Concrete driveway advice (pics included)

thezappa said:
I’d quit while you’re ‘ahead’. Appreciate the difficulty getting trades in but I’d happily wait if it meant getting a good job and at least you won’t have to deal with them if it were to go wrong in the future.
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if they finish it and get paid
no matter what happened afterwards
he wouldnt see them in the future lol
not called bodgeit and scarper for nothing :)
 
They have been this morning and have dug a bit more out, compacted it with a machine, chucked some of that yellow stuff down and compacted it a bit more and have took most of the waste away. Still some in the barrow they have left. They say they are going to do some finishing touches tomorrow morning like cut that old washing line pipe next to the man hole cover down and cut a straight line where it meets the old surface on the top right of the photo and trim that flag stone down where the little water meter chamber is on the pavement. Again, they only did 2 hours work and I don't know why they couldn't have done these jobs now while they were here! Then it's supposed to be ready for the concrete after that. The ground looks deeper but don't think it's 100mm deep.

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Mcnumpty2323 said:
if they finish it and get paid
no matter what happened afterwards
he wouldnt see them in the future lol
not called bodgeit and scarper for nothing :)
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I doubt they would come back, probably wouldn't answer the phone even. Frankly I wouldn't want them back!
 
Looks like they're basically skimming your drive. Lol

To me that's not even a sub base compacted dirt.
Looks to be about 50mm of space left at most.
 
Obtop of the shoddy work Are they leaving that as is overnight? Someone tripps or falls over that abd you may be in for a world of pooh. No barriers or anything!

also i bet £10 that will crack within a year
 
Yep they have left it like that but to be honest the old concrete surface in the yard was in such a bad state that someone could have tripped over that too if they ventured off the public footpath.

I suppose paying cheap I'm getting a cheap job even though I didn't ask for a cheap job.
 
Its a shame you couldnt have removed the entire slab from front right to the back wall.

You are going to have 3 different colours of surface and the transition between each one is all wonky.

All comes down to money though. I don't know your area but if that entire area was done properly you could then stick some gates on it and have a nice more secure/private area.
 
This isn't going to be much use as a driveway, as the kerb isn't dropped. Someone can park right in front of it.

I get the feeling that in no time at all you're going to have to pay a hell of a lot more than £700 to get this re-done properly.
 
The idea of only getting the bottom done was because that was the worse and the other two areas of the yard had obviously been done in the past and were still good. All this area was going to be used for was parking car on. I already have a private south facing front garden but the way the street is, there is no road access at the front just a footpath that looks over onto a park.

The concrete is down now and while they spent about 3 hours getting it poured and level I admit it isn't 100% perfect but it does make the yard and indeed the rear elevation of the property look 100% better compared to what was there before. Will also look better once I finish painting the walls in Sandtex Plymouth Grey.

I agree that anyone can park as there is no dropped kerb but I will be looking into that soon at some point. If the council were to come and take random action they would have to do the same with nearly every other property in the street.

If it lasts a few years then fine, maybe then I'll look at getting the whole yard done but I'll be really careful on who I employ to do it!
 
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Are you happy with it?

I had some smug **** park a big 4x4 in front of my drive blocking me in over Christmas. Did it right in front of me with her two kids in tow visiting a neighbour of mine. I confronted her as she got out the car and she said could park there as it's not a dropped kerb.

It was at that point I decided I didn't care how much it cost, I was getting my drive done properly and the kerb dropped.
 
Bug One said:
Are you happy with it?

I had some smug **** park a big 4x4 in front of my drive blocking me in over Christmas. Did it right in front of me with her two kids in tow visiting a neighbour of mine. I confronted her as she got out the car and she said could park there as it's not a dropped kerb.

It was at that point I decided I didn't care how much it cost, I was getting my drive done properly and the kerb dropped.
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Happy as I can be but nothing more I can do about it now. Happy that I have a 'tidy' yard and that I won't be tripping over uneven surface, getting my shoes dirty, and controlling weed growth. :D

Yes I've had people park in front blocking me in when they could see my car was in there in the past. Ironic thing is they are friends/family of neighbours who are in the same situation, back yard driveways/garages with no dropped kerb.

EDIT: Did you get your kerb done? If you don't mind what was the ballpark figure?
 
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while obviously not perfect still doesnt look as bad
as it could have been
hopefully it stands up to parking on it
guessing they didnt tie it in to the existing concrete
by drilling holes in the face of existing concrete and inserting rebar
cost of dropped kerb varies depending on
your local council
how many kerbs have to be dropped-ie the width
and how wide the pavement is it has to cross
 
I don't have any paperwork and not sure if any was handed over to the cowboys doing it. Nothing was handed over before the pouring started but I went indoors before they finished. It was delivered by a company called 3 C Services Ltd and it had like different hoppers on the back of the truck and I assume it was mixed as it came out and not like a ready mix truck. I did notice however that the first few barrow loads were very watery.

They didn't tie it in with the old concrete with rebar rods but not sure how important that is.

What I thought I might have had a problem with was the payment but they seemed happy when I mentioned bank transfer. Which I thought was unusual for traveller types. He messaged me his bank details last night but I haven't paid yet. I might do it after this cup of tea or I might do it tomorrow. :p
 
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aye. looks like a mix in the back motor. good for exact amounts that you only pay for what they mix. if you are at all bothered you could call the company and ask what was used in terms of mix strength. they should keep a batch record for environmental and the likes.
 
LeeUK said:
I don't have any paperwork and not sure if any was handed over to the cowboys doing it. Nothing was handed over before the pouring started but I went indoors before they finished. It was delivered by a company called 3 C Services Ltd and it had like different hoppers on the back of the truck and I assume it was mixed as it came out and not like a ready mix truck. I did notice however that the first few barrow loads were very watery.

They didn't tie it in with the old concrete with rebar rods but not sure how important that is.

What I thought I might have had a problem with was the payment but they seemed happy when I mentioned bank transfer. Which I thought was unusual for traveller types. He messaged me his bank details last night but I haven't paid yet. I might do it after this cup of tea or I might do it tomorrow. :p
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Tying it together with epoxied rebar stops
The crack you will get at the join
New concrete won't bond/stick to the old stuff
Going by what they did for a sub base it could end up being a reasonable size crack or even a lip as well if their slab
Sinks
Obviously not talking grand canyon sized crack but means water gets in and when it freezes cracks it a bit more
Probably some alcoholic or junkies bank account to avoid tax they will just give them a bottle or fix for putting the money through it
 
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