Driveway around property?

funkey_monkey

Hi,

We are constructing a new build and and wondering if we should extend the driveway to encompass the house - i.e. have the ability to drive right around the property.

I have not seen many properties that have this feature, so I'm wondering if it would be a waste of time and money.

We would intend to finish it with tarmac and it would probably add at least another 30% to the area to be surfaced. There is 'sufficient' room in the original plan to surface the front, 1 side and part of the rear ('L' footprint).

Is this a good thing to have or a waste of money? It is required to have surface around the property for access/emergency services - we are just debating the width.

I feel that having tarmac wide enough to allow a car to circle the property would maybe 'drown' the property and possible give it less of a homely appearance.

Thoughts?

ustari

I think it is quite popular in Ireland but do not like it personally.

Don't see any "need" for it in terms of practicality.

Think it makes your house look like it is a roundabout, that's personal preference however.

Also encourages people to come in your back door which is another Irish thing that I don't particularly understand, as it is typically your utility which they walk into from the back door.

kieran.

Part B - Dwellings Page 60-61

5.4.4 Design of Access Routes and Hardstandings
A vehicle access route may be a public or
private road, or other route, which, including
any manhole or other covers, meets the
standards in Table 5.1 and the following
paragraph.
Where access roadways are provided within
the site of a dwelling house , turning facilities
for appliances, in accordance with the
requirements of Table 5.1 should be provided
in any dead-end access route that is more
than 20 m long.

http://www.housing.gov.ie/sites/default/files/publications/files/technical_guidance_document_b_fire_safety_volume_2_dwelling_houses.pdf

pawdee

Have you thought about installing a car turntable (or two)? You'd never need to reverse out of, or turn in your driveway again. Just spin your car manually and off you go. That way you can save the back of your house for a lovely garden, orchard, landscaped area, rockery, swimming pool, tennis court, showjumping arena, athletics track or whatever you fancy. They're very popular in London where urban front lawns and driveways are tiny. Given that you're contemplating building the M25 around your house I take it that you have plenty of room and that space isn't an issue . Good luck with the build!

Needles73

funkey_monkey wrote: »

Hi,

We are constructing a new build and and wondering if we should extend the driveway to encompass the house - i.e. have the ability to drive right around the property.

I have not seen many properties that have this feature, so I'm wondering if it would be a waste of time and money.

We would intend to finish it with tarmac and it would probably add at least another 30% to the area to be surfaced. There is 'sufficient' room in the original plan to surface the front, 1 side and part of the rear ('L' footprint).

Is this a good thing to have or a waste of money? It is required to have surface around the property for access/emergency services - we are just debating the width.

I feel that having tarmac wide enough to allow a car to circle the property would maybe 'drown' the property and possible give it less of a homely appearance.

Thoughts?

I have drive all around my house. I've pretty much 13ft wide tarmac plus 3ft footpath.
Positives
Easy acces. Handy for cherry picker etc any jobs at height around house, painting, gutters, satellite, chimney
Furniture delivery i.e. Access to French doors,
Keeps house neat and segregated from garden Loads of parking
Negatives
It works out expensive , lots of extra tar......lot of water run off so needs extra drains and soak pits etc levels need to be correct which can be tricky
Safety. If you have small kids you don't want what's in effect a roundabout......
Doesn't suit smaller houses or small sites

the_pen_turner

great job.
I would definitely do this to any house I was building.
it doesn't need to be tar all the way around. I wouldn't use tar on any of it. concrete it,

its great for doing jobs later on. full access fro scaffolding and machinery
it make everything easier

it is great to drive around a house.
I think it is a lot safer to slowly drive around the house rather than reverse around the corner. lots of kids are killed by people reversing

to me its a no brainer.

Lumen

I think a circular driveway looks/works better, and reserves the back of the house for pedestrians.

Needles73

the_pen_turner wrote: »

great job.
I would definitely do this to any house I was building.
it doesn't need to be tar all the way around. I wouldn't use tar on any of it. concrete it,

its great for doing jobs later on. full access fro scaffolding and machinery
it make everything easier

it is great to drive around a house.
I think it is a lot safer to slowly drive around the house rather than reverse around the corner. lots of kids are killed by people reversing

to me its a no brainer.

