They have done most of the work and they still insist that what they did at the border with public footpath is OK. I think I will have to hire someone to do what you suggested. Do you know where can get hold of the blocks you mentioned?

The price is £40 per M2. I guess it is cheap but they agreed to it as there is not much work to do at this time of the year. I guess they are tinkers, as I have found out later.

Thanks all for your help.

Jafar