Driveway Options?

bery_451

We have a big front garden and a small back garden. We recently had a few quotes for paving option that cost £thousands which is a lot of money.

We looking for alternative cheaper options that allows cars to be parked on top and sheds on top and no weeds growing and no puddles forming.

Shall I assume a good driveway or garden has to be level and should be in level with the drains and no higher than the engineering bricks?

Is gravel or concrete slabs the cheapest options available? If not what are the other cheaper options?

If gravel or concrete slabs are my only cheapest options then what are the proper stages of doing either of them and to stop weeds growing and puddles forming as I was thinking doing these options myself with help from a few friends.

Or is this a skillful job best left for professionals for gravel or concrete slabs options?

Finally I was thinking of still keeping the green hedges so if it was just gravel option that was is the best separator between gravel and hedges or bricks?

Davesnave

There's no point in us re-inventing the wheel when this web site offers a good place to start:


http://www.pavingexpert.com/


We don't know your level of energy, competence, what tools you have, the spare time available or the size of any of these jobs, so it's better if you make an assessment yourself based on a respected source showingwork sequences.

I can tell you that a shed in a front garden would need planning permission if it's going to be erected forward of the building line.

Ectophile

Your driveway is only going to be level if the front garden is level. Many driveways slope one way or another. You need to consider where any run-off is going to go (and across the pavement into the road is no longer acceptable). Either the surface needs to be porous, or else you need to sort out the drainage.


Gravel is going to get weeds, whatever you do. You can slow them down, but they will start growing sooner or later.

bery_451

Ectophile wrote: »

Your driveway is only going to be level if the front garden is level. Many driveways slope one way or another. You need to consider where any run-off is going to go (and across the pavement into the road is no longer acceptable). Either the surface needs to be porous, or else you need to sort out the drainage.


Gravel is going to get weeds, whatever you do. You can slow them down, but they will start growing sooner or later.

Ok to summarise a sloping driveway needs to porous to stop water gathering at the bottom but the weeds will go through through the porous material?

If so what cheaper alternative options available to me apart from gravel? I was looking for something maintenance free. Growing weeds doesn't sound maintenance free.

Cash-Cows

bery_451 wrote: »

Ok to summarise a sloping driveway needs to porous to stop water gathering at the bottom but the weeds will go through through the porous material?

If so what cheaper alternative options available to me apart from gravel? I was looking for something maintenance free. Growing weeds doesn't sound maintenance free.

All surfaces will require maintenance. Maintenance free does not exist.

Davesnave

OK, so you are now asking a specific question....


Concrete requires less maintenance than gravel, but there are restrictions on laying new concrete in a front garden without provision of a soak away:
https://www.planningportal.co.uk/info/200130/common_projects/45/paving_your_front_garden


..so the garden itself becomes part of the project and you won't be able to send the run-off into the mains drains.

Constructing a concrete driveway that meets regs, lasts and doesn't crack means more preparation work than making one with gravel, but with gravel there is more maintenance during ownership.

In the past, people who wanted 'no maintenance' covered their entire front gardens with concrete or other impermeable surfaces. Not only did this look drab; it burdened the sewers with extra run-off during periods of heavy rainfall and helped to cause flooding.

The new restrictions mean there has to be some garden left for water dispersal, or a massive soak-away somewhere.

Ectophile

If you have a driveway, then it either needs to be porous, or else you need to install a soakaway at the lowest point(s).


The rules changed relatively recently - you used to be able to just let the water run into the nearest storm drain. So many people are now paving their front gardens that it is causing flooding problems elsewhere.



Thinking about it, if your driveway is non-porous, then it really needs to slope, otherwise you will get puddles.


You will struggle to find anything that is cheap, and good, and weed-free.

M2808

I've seen drives that are one layer of bricks paved around the edge and then poured concrete everywhere else - no weeds possible, just a pressure wash once a year and must be cheaper than block paving the lot

neilmcl

Ectophile wrote: »

If you have a driveway, then it either needs to be porous, or else you need to install a soakaway at the lowest point(s).


The rules changed relatively recently - you used to be able to just let the water run into the nearest storm drain. So many people are now paving their front gardens that it is causing flooding problems elsewhere.



Thinking about it, if your driveway is non-porous, then it really needs to slope, otherwise you will get puddles.


You will struggle to find anything that is cheap, and good, and weed-free.

Also, one thing to bear in mind is if you want to create a non-porous driveway then you will need planning permission I believe.

Davesnave

M2808 wrote: »

I've seen drives that are one layer of bricks paved around the edge and then poured concrete everywhere else..

So you do that and your neighbour, who followed the rules and has a nice drive, reports you to the council....What then?


Did you read the thread?

bouicca21

And presuming you want to sell sometime in the future, remember that a badly paved, ugly front garden puts buyers off. It’s worth spending a Bob or two to get something that enhances rather than detracts from the kerb appeal.