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Posted: Sun Jul 13, 2008 11:19 pm
by amg15
hi, im wanting my tarmac drive ripping up and block paving.
its around 8m long and 3m wide.
the problem is that it slopes (along the width) from my neighbours drive to my house by approx 7 inch, it looks a mess and i would like it sorting out.
there is a drain channel/grid running along my house at the lowest point of the sloping drive (2 bricks below the dpc) so i guess i cant raise the height at this point, the only alternative i can think of is to lower it with a kerb? at the other side? to reduce the slope as much as possible.
is anyone in the doncaster area wanting to quote me on the job? or does anyone with experience want a few days work with me helping you?
any suggestions would be appreciated, what would you do ? when the cars parked on it the slope is more noticeable.
cheers.
p.s, ive had 2 quotes for the job, one guy said it would still slope the same - so i didnt go for it as i cant see the point in paying x amount for there to still be a slope.
and another guy suggested raising the drain channel/gutter that runs along the side of the house/drive by one brick level, meaning there would be 75mm from the drain channel to the dpc - i didnt go for that as i thought there had to be 150mm in total from the drain channel to the dpc..........im confused !
Posted: Sun Jul 13, 2008 11:34 pm
by amg15
finally added a pic
Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2008 12:44 am
by Suggers
If it was me (if) - I would leave well alone - the tarmac looks in good nick - can of worms etc. Is next-door's house level or higher than you?
Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2008 1:06 am
by amg15
hi, next door neighbours house is level with mine.(theres slopes too but its less noticeable because its nearly 3 times wider than mine)
to be honest the tarmac is in bad condition, peaks and troffs all over it and very uneven, you cant tell in the pictures though.
they had theres done before i moved in, or i would have said do mine aswell to even the whole thing out.
do you think it would be a crap job if i had it block paved due to me wanting the slope reduced? what trouble could it cause - construction wise?
thanks for replying, im just wondering if anyone has done a similar job etc
Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2008 1:48 am
by Suggers
Sorry if I seem thick, but is the housing all built into a rising gradient? ie are you on the side of a hill?
Howabout a photie from further back.... give all the genius's on here, more to go on ?
Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2008 2:02 am
by Suggers
Hang on, if their house is level with yours, then their blockwork must be nearly up to, or over, their DPC?
Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2008 5:58 am
by seanandruby
Subject to there being no high services coming across from right to left ( you would be surprised ) and you neighbours co-operation i woul reduce level and put a slow retaining wall along the right hand side to retain his/her drive.
Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2008 7:07 am
by lutonlagerlout
as sean says a low retaining wall would be an option but this causes problems opening car doors,builder A is correct you cannot lift the levels up your house ,so other than dropping the other side you are stuck with it
LLL
Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2008 12:13 pm
by amg15
Suggers wrote:Hang on, if their house is level with yours, then their blockwork must be nearly up to, or over, their DPC?
next doors is 150mm below dpc, theres is on a slight slope too but not noticeable too much as there drive is 3 times wider than mine.
and the house isnt on the side of a hill - its a normal flat estate, the builders have done a crap job of the drives to be honest, 20 year old house now but i havent lived here very long.
ive upladed 2 more pics for you as requested to give you a better idea.
cheers
WHAT ABOUT USING THE CHAMFERED KERB/EDGING PAVING ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE - WHERE IT MEETS THE NEIGHBOURS? JUST TO LOWER IT SAY 2 OR 3 INCH ON THAT SIDE?
AND THEN RAISING THE GUTTER/DRAIN CHANNEL THAT RUNS ALONG MY HOUSE BY 1 INCH (THEN I WILL HAVE 125MM TO DPC.
I REALISE IT WILL NEVER BE PERFECT, I JUST WANT TO REDUCE THE SLOPE AND MAKE IT LOOK BETTER OVERALL.
Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2008 8:07 pm
by ambient
if you lower it down youre going to have to slope it from back of footpath (because you cant alter that) possibly causing underneath of car to catch, down to your new level and then slope it back up at garage door i would replace as it is or leave well alone.looks like garage floor level is to, high probably set out wrong when building it
Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2008 9:39 am
by Tony McC
This is not too dissimilar to my own driveway. For some unfathomable reason, there's 450mm level diff between me and next door, and on 3.6m width between us, currently paved as a shared driveway.
Rather than have a crossfall of 1:8, we solved this by setting the paving 300mm below DPC on next door's and level with DPC on mine, but with the dry channel arrangement shown here.
This has created a 200mm wide channel alongside my property, but as this is tight against the house, it's not really a hazard. A similar arrangment could be used on this project: the dry channel could retain the linear channel, if desired, but the retainer kerb would allow the level of the actual driveway to be elevated by 150-250mm or so along that left hand edge.
Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2008 10:27 pm
by amg15
thanks tony ,
much appreciated 
i think i will use the method you stated