Front drive/parking advice

5 years ago

Hi,

i am looking for some advice on what to do out the front of our house. It’s all a bit of a mess as we had to remove a crumbling stone wall, that was holding the front garden up (so we made the garden smaller to get more parking area, and dig up the drive to replace a collapsed soil pipe

we plan to put a brick pillar on the opposite side to the wall at the end of the drive and a 4ft fence up the boundary.

we also have a god awful patio directly out front of the house which needs taking up as there are roots that need removing under it, plus it’s nasty!

Tarmac quote for the drive and ttuning area is £7k it’s 300sq/m roughly

what are your thoughts on tarmac If done properly?? We thought about gravel in the turning area, but that only saves us about £600 and I have a feeling gravel might be cost neutral. We thought about gravel where the ‘patio‘ currently is.

help!

Featured Answer

Juliet Docherty

5 years ago

The house looks amazing and in my mind needs some mid century looking modernist planting. I would do some new slab work near the house (maybe slate) for walking on to the car and leave spaces for some architectural grasses etc. The rest I would use pea shingle. Get some quotes from companies or builders that just say groundworks, specifically things like underpinning - they may be cheaper.

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Comments (29)

Julie Norris
Original Author
5 years ago
Julie Norris
Original Author
5 years ago
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margaretmc01
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
Have you considered resin? It’s similar to the stuff they use in kids play parks but comes in all different colours. i personally prefer the bricks as a few in our street have those but others have black tarmac which looks good and others have Grey coloured resin.
Julie Norris
Original Author
5 years ago
Thanks Margaret, The surfacing company who came out suggested that Resin was very expensive, and seeing as we have gone over budget massively on this build, we are tight on funds. I just want to be sure that Tarmac will look asthetically pleasing, and not like an A road ha!
margaretmc01
5 years ago
it def won’t look like a road, our original drives were tarmac and these are new build homes built approx 14 years ago, some have extended drive and just went with tarmac and it looks absolutely fine. My neighbour recently had resin done and said it was a little more expensive but not massively more. Do the Conpany you had out do resin? This is sometimes why they say it’s far more expensive. Might be worth getting a few quotes from different companies if you haven’t already done so or if you have a local recommendations page on fb it could be worth asking there. Good luck.
susanglascoed
5 years ago
I'd have a look at lots of Tarmac drives before you make your mind up. I think it's not at all appropriate for a house. How about properly laid gravel, a softer and lighter option with planting to soften? A qualified garden designer (msgd) would advise for relatively little and you'd get it right the first time. Well worth imo having done it myself!
Bow Sward
5 years ago
If you are going to have it tarmaced, make sure it’s the pervious variety - should be same price or very close - so it’s environmentally friendly and you wont have any surface water left drying out in any uneven areas
AR
5 years ago
I too would have a look at resin. You’ve got a lovely house and I don’t think resin would be a huge amount more expensive - I would definitely get some quotes. It takes very little maintenance, drains well and looks stunning when done well. I find gravel moves around and can leave bare patches where wheels are turned and, most importantly, ruins the heels on high-heeled style shoes - a reason my wife has used numerous times for replacing shoes!!
Julie Norris
Original Author
5 years ago
Gravel would be my preferred option, however the drive slopes, so I figured we would lose some downhill. Also our neighbour has gravel and its very noisy. I have no idea what architectural grass is, i'm off to google!
Anthony (Beano)
5 years ago
I’ve just put new grey gravel down outside mine! I’ve a big area (took 45 tonne!) it looks way better than tarmac in my eyes, bit more up keep mind but as I said to my wife, how many stately home have a tarmac driveway! Lol
PRO
Bassets Builders
5 years ago
BLOCK PAVING

Quick and cost affective.

https://www.houzz.co.uk/pro/dean-sturgess/bassets-builders
Julie Norris
Original Author
5 years ago
Haha Beano, thats right enough. Gravel would be easier and probably cheaper, I just worry about it falling down the slope! How big is your area you needed 45 tonnes for?

Bassets Builders, I do like Block Paving, but I'm concerned about how it would look with the brick wall, and brick/stone on the house, I wanted something to break up the brick ideally.
Julie Norris
Original Author
5 years ago
ColourHappy, we were thinking of replacing the patio, as we have to replace the rear patio also, as we have done the garden, but the patio is letting it down! So we could use the same slabs, something like this we thought, or at least similar, but maybe all 600x600. So you think that would be better than gravelling that area?
Anthony (Beano)
5 years ago
Lol Julie :-) yes quite the area! Your slope isn’t too bad so I’d say you’d be ok as long as your not racing in and out, I just told my wife to take it easy going in and out, last stones lasted us 10 years + so not bad!

