I have just moved house and one of the main issues with the property is the concrete block driveway. The property has had two water leaks near the front gate over the last 20 years according to the neighbour which have been repaired. There is a large Willow Tree nearby which is coming out soon which I think has caused the water leaks. The concrete blocks are cracked and generally in bad condition. The drive way is large and can accommodate four cars quite easy. Ideally I would employ a professional driveway company and get them to sort it but I don't have much money.

Any locost options out there that anyone can think of????



Description

If you are removing a willow tree you will find that the moisture content in the soil will change dramatically in the area which will cause the soil to move and settle. Ideally you'd wait for things to settle.

However, it doesnt look like the biggest driveway. Wouldn't cost too much to hire a breaker and smash it up, make sure the bed is well compacted and then relay the slab. Use concrete with reinforcing fibres in it to prevent future cracking.

For reference I had a 10.5x3.4m driveway dug up and relayed with 5" thick fibre reinforced concrete. Cost was around a grand and took 3 guys about 2 days.... You could do it yourself for half that id wager.

Thats not that much money. Not that I have lots of cash at the moment but thats not a impossible amount.

Worth getting some quotes.

My driveway is on a steep hill which makes it harder.


I had quotes for concrete which ranged from just over a grand to £5K..... I'd guess the £5K guy would have done an amazing job which may have looked incredible but its just a driveway.... as long as its solid and uniform who cares....

When we've priced up driveways it's always been in the multiples of K, for the main reason that my other half doesn't want another slab of concrete. She wants the black stuff with little white speckles and a nice trim around the outside and a border along the edge for her plants and blah blah blah...

I'm sure if I had my way, we could get it replaced for 1k max (it's only long enough for 2 cars), and it would still look nice than what we have now.

Cut across it where it starts to slope, dig it out to about 6" put a couple of inch of well tamped hard core then some mesh and new concrete. You could do it yourself for a few hundred quid. Show us the tree and I'll see if it's too big for my saw . Removing the tree will not make much difference it only takes some of what moisture is there and the roots will still be in place. Willows don't kill off easily.