Re: Which driveway
Originally Posted by
EZ Rider
->
Hi Meg. Before having anything done I thoroughly recommend you have the drains checked with a camera. If the garden/drive has sunk it just could be caused by a partially collapsed drain. That very thing happened to me..well not actually me but to my garden.
Meg, I support EZR's comments. There's no point in spending a lot of money to do something on top when down below the basic problem is still there.
If you tell the company who deal with your waste water they might come and inspect it themselves, although being on your land they may make a charge, still cheaper I think than going to a specilaist company direct.
Next point to consider is having sorted the drains (Hopefully not having to put new pipes in) then you need to think about the foundations for the top surface, again some contractors will show you all kinds of 'nice looking' driveways
without ever mentioning the foundations.
Finally, when you come to pick a contractor remember that the ones who advertise on TV are
just like the double glazing firms, almost any small firm can lay slabs, block pave, shingle, tarmac, anything,
but only experienced guys can tell you what foundations you need under this.
I know your drive is not a motorway but we all see the nice tarmac on the top, what costs the millions of pounds is not the tarmac but the foundations underneath.
Yes, you are
one end of the scale and the motorway contractors are
the other end, but the
principle is the same.
Take it one step at a time,
first sort the drains,
second talk to some small local contractors about foundations,
third decide what surface you want.
We had shingle at one house 15 years back, I think you have a dog he(she) won't like it.