Wanting a driveway, what kind and rough cost

shopaholicjules

Hi
I am wanting to have my front garden turned into a drive so that I am able to put my car in.
My first thought is what to have, block paving, tarmac or what else is there.
I will also need to have the pavement dropped, the garden area is approx 14 x 10, I haven't measured yet.
Any thoughts of how much I will be looking at and does anyone have any good names of anyone that has done theirs.
I live in West Yorkshire (Bradford).

Thanks
Jules

jackieb

We were £2000 to get ours block paved and the pavement dropped. We had to pay £30 or so to the council to get permission to drop the pavement. We also had to use a council approved builder. It was £1550 for the drive and £450 to drop the pavement. Not sure of the size but we could just fit 2 cars side by side.

ic

Is that 14 x 10 feet? I paid £4200 for a 15 x 45 foot area with drainage, about three years ago. Foundations are 10" thick + sand + 60 mm blocks. This was a more vintage look than the bright red blocks you often see.

Bare in mind now that you require planning permission if your driveway drains to the road or to the public drains.

lee2509

We are also thinking of using our front garden for parking. We thought it seemed a shame to lose the grass completely though. Additionally we found out that unless you use porous materials (gravel, porous asphalt, permeable concrete block etc) or rainwater is directed onto a lawn or border to drain naturally, you actually need planning permission. Whilst we havent yet done it, I did come across a product that seems to match our needs - plastic grass paving grids. As a member who has not posted very often I cannot put a link in, but do a google search for BodPave and you will get the idea of what I am talking about.

This product seems to be relatively cheap, allows us to have a 'green' drive and parking area, and does not need any planning permission.

jackieb

This was ours. We also had a drain. We had plenty or room to fit the car - my son just hadn't driven his car far enough up in this picture. The builders also laid that bit of tarmac on the pavement.

AdrianW2

You could DIY? I've done two now.

A day with a spade, some edging bricks/wood, £150 of MOT1 stone, £70 of 20mm gravel, and a day's hire of a vibrating plate from HSS.

See www.pavingexpert.com, where you'll also get chapter and verse on the new (in England) planning rules.

Canucklehead

AdrianW2 wrote: »

You could DIY? I've done two now.

A day with a spade, some edging bricks/wood, £150 of MOT1 stone, £70 of 20mm gravel, and a day's hire of a vibrating plate from HSS.

See www.pavingexpert.com, where you'll also get chapter and verse on the new (in England) planning rules.

Hi...we used pavingexpert as a reference a few years ago...excellent website btw (AdrianW2...your link is broken.)

HTH

Canucklehead

dander

I DIYed mine too - costs similar to AdrianW2 - but took me more like 3 days. He's obviously stronger with more stamina than me
I added in an extra £150 or so because I did a few sqm of cobbles at the front to try and stop the gravel wandering into the street too much.
The big expense was getting the council to drop the kerb - various admin fees and survey fees to get the agreement and then something like £600 to actually get them to drop it - in my area only the council are allowed to do the kerbs, so there's no shopping around to be done on price there.

garratt83_2

I extended my drive last month. Did it the DIY way. Its a bit of a !!!!!! to dig out but if you don't mind the hard graft its alot cheaper. Here are my costs approx:

Skip - Needed 2 in the end - £200
MOT - £120 (6 ton about 10/15 cm deep)
Gravel - £50 (2 ton 5 to 10 cm deep)
Edgings, step - £30
Sand,Cement - £30
Vibrating plate - £35 per day (only needed it for a day)
Weed membrane - Free already had it

A few comments

Skips don't go that far always get the biggest it works out cheaper.
A digger is worth hiring if you can afford it.
Prep the area properly take your time getting it right, look for soft patches as its easier to sort them before.
You don't have to put the weed membrane down. I went the whole hog and but some before the MOT to stop it mixing with the soil and before the gravel.

My opinion is best do it yourself, you learn alot and save £££££

AdrianW2

Ah yes, forgot about disposing of the topsoil - ours is still in a big pile behind one of the bushes in the garden, the plan is to turn one of the bags the MOT1 came in into a giant grow-bag for potatoes.

garratt83_2

Also I haven't had my kerp dropped yet, if they ask its not a drive for cars its just a managable garden.