Hartford driveway removal with the sub-base checked
Concrete, tarmac, block paving and hardstanding lifted and taken away. The sub-base underneath is assessed rather than ignored, because whether it can stay decides a large part of what the new drive costs.
Under most drives is a compacted stone layer, and its condition is the single biggest variable in what replacing the drive will cost. A sound sub-base can often stay, be regraded and be built on, which saves both the muckaway and the imported stone.
A contaminated or waterlogged one has to come out, and pretending otherwise means the new drive settles within a couple of winters and everyone blames the surfacing. We dig an inspection hole at survey and tell you which you have, in writing, so the quote for the new drive is built on a fact rather than an assumption.
Driveway removal: the crossover and kerb are the council's
The drive is yours; the crossing between it and the road usually is not. Altering a dropped kerb, widening an access or working over the footway generally needs council permission and sometimes a licensed contractor for the kerb itself, and it is the part of a driveway job most often discovered late.
It also affects the removal, because a machine tracking across a footway without protection can leave you with a repair bill from the highway authority. We flag it at survey, protect the footway with mats and tell you plainly if what you are planning needs an application before it can happen.
Sometimes, and it saves a lot when it can. We dig an inspection hole at survey and tell you in writing, because building a new drive on a failed sub-base is a false economy.
Usually yes if you are widening the access or altering a dropped kerb. It is a council matter and it takes weeks, so it is worth starting before the removal is booked.
Most domestic drives are one to two days to remove. Reinforced concrete takes longer than tarmac or blocks, and access for the grab lorry matters more than the area.
Blocks in good condition are worth stacking and keeping, either for reuse or resale. We will ask before they go in a grab lorry rather than after.
Not if it is protected. We use mats over the crossing, because a damaged footway becomes a highway authority repair charged back to you.
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