DIY driveway

LJD1_2

Hiya
We have to have a new driveway as two years ago we had an extention and part of the planning permission was that we had a place for three cars off-road. We just had the space at the front of the house but we had no money to let the builder do it. We've still not had the building certificate as we've not had the drive done and there's no way we can afford the £2000-3000 quotes.

Now, my husband is very handy, he's built a conseratory, laid a path and patio at the back of the house so he's thinking of doing the drive himself. However, despite googling I can't find a website that offers advice. Does anyone know where I could get 'build your own driveway' information?
Many thanks in advance.

Alan_M_2

http://www.pavingexpert.com/ajmcinfo.htm

wobbley

Probably the cheapest and quickest way is using concrete. Block paving is very expensive. Paving slabs are not very good for parking cars on. Tarmacing is a bit of a specialist job if done properly.
The pavingexpert website posted by Alan M is excellent and will give you all the info you need.

LJD1_2

Thanks for all this information. We def don't want block paving and had been thinking of paving slabs. My only worry is concrete will look an eye sore but we've been looking at that site and it's very helpful. Many thanks to you both.

plumb1_2

The most important part of any driveway/path is your Sub-base.

sneekymum

How about a plastic paving system with grass or gravel?

LJD1_2

Thanks again for your replies. We have to have a hard standing drive to meet with building regs which is a shame as it means getting rid of our small, but established, garden at the front. That's what's worrying me about just going for concrete as it looks so nice at the moment.

Alan_M_2

Why a hard standing?

Would a gravel drive not suffice?

Heath_Robinson

Yeah a gravel drive is really cheap, easy to do and in my opinion looks nicer than many of the alternatives, please don't buy gravel from B&Q or similar though, it's much cheaper if you order it from a local quarry, normally best to order more than you think you'll need.

JimArnold

yes a load of gravel from a local builders merchant will cost £60 ish just spread it out
- looks OK
- does the job
- low maintenance might need a bag or two from B&Q in 5 years

A proper job would require some hard core first

Spendless

LJD1 wrote:

. My only worry is concrete will look an eye sore .

That would be my reluctance too. I only know of 2 people who have gone for concrete and in both cases it looks awful, really tatty and spoils the general appearance of the rest of the house. I don't know if concrete always looks like this or not as I only know these 2 examples.