How do we stop our neighbours from driving across our drive?

[EstoyRobandoSuCasa]

We had our driveway tarmacked last summer and within weeks it was showing minor signs of wear and tear (not sure if that says anything about the quality of the tarmac). It has since accumulated more surface damage.

We don't have a car at the moment and it's obvious from the tyre tracks that my next door neighbours are to blame. Their adjoining driveway is narrower than ours and they keep two cars parked on it, one behind the other. When they want to get the car at the back out, they simply swerve across our driveway and drive down it. It's the swerving that appears to be causing most of the damage.

We haven't actually told the neighbours not to drive on our driveway, because we're 95% sure they would ignore this and still drive down it when they thought we weren't looking. Parking on the street is only allowed between certain times.

I'd love to put up a fence between the drives, or bollards, but no one else on the estate has these and we're not sure it would even be allowed.

I think I would speak to them and say there is a problem with the tarmac and you’re trying to get it resolved. In the meantime can they not drive on it while the damage is reviewed and repaired.

I would also add planters down the sides to “hide” the damage.

I think I’ve been on MN too long, if you know, you know…

if you want to stop them doing it without it being obvious you are putting a barrier up you could buy a very cheap banger car or trailer etc and park that on your drive. absolutely nothing they could say to that!

Put planters on the drive with small trees/flowers to stop them using it. Problem solved.

If you live somewhere that it is hard to find parking you could put it on Just Park or Park On My Drive. https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/shopping/cheap-parking-rental/ There's a short overview here.

Or if that's too much hassle maybe you have a friend with a trailer or similar that could use the spot for a while.

Don't do this.

It has disaster written all over it.

I think most posting here haven’t … none of them ‘got it’ 😉😉

Get some (heavy) bollards and put them along your drive. If anyone asks, just say that your tarmac is damaged and they will be there until you get it sorted.

And get onto your tarmac'ers to fix it. You didn't use travellers to do it did you? We made that mistake, and had to have it redone.

I would say you have an issue with the people who did the job rather than neighbours. If anything they have done a good thing showing the bad drive way job. Get them back and show them the minor damage done. It shouldn’t have minor damage from driving over it. Ask neighbours to stop driving over it as you are having the people who did the job back out due to issues with the drive way. Blame it on the drive way not them.

I think they drove across it back then, but it was less obvious as the driveway was a complete mess. Previous owners had a thin layer of new tarmac laid over a cracked concrete base - needless to say it gradually broke up into chippings. The people who did the work for us last year at least dug out the old base.

This looks like good advice. We're not sure how the workmen could be resolve it though. Would replacing the top layer of tarmac solve the problem?

Just put stuff on your drive. Not to boundary it...just there.

A couple of pot plants. A big bag of soil. A couple of your garden chairs. Anything.

I’m here for the diagram

it’s the law.

Hear hear I'm willing to bet if they'd laid a new tarmac drive down they'd be on sentry duty at their front window; they seem the sort
Put up a obvious solid partition of some sort
And
Tell who did your drive they did a rotten job and you want them to redo it properly or completely refund
Gather all the info together concerning company and start that now
Also let your neighbour know that they added to your drives woes and you've evidence
Do you have something like a Ring doorbell?
In the past where I live mines come in handy

That’s their issue. If it means pulling it all back up and relaying it that’s what they are obliged to do. They quoted and were paid for a job where there is a commonly understand standard of performance (a driveway should be able to withstand vehicular movement). If their workmanship or materials have failed in this sense it is up to them to make good by whatever means necessary.

Id get a small, used trailer and put it on my drive. Wheel clamp on it.

Please don't offer them your parking space. We did that to try and ease the tension of one of our neighbours always nicking our spaces, until, that is, we got a second car, and it was almost impossible to get our own space back. The neighbour's son then started using it, even when our neighbour was away (he would move in when our neighbour was away), then all his mates thought they were entitled to use it, and often did!

Don't do it. They are CF and they won't be nice about it. They'll abuse it and won't let you have it back.

Tubs of flowers? It's a garden, after all?
Or let neighbours park on your driveway since you don't have a car?

Not sure if this has been suggested but what about decorative rocks? I don't mean pebbles but like larger stones which you could put around the edges of your driveway. Sorry if I am not explaining myself well but we had the same issue and we bought some from a local garden centre, looked nice and stopped the neighbours driving over our lawn.

@RescueMeFromThisSilliness why the hell should she let the neighbors use her drive. She paid to have it surfaced
its hers they can’t be arsed to move cars around well tough

Strategically placed plant pots!

Have just installed this on my drive as it’s a shared access and everyone ( including delivery vans ) cuts the corner and drives on my drive . It is bendable so won’t be damaged or cause damage to vehicles who misjudge the gap ( including us !)
Traffic Control Bollards, Flexible Delineator Traffic Safety Bollard, Plastic Posts with Reflective Stripes, Road Safety Barriers for Effective Traffic Management(Black and White) https://amzn.eu/d/2ikA2SH ( can get it cheaper else where though )

I wouldn’t recommend this. They are already being cheeky, you would be setting yourself up for more.

Plus if they had an oil leak, that would well and truly ruin your drive.

I think you have a tarmac issue. It shouldn’t be deteriorating so quickly.

You don't need to give a solution to the company who laid the tarmac. That's up to them to sort. You need to contact them, show pictures of the damage and get them back to fix it and issue a warranty.

How do we trust them to sort it, though? It looked fine when they finished the work this summer, so we weren't to know there was an issue.