Driveway Solution

[jon8oy]

Hey all,

Bit of a weird, non watch-related situation I thought I'd throw out there! I have been looking for a wee while at getting an EV to drive for myself in addition to my wife's V40. It involves some serious man-maths and convincing of my good lady, but that's another story. Part of the 'journey' to electric car paradise would be extending out our current single-car driveway.

Now, we have fairly wide flowerbed/section of hedge between my driveway and the neighbours. On the deeds, and from neighbour themselves, that is entirely owned by us. On the other side of the drive is a kind of decorative part of the front garden. We moved in about 18 months ago and have inherited a garden that is frankly far too complex for either of us, we are not particularly green-fingered! So what I really want to do is tear up the hedge/flowerbed, maybe some of the decorative part of the garden, and see if we can extend the drive width-ways to got another car. That way I can park an EV to charge, my wife can also still park in the drive, and we have a lot less gardening to worry about. WIN!

This is the point where I ask has anyone else ever undertaken such a thing? Did you do any/all of it yourself? Did you get in a landscaper/other tradesmen? Rough costs? Things to look out for? I'll take a couple of pictures tomorrow when it's light, and I'll be measuring it up in preparation for seeking quotes, but thought I'd get this up and see what you fine people have to say!

Cheers.

Sent from my GM1913 using Tapatalk

EDIT - Found an old photo, car was a loaner whilst my Evoque was in for service (I'm not that fancy!). Shows a little bit the situation, will get a better one tomorrow.

[gmt 16750]

Had a similar situation to yours about 10-11yrs ago and had a driveway enlarged.
The porperty originally had a driveway down the side of the house (two long rows of slabs with chips elsewhere) which was long enough for two vehicles and a grass/flowerbed area to the side of the driveway (front of the house).
I got a driveway company in to rip it all out, dig down to alter the levels, weed fabric etc & then monobloc the whole area. Iirc it cost £8.5k but, as I say, that was a good while ago.
Also had to shell out to have the drop kerbs extended & pavement retarred so the widened drive could be used properly. Think that was about 1.5k. It would obvs cost much much more to have the same work again today.
Good luck.

[IAmATeaf]

Just rip it up and go with whatever takes your fancy. My wife doesn’t like block paving and I do so when we had our driveway done you can guess what we went with. Before this a large part of it was green but as we’ve got older the amount of green we want has lessened.

There are new regs regarding water drainage so make sure you read and don’t fall foul of them.

Interestingly enough I’m looking into getting a charge point out in as my next car will be electric. Not to everyone’s taste but it’s functional and fits 2 cars, wish I hadn’t extended the wall on the left as currently my wife parks on the street.

[Dave+63]

Interestingly enough I’m looking into getting a charge point out in as my next car will be electric.

As an aside, it’s better to wait until you buy the EV as there’s a government grant and manufacturer subsidies which makes the charge point a whole lot cheaper/ free to have installed.

[adrianw]

As an aside, it’s better to wait until you buy the EV as there’s a government grant and manufacturer subsidies which makes the charge point a whole lot cheaper/ free to have installed.

I just got two electric cars, on handover the dealer just handed over two charge leads each, one mains and one for a charger, then said phone pod point, there is a £500 grant but after research it becomes very obvious that all the installed charger pricing is designed to soak up the grant, the other con is that they are not actually chargers, they are just a way of connecting to your house and providing some communication interface which the car has anyway. The price of these things is going to go through the floor in the next couple of years.

[MB2]

I had to get permission from the council to get the drop kerb extended (and they were the cheapest quote too) so it is probably worth getting that done first. But then I was dealing with Poole Council over 10 years ago when they used to send you a letter if any of your branches overhung the pavement...

[mindforge]

I'm doing a similar job on my drive and was thinking of putting an external plug point on the front for gardening etc, but surely having power easily accessible there would make it easier to have an EV charge point in the future?

[Pete D]

Whatever route you take, make sure the drive foundation is sufficient. Years ago, my car sank into my Mother’s driveway after she had it covered with ‘spare’ tarmac from a local road works.... Needless to say the ‘workmen’ has just laid tarmac over soil!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[TaketheCannoli]

LOL :)

Whatever route you take, make sure the drive foundation is sufficient. Years ago, my car sank into my Mother’s driveway after she had it covered with ‘spare’ tarmac from a local road works.... Needless to say the ‘workmen’ has just laid tarmac over soil!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[bambam]

I'm doing a similar job on my drive and was thinking of putting an external plug point on the front for gardening etc, but surely having power easily accessible there would make it easier to have an EV charge point in the future?

That’s what I would have thought. We have external power in the front garden already so presuming that any car charger will just connect to that? Not that I need one yet.

[jon8oy]

Thanks for all the feedback and pictures, very useful!

Re the EV and charging points - in Scotland we can get two different grants toward installation which can add up to £800. You must have proof of order of the EV if not ownership to take advantage of the funding. I have power in my garage so expect it will be a fairly easy process for installation. I'm currently trying to decide (with the wife) whether a used Model S or a new Model 3 is best bet (I'm leaning toward the former).

Sent from my GM1913 using Tapatalk

[Kingstepper]

That’s what I would have thought. We have external power in the front garden already so presuming that any car charger will just connect to that? Not that I need one yet.

Aren't they more than 13 amp and need own circuit?

[g40steve]

Aren't they more than 13 amp and need own circuit?

