Posted: Tue Jan 20, 2009 10:23 am
I'm a general builder and was asked by an existing customer to extend the front driveway over the garden to the side to allow parking for 2 cars. Priced everything up (dig out, haunched concrete edgings, compacted 100mm plus MoT Type 1, 50mm base layer, 25mm wearing course in 10mm granite (tarmac done by a.n.other)), price accepted, job done.
Skips to remove soil were placed at the top of the driveway. This was stipulated in the price. I didn't think there'd be a problem as during previous work for the customer the same size skip (4 ton) had been placed in the same place by the same skip company using the same small wagon, without damage to the driveway. I also wanted the customer to still be able to park on the driveway and, because of cars parked in the street opposite, it would have been difficult to have the skips placed at the bottom of the drive (not enough room for skip lorry to manoeuvre without having parked cars moved).
No problem with collection of skip 1, but on collecting skip 2 the lorry's back offside wheel sank into the driveway. Skips 3 and 4 were then placed at the bottom of the drive so they could be lifted from the road (with no small inconvenience and delay to the job).
On excavating (all by hand) next to the existing driveway, I find that it's 25mm tarmac on wet clay "soil", interspersed with the odd 1/2 brick, probably laid when the (council) house was built in the 1950s.
I explained to my customer what had happened and quoted for the sunken area (and a bit more, with previously existing large (5-10mm) moss-filled cracks) to be replaced - to the same spec as the new parking area. The customer accepted, work done, all paid up.
This was before Christmas. A week ago the customer complained about paying for the renewed patch of driveway and that the drive looks patchwork.
I agree that there is a contrast between old and new and that the new shouldn't have come so far (about 1m in a 3m wide drive) into the the old but am unsure about how to resolve the problem. I did originally say when measuring the job up that the driveway would look better if it was all new, i.e. the old driveway topped with a new 25mm wearing course, but this was declined as being too expensive.
I feel as though I have done a good job on the new part (customer says so too) and that the skip lorry sinking and the consequential damage were due to the the poorly constructed and worn out existing driveway. The customer says that they didn't ask for the skip lorry to back up the drive (nor did they say it shouldn't).
How would any of you guys deal with this?
Thanks.
Paul
PS Will try to posy a photo later, when I get back from work!
Skips to remove soil were placed at the top of the driveway. This was stipulated in the price. I didn't think there'd be a problem as during previous work for the customer the same size skip (4 ton) had been placed in the same place by the same skip company using the same small wagon, without damage to the driveway. I also wanted the customer to still be able to park on the driveway and, because of cars parked in the street opposite, it would have been difficult to have the skips placed at the bottom of the drive (not enough room for skip lorry to manoeuvre without having parked cars moved).
No problem with collection of skip 1, but on collecting skip 2 the lorry's back offside wheel sank into the driveway. Skips 3 and 4 were then placed at the bottom of the drive so they could be lifted from the road (with no small inconvenience and delay to the job).
On excavating (all by hand) next to the existing driveway, I find that it's 25mm tarmac on wet clay "soil", interspersed with the odd 1/2 brick, probably laid when the (council) house was built in the 1950s.
I explained to my customer what had happened and quoted for the sunken area (and a bit more, with previously existing large (5-10mm) moss-filled cracks) to be replaced - to the same spec as the new parking area. The customer accepted, work done, all paid up.
This was before Christmas. A week ago the customer complained about paying for the renewed patch of driveway and that the drive looks patchwork.
I agree that there is a contrast between old and new and that the new shouldn't have come so far (about 1m in a 3m wide drive) into the the old but am unsure about how to resolve the problem. I did originally say when measuring the job up that the driveway would look better if it was all new, i.e. the old driveway topped with a new 25mm wearing course, but this was declined as being too expensive.
I feel as though I have done a good job on the new part (customer says so too) and that the skip lorry sinking and the consequential damage were due to the the poorly constructed and worn out existing driveway. The customer says that they didn't ask for the skip lorry to back up the drive (nor did they say it shouldn't).
How would any of you guys deal with this?
Thanks.
Paul
PS Will try to posy a photo later, when I get back from work!