Is I was to get something I would go with a nice dark grey brick or brick effect concrete product, against your house, I thin’ it would look real smart, possibly even a gravel type in the turning area to break it up?
Julie Norris thanked Anthony (Beano)
PRO
Bassets Builders
5 years ago
Had same problem with too many red bricks in a back garden recently, decided to take the colour of the windows and use it in the edge block and bricks, the contrast in colour means you concentrate on the colours not the individual bricks.

The St Crispins Job · More Info

The St Crispins Job · More Info

The St Crispins Job · More Info

The St Crispins Job · More Info
Julie Norris
Original Author
5 years ago
i mocked up some gravel photos, and replacing the patio with a grey one, and actually think it will knit it with the stone on the house nicely, (don't look too closely, I used PowerPoint!
Emily
5 years ago
Think that looks great. I like the gravel noise too since it tells you when someone has arrived. How does your neighbour keep the gravel from leaking out to the road?
Julie Norris thanked Emily
Julie Norris
Original Author
5 years ago
I dont actually know Emily, I'll go and walk past as see.... there would be a 'tarmac buffer' as we wouldnt start the gravel until the wall starts , which is about 6 ft from the road.

Also, I dont know if anyone knows the answer to this, we'd like some gates at the end of the drive, but opening inwards of course, but the drive slopes, so does anyone have any idea on if this would work, as the drive will be 6m wide, so each gate roughly 3m wide, so quite a swing!

The slope is shown better before I added gravel to the photo.

If only it was an simple as using powerpoint to make a drive look better ;-)
PRO
Bassets Builders
5 years ago
Rising hinges should be sweet and 3m gates are pretty standard.

let us know if you need some help we do alot of fencing work.
Julie Norris thanked Bassets Builders
PRO
Bassets Builders
5 years ago
With regards to "gravel leaking into the road"
a rumble strip can be installed at the gate entrance it will stop stones "leaking" out, it also acts to knock stones off on the way out, so they don't end up travelling back home to the nearest beach. lol
Julie Norris thanked Bassets Builders
Julie Norris
Original Author
5 years ago
Thes interesting about the hinges! Who knew they existed! I didnt... thank you :)
PRO
E. Williams Landscapes Ltd
5 years ago
Have you considered a rustic resin bound aggregate? We feel it would really compliment the house - https://www.addagrip.co.uk/204/external-surfacing/terrabase-rustic
Julie Norris
Original Author
5 years ago
E. Williams, Hi, I have thought about it, but I thought it would be too expensive? I'm just guessing, but I assume its dearer than tarmac, and the company we had out wanted £8k for that without any ground work!
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Mark Laurence Design Ltd
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
Gravel placed through a plastic grid will hold it in place so it won't shift around. Make sure the sub-base is permeable too, this is a planning requirement for front gardens. Attention to edging detail is important though. Pic attached is of such a drive.
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Earth Designs Garden and Build London and Essex
5 years ago
We have just installed resin bonded aggregate

in a front drive and it looks fab, super hard wearing and compliments most house styles.
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Neil Jones Design
5 years ago
As someone else has already suggested, i'd opt for a nice gravel laid within a plastic honeycomb grid system to stablise it and keep it uniform. The whole construction should be subbase to avoid the need for planning permission and you can add a stone threshold detail across the width of the entrance from the road to provide an attractive approach and demark the driveway. I think your house is too rustic in appearance to suit tarmac and needs a softer more rural choice of materials to compliment the house, plus you have a large area so planting is crucial to maintain the balance between hard and soft landscaping.
Julie Norris thanked Neil Jones Design
PRO
HMS Decorative Surfacing Limited
5 years ago
Hi Julie. Did you get a quote for a resin driveway in the end? We'd be happy to give us a quote if you message us with the area dimensions. Our website is www.hmslimited.co.uk if you want to have a look at some of the work we have done. Regards, HMS
PRO
Arthur Road Landscapes
5 years ago
Hi Julie, I think the gravel works well with the house and the brick wall, certainly better than tarmac or block paving. I've had mixed experiences with resin, when done well it is lovely but when done badly its awful. And it is expensive. It is a lot of drive, do you need that much space? Looks like there's plenty of room for some planting which will make a much more attractive entrance to your home.