Correct, hence they charge quicker.
Will look at breaker on my panel as I have one on front of my house, got it fitted free for taking part in a test for TRL.

[jon8oy]

So I went out today and got better pictures.

Also measured the hedge/jungle section at 1.5m x 5m approx.

Sent from my GM1913 using Tapatalk

[westy]

You may need planning permission depending on the area involved and whether the surface will be porous or not.

https://www.planningportal.co.uk/inf...r_front_garden

[walkerwek1958]

Several years ago the bye-laws in many areas changed regarding the materials to be used for extended areas of hard-standing. This is to ensure that water soaks away effectively and doesn`t simply run off. Porous blocks have to be specified to meet this criteria. I know this because I extended my driveway shortly before this rule came in.

With recently built developments the agreement of the original development is needed if you alter things. This seems odd to me but I recall reading this when I bought a new house in 1999, there were various dos and don'ts including the removal of the trees planted by the developer.

I would also ensure your neighbour is happy with what you propose. If you have vehicles parked right up to the boundary edge does this cause him a problem with using his driveway?

I extended my driveway sideways to provide extra parking, it worked nicely for me, but it's not always straightforward. Not sure I`d go to this trouble simply to have an electric vehicle!

[jon8oy]

Several years ago the bye-laws in many areas changed regarding the materials to be used for extended areas of hard-standing. This is to ensure that water soaks away effectively and doesn`t simply run off. Porous blocks have to be specified to meet this criteria. I know this because I extended my driveway shortly before this rule came in.

With recently built developments the agreement of the original development is needed if you alter things. This seems odd to me but I recall reading this when I bought a new house in 1999, there were various dos and don'ts including the removal of the trees planted by the developer.

I would also ensure your neighbour is happy with what you propose. If you have vehicles parked right up to the boundary edge does this cause him a problem with using his driveway?

I extended my driveway sideways to provide extra parking, it worked nicely for me, but it's not always straightforward. Not sure I`d go to this trouble simply to have an electric vehicle!

Thank you, lots of useful consideration points.

I will look at planning permission and other areas of 'permission' I might need. Neighbour is absolutely fine with it, spoke to them about it first as would be a non-starter if they were going to be bothered by it.

The electric car is not the sole reason for doing this, we want to reduce the greenery we need to manage and we will always have two vehicles and I can't park on the kerb as it makes life difficult for neighbours across the street getting in and out of their drive. I currently have to park a walk away from the house, so the added convenience of us both being able to park in the drive would be really good. All depends on the cost though, may need to sell a watch to accommodate!

By the way, the irony of wanting to reduce the green spaces around the house to get an EV is not lost on me

Sent from my GM1913 using Tapatalk

[RobDad]

Personally I’d keep the garden as is, avoid turning the front of the house into a concrete square, and park the other car on the road.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[RobDad]

Oh, and buy a strimmer and some secateurs!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[walkerwek1958]

Having seen your pics I think it's definitely a goer, limited parking is a problem on many modern developments and the ludicrously small garages don't help. Building regs should be changed to enable all garages to be a minimum of 10' wide internal with an 8' door width, to allow modern fat cars to go in. Like many modern houses mine's 8'6" with a 7' door width, my MGB fits in because it's 5' wide but it's useless for anything much bigger. Some folks would never use a garage because they're too lazy to put the car away, but it would help with parking issues if they did. I also prefer the security of a car locked away at night, and you don`t have to defrost it in winter.

I can excuse the Victorians for building terrace houses in the 19th century without adequate parking space, but I can`t excuse modern developers or the Councils for allowing it. Most 1970s developments are far better, with wider access roads that allow for on-street parking if the driveway's full, we've gone backwards in this respect.

As for room sizes in modern houses..........don`t get me started!

[Man of Kent]

If ev's stand any chance of mass takeup then they should surely just be able to be plugged into a normal 13amp socket. Is that not the case then?

[Neil.C]

Can you not just pull up those bushes and drive the other car at an angle onto the shingle (assuming suitable) thereby using the same dropped kerb?

How about using the garage?

[Kingstepper]

Personally I’d keep the garden as is, avoid turning the front of the house into a concrete square, and park the other car on the road.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Often problem with that is that neighbours can also park outside your house (though don't think possible in OP's case). Happens to us a lot - nextdoor have got rid of front garden, now place for 2 cars on drive so their visitors park outside our house not in front of their drive.

They've effectively got 3 places, we've got one.

[lewie]

I did this a couple of years ago to accommodate the girls cars - this is it nearly finished the section behind the wall is now a small raised bed with plants
Untitled by biglewie, on Flickr

[mr.chef]

Do you need planning permission to extend your drive? In the same situation as the OP

[Tifa]

Gypsies could tarmac that lot for you.
£50 (cash) all in.
Work guaranteed.
WCPGW?

[Franco]

Do you need planning permission to extend your drive? In the same situation as the OP

Not in Sheffield, is OK if you extend sideways and the drive does not pour rainwater in the street. Mine was done and had installed something like this, so that the drive would pour in the garden rather than directly in the street.

Attachment 16905

[RobDad]

In the spirit of this forum, why not sell a few of the houses you don’t use all that much, or that are nice but the wrong colour/need a new boiler, and instead buy a ‘grail’ house with a moat, servants quarters, and enough room to park 11 MX 5’s in climate controlled garages?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk