The Brew Cabin

sorry for emailing recently!
i,m looking at doing a block-paving driveway for a friend,i do have some experience but not alot.
the problem i face is the existing driveway runs towards the house,the total length is 13m wide including garage,there are sw gullies about 1/3rd in from each end,theres plenty of fall from the pavement,should i run linear drains all along the front of house and garage just to be safe as i could then connect them to each gully?
also when pricing at say £50m does this include breaking existing drive and drainage or just std materials used per meter squared?

You could use a linear drain, as they are relatively cheap and simple to insytall, or you could generate the required falls by using 'summits and valleys' between the existing gullies. If you go with the linear drains, even the cheapest ones, such as the 10 quid a metre Recyfix model from the likes of B&Q, would come to 130 quid, plus the cost of connection to two gullies, whereas the 'summits and valleys' approach costs nowt.

Do you understand 'summits and valleys' construction, or do you need me to explain it?

The 50 quid guide price is just that - a guide price, and the spec used to generate that price is given in the notes accompanying that price table. It includes excavation and cart away, but breaking out concrete would be an extra as woulkd any drainage. It's based on a national average price, but prices in the SE of England are considerably higher, somehere around 60 quid per square metre for a typical job. I strongly believe jobs should be priced individiually, rather than rely on a stock 'rate per square metre' as each job presents unique challenges and requirements.

thanks for your reply.
summits and valleys are they higher and lower sections designed to flow towards gully?
advice taken on pricing.thanks

Basically, yes.....




...which is not very clear, admittedly, but shows the principle involved.

thankyou for your picture,
i normally lay patios and not drives,the patios ive done are level all along, running downhill away from the house,would the drive look nicer all level along the house or would it not really notice with summits and valleys?thanks for your help.....

I reckon it would look nicer if it wasn't ponding at all, and so summits and valleys is acceptable if there is no other option.

The amount of fall is actually quite small and most folk would never notice a s+v layout unless the fall was exaggerated. If you can take surface water away from the property, so much the better, but if you can't, s+v is fine. :)

ok thanks for your help, what a great site!!!