Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

Original poster

I just got a quote for a new drive and am gobsmacked by how expensive they are.

54 replies

JacobReesMogadishu · 30/05/2020 09:55

Small drive. Just fits 2 cars on very snugly. Currently a combination of mismatched height concrete.

Got a quote for tarmac, blockpave and resin. All between 3.5k and 4K. North/midlands so not even London prices.

I’d like a new drive but not enough to spend 4k. Am now seriously considering buying a few tonne of gravel and throwing that down!

OP posts:
Fluffycloudland77 · 30/05/2020 12:06

@TeddyIsaHe Those slabs are lovely though.

Helenheller · 30/05/2020 12:28

We decided against a grid as so expensive and it has been fine. Just get larger gravel - small gets carried in and stuck in car tyres.

oohnicevase · 30/05/2020 12:33

Shop around , I got quotes from
£2-6kb.. went with the £2.8k one as he lived around the corner and it felt prudent to do so.

NiceTwin · 30/05/2020 12:38

We have a 300m lane down to ours.
It is road planings, it has been patched, patched and patched up time and again.
We have bitten the bullet and are having it tarmaced.
We have any tarmac that is left on the wagons at the end of the day, so it is very hit and miss.
That is going to cost us 5k.

It's going to take a very long time to finish, we have had about 50m done in 6 months Grin

TARSCOUT · 30/05/2020 12:47

@teddyisahe that's lovely, doing something similar in my rental property which was £5k. My own drive is tarmac.......

CountessFrog · 30/05/2020 12:56

It’s interesting to get a price breakdown. We have 10x10 metres of Indian sandstone (£1600) then the decorative tiles (two rows, £300). Three fence panels plus posts, eight up lighters, four down lighters, Eight patio lights, four sockets. (£700). £200 ground work to remove and grind tree stumps. The rest is labour .

recreationalcalpol · 30/05/2020 13:00

Mine was £7k!! Looks great though

Katinthedoghouse · 30/05/2020 13:08

Also I f you are then thinking about having gates - be prepared for an even bigger shock. We were quoted 12K

SpiltMilk100 · 30/05/2020 13:08

I hate my gravel driveway OP, I really don't recommend it. It gets all over the pavement, gets trod or kicked in the house (and it's the bigger sizes stones not the tiny ones). Our postman even said he hates walking down our drive. We're getting a path down the middle done so hopefully that negates part of the problem but I still think I will hate it. It was here when we purchased the house and would change it to tarmac if we could afford it.

GreenTulips · 31/05/2020 00:21

It gets stuck in trainers and brings it in the house to be trodden in bare foot, plus all over the path. Then there’s the weeds!!!

TeddyIsaHe · 31/05/2020 09:19

@CountessFrog I need to move to your area Grin I’m having the wall rendered and the steps will be black and white tiling, but it is still bloody spendy for what it is!

Op the gravel will piss you off until you get it done, I think never being annoyed about gravel again is worth 4K.

CountessFrog · 31/05/2020 13:05

You’re right, my previous gravel drive annoyed me

Original poster
JacobReesMogadishu · 31/05/2020 14:49

Might just leave it as my mismatched concrete then! Grin

OP posts:
Khione · 31/05/2020 15:01

I've just had mine done in S Yorkshire. There's about 80 sq m and hard core and type one were already there and had been for a year. The cheapest quote for just tarmac was £2,900, I went with £3800 which including laying a path down the side of the house, straight onto earth and brick edging all the way round. The best price I could get for resin was over 10k so I suspect shopping around would get you a cheaper price for tarmac.

The added a couple of bags of white chippings to mine which gives it a life and stops it looking like just a road.

TSSDNCOP · 31/05/2020 15:02

Please don't go gravel. It doesn't stay on the drive and his really horrible to walk over on the pavement.

GetRid · 31/05/2020 15:04

We had a shared driveway tarmaced a few years ago, 4 houses use it for access. Before the quotes came in we tentatively agreed to contribute our share - naively assuming it wouldn't be more than a few hundred quid all up.

£8k was the cost! We couldn't afford that much - but luckily our elderly neighbours are v rich and just wanted it done so they paid for most of it Blush

Bluntness100 · 31/05/2020 15:05

Always surprised at people who are shocked at the cost then in the same breath moan about how much work it is to do themselves.

TheFaerieQueene · 31/05/2020 15:05

Tarmac or paved is dreadful for the environment and causes flood problems because the rainwater doesn’t sink into the ground. It is bad for wildlife too. Habitats lost for bugs and plants - which has an impact on birdlife. A gravel driveway is a much better solution and more attractive.

TSSDNCOP · 31/05/2020 15:13

The RHS recommends gravel as a snail deterrent. Poor snails.

Drivingdownthe101 · 31/05/2020 15:13

Our driveway is a fairly steep slope so not sure if gravel would work.

TheABC · 31/05/2020 15:14

I really like the look of grasscrete. It has the added bonus that you don't need to keep weeding (I would much rather get out the strimmer!) and you don't have water runoff problems.

TheEmojiFormerlyKnownAsPrince · 31/05/2020 15:17

Ours cost 2k. Finished just before lockdown.

Sheffield

TSSDNCOP · 31/05/2020 15:19

@Drivingdownthe101 especially for all the snails at the bottom looking up Grin

SnickettyLemon · 31/05/2020 15:29

South West here, got a quote of £3500 end of February. Obviously did not get done due to lock down but have said will do it in 3 weeks. This is for Tarmac, DH got a few quotes but were much the same. Only room for one average size car though.

TheEmojiFormerlyKnownAsPrince · 31/05/2020 15:30

Ours was with blocks, fits 2 cars and a garden.