Unaware of drive gradient

noggin2k1

Hi all,

Bit of a straight forward one - went to take a look at the new house tonight, and noticed now pavement is going in, there's a fairly noticeable downward gradient onto the drive, and I'm concerned about my car in particular bottoming out (obviously go up the dropped kerb before going down onto the drive).

Might be overthinking things, but the drawings which we've signed off definitely did not show a gradient on the driveway.

Any suggestions on where we stand with this, and course of action?

Doozergirl

My car has quite a low front and sides.

When I rented a space in a driveway with a rather ridiculous gradient, I did bottom out going in forwards, but going in backwards wasn't an issue at all.

You are not easily going to be ironing out a gradient that is a driveway and the drawings simply aren't going to show it.

davidmcn

Were the drawings meant to show what the levels were going to be? Have you exchanged contracts? If so, what does the contract say about the spec?

Davesnave

The house is going to stay where it is, as is the road, so the best course of action would seem to be voicing your concern to the site manager and following up in writing to the developer about anything agreed.

The driveway ought to be fit for purpose, and having built them before, it's to be hoped that the company know how to construct a workable profile.

From a different perspective, if the house is at the bottom of a sloped drive, satisfy yourself about where excess run off will go during periods of heavy rain.

noggin2k1

We've not exchanged contracts yet.

I would have expected driveway gradients would have been shown on the drawings we've seen and signed - as these detail very small gradients in the rear garden, but not on the driveway.

AdrianC

noggin2k1 wrote: »

Bit of a straight forward one - went to take a look at the new house tonight, and noticed now pavement is going in, there's a fairly noticeable downward gradient onto the drive, and I'm concerned about my car in particular bottoming out (obviously go up the dropped kerb before going down onto the drive).

Might be overthinking things, but the drawings which we've signed off definitely did not show a gradient on the driveway.

Any suggestions on where we stand with this, and course of action?

There's really only two ways to avoid the drive having a gradient.
1. Reduce the level of the road
2. Raise the level of the house

Neither, as I'm sure you'll agree, is particularly straightforward...

It's kinda what inevitably happens when a non-flat surface is built on...

If there's a particularly sharp angle at the point at which the (necessarily horizontally flat) pavement meets the driveway, that may cause an issue for unusually long and low cars - but it's unlikely unless it's very marked.

Can you do some measurements and calculations? Or even just post a photo?