Builders next door have damaged our drive and want to patch repair it

brumbill

Our next door neighbours are having their driveway re laid. The company they are using decided to die out the old tarmac with a drill to remove it all before going about sorting the sub base etc

the issue is that our two driveways run between our houses and were one piece of tarmac. Where they have down the work, chunks of it have also come up on our side too. I spoke to them about it as it was happening and their boss came round to speak to me and said that, from that point on, they would angle grind a line out first and then drill so it wouldn’t cause any further danage. White why they didn’t do it like that from the start is beyond me, except that it would  have taken a bit longer

Now they want to cut out the areas they damaged on our side and fill them with the same tarmac they will use for next door. My issue with this is that our drive is old and faded and it will look awful just having random patches of black on it that will take years to fade. There isnt really an alternative other than having the whole drive redone or just leaving it

what are my rights and is it the builder or our neighbours who are responsible?

Aylesbury_Duck

brumbill said:

Our next door neighbours are having their driveway re laid. The company they are using decided to die out the old tarmac with a drill to remove it all before going about sorting the sub base etc

the issue is that our two driveways run between our houses and were one piece of tarmac. Where they have down the work, chunks of it have also come up on our side too. I spoke to them about it as it was happening and their boss came round to speak to me and said that, from that point on, they would angle grind a line out first and then drill so it wouldn’t cause any further danage. White why they didn’t do it like that from the start is beyond me, except that it would  have taken a bit longer

Now they want to cut out the areas they damaged on our side and fill them with the same tarmac they will use for next door. My issue with this is that our drive is old and faded and it will look awful just having random patches of black on it that will take years to fade. There isnt really an alternative other than having the whole drive redone or just leaving it

what are my rights and is it the builder or our neighbours who are responsible?

Your right is to have the broken bits patched.  The patches will fade in time, but you could also ask them to dye the tarmac to make an approximate match.  You're not entitled to a completely new drive.  If you are considering a new drive, you might ask for a contribution to it, perhaps a percentage to match the percentage of your drive that's been damaged.

Overall though, it's a drive.  Aesthetics really shouldn't matter.  It's something to drive on, not a piece of art to be preserved.

jon81uk

You are entitled for them to repair it not a whole new drive.

Maybe as goodwill you could ask them to make the straight line a bit further onto your side so it joins up some of the patches. But that may also make a boundry dispute in the future!

Sandtree

brumbill said:

what are my rights and is it the builder or our neighbours who are responsible?

Its easier to go directly with the builders

What outcome do you actually want? If its a whole new drive then try again.

There was an interesting appeal judgement recently, if you are in insurance anyway, and according to the judge in that case what you are technically entitled to is the loss in value. Cost of repairs is just a convenient and accepted proxy to what the likely loss in value would be. 

So if you arent happy with them repairing it then claim for the devaluation of the property which is likely to be next to nothing.

brumbill

Thanks very much

brumbill

It’s not that I’m covering or wanting a new drive from them at all, just to be clear. I’m just annoyed that it could have been avoided and that they started doing the work without saying anything before hand about the chance of it doing damage to our property

brumbill

Sorry - the other bit I didn’t mention was that the two drives are divided by a fence, which is why it will look weird on our side - they’ll just be random sections of black sticking out next to the fence.

Aylesbury_Duck

Is it really going to be that noticeable?  We have a large driveway that is many different shades of grey when it's wet or even just damp.  It'll weather in over time.

carly

You could use, or ask them nicely to use, on the drive after they have patched it....tarmac restorer paint similar to this...Everbuild TARR5 Tarmac Restorer, Restores Tarmac To A Deep Black Finish, 5 Litre https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00LXLZLJK/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_i_C5610KGSWGZWYAX790TM..... It works really well, and would give you a uniform finish at a reasonable cost.