{More Home Improvements... The Driveway}

I've been having a number of problems house-wise since I moved into my new place at the end of last year... one of which was a delightful sewage issue in my driveway.

After a number of trips from Dyno-Rod it was discovered that the roots from my hedge had got into the pipework and was causing the problem. Thankfully I got that sorted, but it left my driveway in a bit of a mess. The driveway before had chuckies (is this an Aberdeen word?) but it looked like the previous owner had put these down quickly to make the driveway attractive for selling without properly prepping the ground and the drainage wasn't great as a result. Anyway, the gist is that the sewage issue has made me bring forward my plans for mono blocking the driveway (which I've had to put on my credit card...this is not helping with my plan to be debt free!!).

Delightful - this is how it was left by Dyno-Rod... the grey and cream splodges are concrete!

The driveway before

I had five companies out to quote for the job, and I ended up choosing S&D Projects who have an office in Clarkston. Of all the salesmen I chatted to, Derek was clearly the best. He spent time talking me through the process of building the new drive, showing me plenty photographs and examples of their work. I was impressed.

A few days later I signed the contract and my slot was booked, and the whole driveway took just three days!

I had left for work before the guys arrived on Day 1 of the job but on arrival home the digger was out on the street and the sub base of load bearing concrete (black layer in the photos below) had been created. The littlest was loving the sand (the bedding layer for the mono block)! I didn't see the actual dig out and the depth that was achieved, but my neighbours opposite did and they were impressed with it. The digger will have ripped out the roots from the hedge so I'm hoping that the same sewage issue doesn't reoccur in the future.  

On Day 2 of the job I met the boys when they arrived at 8am just before I rushed off for the nursery run! And when I got home that day the driveway was well underway.

Day 3 I was at home, so I was able to watch the goings on (the kids were keen to see the builders in action and we even had breakfast on the front step so we didn't miss anything!). I also met the Project Manager who had come out to oversee the work.  

All in all I've been really impressed with the service and the driveway is super! The kids love it and have spent much time already out on their bike/scooters. 

It rained & rained (& rained some more) a few days after the driveway was installed... and not a single puddle to be seen. My neighbours were impressed! :)

I seem to have have a problem with efflorescence, which I guess is to do with all the rain. This is a white powdery deposit of water-soluble salts on the surface of masonry as the water evaporates. This will fade though (and has already improved quite a bit since I took these pics), but you can see the white marks in the photos below...

What a difference compared to the old drain! Much neater :)

The driveway was extended and they've made a neat job of the edge. I just need to paint it now!

The finished driveway! Yay!!

I'm seriously super impressed. Every day when I'm out on the front of the house I think to myself 'I just love my drive'.

The littlest and I have been putting some bark down under the hedge to keep the weeds at bay. I've also got a few pots of plants that I'll dot about the place.

It's certainly been a brilliant investment, and I love it (I've said that already though, haven't I!!)

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