Driveway

[renamecor]

I want to keep my car off the road overnight, but the house sits below the level of the street by a good 10 feet, i.e. you have to walk down steps from the street to get to the front door.

There is plenty of room from the roadway to fit a drive but it will have to be built up, with the cars sitting to one side of the house at road level.

There is someone else in the street that has done this and I may ask what they did but I think they had someone in to do it.

Basically, I think what should be done is the following ;

-build up a wall on 3 sides, up to the level of the road + a few rows to make a border
-dig out the dirt in order to replace it ALL with concrete so that the cars are sitting on a solid cube.

I would recon that it needs to be completely full of concrete (making a cube within the brick walls) so that it does not move anywhere and wont collapse. I dont think that when 2 cars are on top of the drive that you could expect the brick wall to stop movement of any dirt or a smaller amount of concrete.

All comments and suggestions really welcomed.

 

[STLUCIA]

It is called the KISS principal ( think about it!!) Ask for a site visit by your building control officer also check to see whether the close by house applied for planning permission. It it did it is a public record and you can go to your local council and ask to see the documentation.

The critical factor is the building control officer!!

good luck

 

[Richardp]

It wont need to be solid just brick it up and put the park on the top then you can use the space below for storage, RSJ's and deck it.

 

[renamecor]

That certainly is an option, making use of RSJs to build it.

But then I would need to start looking into what foundations I need for that type of structure, want to kepp it all as simple as possible.

 

[Steve]

i never thought of using RSJs to build a level driveway on a slope! Wouldnt this be terribly expensive though? What with the reinforced concrete deck and foundations for the steel supports?

 

[Static]

A reinforced concrete podium slab is the most durable option, steel I sections will corrode over time and will need regular maintainance.
Youll need a cross-over agreement with local highway authority and planning at this stage. As its been done in the street it shouldnt prove a problem.

 

[renamecor]

Yes, I think the concrete podium is the best bet all round.

Do you think that this should be for the entire height of the built up brick wall i.e. as the front garden is on a slope, if I filled on top of the present soil then the podium would form a triangle shape with the thickest concrete being at the house end and the thinnest piece being at the road end.

I would have thought I would have to dig some soil out so that the plinth was more of a cube shape with a flat base instead os a sloping one. But how far should I have to dig out ? 5 feet, 10 feet ?

Also, does anyone know the arrangements with having the path kurbstones lowered, this has to be done by the locall council doesn't it ?

 

[Static]

Podium as in a suspended concrete deck on concrete pillars. I dont think mass concrete is really a viable option, 10ft of concrete would probably cost you about £3k in concrete material cost alone.
Size of footings will depend on size of parking, 1 bay or 2 bays..

 

[renamecor]

It will be 2 bays.

3k in concrete, blimey

 

[Static]

2 bays.. well double the 3k cost.