Issues with the new drive. How to deal with this awkward situation

[Newproblems]

I’m unsure about what's reasonable or not, so I'd really appreciate any advice or thoughts.

I bought my first house around 14 months ago and had to repair a few things (new boiler, windows, door, etc.), so it's been an expensive year. One of the issues was the driveway. It was uneven, and my car kept scraping against it, making it difficult to get in and out, plus there were loads of potholes. I couldn't afford to get it fixed by a professional company on top of everything else, so a family friend (who's a builder and does a bit of everything) offered to fix it for cash. It was a side job for him and some extra money. He doesn't do it as a profession, but he has experience in landscaping, plumbing, electrics, and has been in the building trade for many years.

It’s been almost a year since the job was finished, and I’ve noticed that the coating is coming away, with dark grey patches and stones appearing in certain areas. The coating is light coloured, so it stands out and looks quite messy, and I’m worried it’s going to get worse. I don’t think it’s just normal wear and tear as I work from home and don’t go out much. I’m the only one using the drive, and I have a small car too. I paid him just over £1,000 for 6 days of work. That was just for the labour, as I paid for the materials separately. I’m not worried that he’ll ignore me or disappear or anything, but I’m unsure how to handle this. If you were in my shoes, would you expect him to fix it for free, or would you pay him to redo it?

Part of me feels like I had it done on the cheap (it’s a lot of money to me, but I know driveways are more expensive) so I guess it’s on me and I should just pay him to redo it. But then another part thinks it doesn’t really matter what I paid as it clearly wasn’t done properly in the first place. If this were a company, I wouldn’t hesitate to ask them to come back, but since it’s a family friend, it feels a bit awkward. I’ve had loads of work done by friends and thankfully never faced this issue, always been happy with their work, so I’m not sure how to handle it. I’m considering mentioning it to him first and seeing how he reacts and go from there.

What would you do? And what do you think is reasonable / unreasonable?

I think you have to accept that he did a job cheaply and patched it up, but didn’t deal with underlying issues of foundation and levelling and so on.

£1,000 for 6 days work is actually quite reasonable. I wouldn’t call it mate’s rates but labour is usually your biggest cost in building work.

Nothing wrong with a bit of a patch up, but in future see if you can wait/save to get things done properly. It’s cheaper in the long run.

If you can afford it, I’d ask someone with more experience to fix it. It just isn’t worth falling out with a family friend.

I'd get it fixed professionally.
If he does it again, it'll be botched again in another year. Unfortunately I'd take this as a lesson in Pay Cheap, Pay Twice.

What is the drive made out of? Block paving. tarmac. concrete, resin? Im not sure I understand what you mean by coating?

I think you have to accept it was a quick, cheap fix and it needs doing again properly.

I think this was just a temporary fix and maybe he wasn't that honest about it. I wouldn’t get it patched up again, I'd start saving for a new one.

If he worked for 6 days for 1000 he hasn’t overcharged you. Should have been clear that it wasn’t a long term fix maybe. If it’s just cosmetic now and not damaging the car I’d just live with it until you can afford to get it done properly.

Sounds temporary, £1k for 6 days sounds very cheap. It costs a lot more to have a drive done properly. If it was a company you would be paying a lot more than £1k so of course you might want to complain then

You got what you paid for

there’s no cheap fixes when it comes to yo drives

Very cheap and a year later after the weather we have had eroding the roads badly tbh kindof expected by now

What is the 'coating'? Resin? Can you post pics? The labour cost was good- but he sounds inexperienced in application and/or prep of whatever it is.

You opted for paying a friend without the professional expertise to do the driveway so I think you have to accept that you got what you paid for. You paid £1000 for the labour but nothing for expertise and experience of someone doing driveways. I would pay a professional company to do it properly.

Sounds like you got the potholes filled and some sort of surface dressing so just generally tidied up which sounds fair for the price, it wasn't a replacement driveway.

You paid a very low price. My small yard cost £1500 to be dug out and repaved and that was 10 years ago!
You’ve paid for a temporary patch job and that’s what you’ve got. Get some quotes for a professional job and your 1K will pale in comparison to the cost of a properly done driveway.

Yes I think this is what it boils down to.
1k is a lot in aggregate but for 6 days labour its really quite low.

My mum calls this kind of situation "they shouldn't have offered and you shouldn't have accepted"

Is the drive tarmac? Did he concrete the pot holes and paint them or what?

And is there the option to park on the street?

£1000 for 6 days worth of labour is very very cheap! I think it sounds like he did a good job to patch it up and if it has lasted a year then I don't think I'd be complaining. How long were you expecting the quick fix to last?

It was a patch up job until you can afford to have it done properly

Sadly, it does sound like a £1k job by someone who does a bit of everything. Proper groundwork costs many more ££££ so I think at that price you don’t have much in the way of recourse. It sounds as if the drive is more useable now though, just a bit unsightly.

I wonder if he painted it with drive way paint . My previous home owners painted where we park the car assume to make it look nice for selling and it’s a state can see concrete coming through etc even where the car covers it when parked

Buy cheap, buy twice I’m afraid.

I wouldn’t get him to do it again - he probably doesn’t even know how to do it properly.