Driveways in Hyde

Entrances that take the lane's water. Where a drive sits below the road, the drive becomes the drain whether anyone designed it that way or not, and the surface water risk around Hyde is high enough that it is the first thing we look at.

The fix is a channel drain across the mouth of the entrance, taken to a gully with a real outfall rather than into a soakaway that is already full, and a cross fall built into the apron so water is shed to the side instead of running the length of it. The apron itself is bound, in tarmac or resin, over a sub-base given more depth than the rest, because that first stretch takes every wheel that turns.

Loose gravel migrates downhill. It is not a defect, it is gravity, and edging alone will not stop it. On the steeper sections we either bind the surface or lay a stabilising grid and fill it, and on the flat runs plain gravel over a compacted sub-base and a geotextile membrane is still the cheapest thing that works. An edge restraint down both sides keeps it off the verge, and it is the part most often left out of a cheap quote.

Level, thresholds and steps. On the older houses the ground has usually crept up over the years, one surface laid on the last, which puts paving level with or above the damp proof course and pushes water at the wall. We take the level back down, keep the paving clear of the course, and where the garden will not allow the drop we run a gravel margin or a channel drain along the wall instead. Steps get reset to an even rise, because uneven steps are what people actually trip on.

A north facing path beside a wall gets little sun and dries slowly, so algae takes hold and smooth pressed concrete turns slippery. Riven natural stone and textured porcelain hold grip far better, and both go on a full mortar bed over a compacted sub-base rather than on blobs, which is what stops the rocking and the ponding in the first place. For a terrace or path, see patios in Hyde. On block paving, sunken bays and rutting are a base and edge restraint problem, weed growth in the joints is lost jointing sand, and a dirty band along the bottom of the wall is splash back wanting a margin. Each is priced differently, and we will not sell you the big one to cure the small one.

A drive is not priced by the square metre. The layers underneath cost more than the finish you see. Where it sits. A cottage fronting the lane, a house below road level with a steep way in, and a bungalow with a long flat drive behind a gate price nothing alike. When a drive falls towards the house, dealing with the water becomes the main task and is priced separately.

The soil. Cohesive ground that shrinks and swells needs a deeper dig and a sub base well compacted over a geotextile, or the surface moves season to season. A soakaway may never drain in it, so the water has to be led to a lawful outfall.

The finish. Bound or loose gravel sits well on a lane and can be made permeable. Block paving laid as the permeable paving guide describes lets water through its joints. Tarmac goes down fast, but its water has to be led away.

Edges. Edgings set and haunched in concrete hold the whole thing together; without them, the surface drifts into the verge.

Ask other firms how deep they will dig, what sub base and what thickness, where the water goes, whether edgings are haunched, and who takes the spoil.

Hyde is 12.7 miles out from our Boscombe base. We lay drives across SP6, out through Frogham and Godshill to Fordingbridge, Rockbourne and Sandleheath. The New Forest National Park Authority decides planning. The company is Bournemouth Roofing & Building Ltd, registered in England and Wales, company number 15471719. Before you book a visit in Hyde, you can read our customers' Google reviews, word for word, on our reviews page.

The owner is Thomas Hannen, and he measures up and puts the price together himself. There is a verified customer's 10 out of 10 on Checkatrade. The visit is free, and there is no charge for the written quote either, which lists each item.

Most repairs in Hyde need no application at all. What decides whether a change to the outside of your house does is who the council is, whether a conservation area or a listing applies, and whether the place sits in a protected landscape.