Concrete looks a bit crap after a while......

funkey_monkey

What are peoples thoughts on exposed concrete?

funkey_monkey

Lumen wrote: »

I think a circular driveway looks/works better, and reserves the back of the house for pedestrians.

Looks great, but I think it only works with houses set back into the site with sufficient distance or with adequate road frontage.

the_pen_turner

Needles73 wrote: »

the_pen_turner wrote: »

great job.
I would definitely do this to any house I was building.
it doesn't need to be tar all the way around. I wouldn't use tar on any of it. concrete it,

its great for doing jobs later on. full access fro scaffolding and machinery
it make everything easier

it is great to drive around a house.
I think it is a lot safer to slowly drive around the house rather than reverse around the corner. lots of kids are killed by people reversing

to me its a no brainer.

Concrete looks a bit crap after a while......

If you feel it clean it looks good. At least you can power wash concrete.

the_pen_turner

Needles73 wrote: »

the_pen_turner wrote: »

great job.
I would definitely do this to any house I was building.
it doesn't need to be tar all the way around. I wouldn't use tar on any of it. concrete it,

its great for doing jobs later on. full access fro scaffolding and machinery
it make everything easier

it is great to drive around a house.
I think it is a lot safer to slowly drive around the house rather than reverse around the corner. lots of kids are killed by people reversing

to me its a no brainer.

Concrete looks a bit crap after a while......

If you feel it clean it looks good. At least you can power wash concrete.

my3cents

I think driveways that go around a property need to be kept blocked off in someway by a gate particularly if there is no main gain that is kept closed.

The reason is a certain element look at these sort of drives as a quick escape method as well as a good way to take a quick look around without getting out of the car with little chance of being boxed in.

In a similar set up to the country house picture above I know of a case where someone drove in gabbed a couple of very expensive garden ornaments from either side of the front door and was gone before anyone could do anything.

So just think if you are making the access easy for yourself you are also making it easy for anyone that wants to steal stuff from you.

Mountainsandh

Yes I thought of the safety issue too when I saw the OP.
I'm quite rural, and although it's true that a driveway all around the house would have been brilliant for house upkeep access, it would have been a nightmare for visiting cars imo.

As it is we have a biggish yard at back with plenty of room to turn, but visitors still have to slow, stop and turn before they can drive off.
It feels a lot safer that way. (especially with cctv cleverly positioned)

It's true that reversing cars can be a hazard for small kids, but I think a vehicle driving around your house like a round about, possibly close to French and other doors, is an equivalent hazard, so it balances out.

my3cents

funkey_monkey wrote: »

What are peoples thoughts on exposed concrete?

I'd consider tarmac to either side of the house with an obvious parking area then join the two sides up around the back with something that can't be driven over quickly that still allows for occasional access. Grasscrete, grass block or hollow block work with grass growing through it another thought would be grass with a plastic reinforcement then there is gravel with a ground reinforcement system that holds the gravel in place.

listermint

I wouldn't do this ever. I mean what is the point at all emergency access? Its a residential dwelling folks you can access from the front door and walk to wherever in a few steps.

You will cut off any opportunity of having the ability to walk from living areas or kitchen areas directly onto an out door garden area. Allowing the outside inside.

Its a terrible idea, your own is for living and enjoying not. For driving right around like a roundabout.

Car to front or side but leave the rear for enjoying the outside

Needles73

listermint wrote: »

I wouldn't do this ever. I mean what is the point at all emergency access? Its a residential dwelling folks you can access from the front door and walk to wherever in a few steps.

You will cut off any opportunity of having the ability to walk from living areas or kitchen areas directly onto an out door garden area. Allowing the outside inside.

Its a terrible idea, your own is for living and enjoying not. For driving right around like a roundabout.

Car to front or side but leave the rear for enjoying the outside

Sure it's only the garden "you can access from the front door and walk to wherever in a few steps"......ðŸ˜

listermint

Needles73 wrote: »

Sure it's only the garden "you can access from the front door and walk to wherever in a few steps"......ðŸ˜

Im sorry that makes no sense. Why would you spend a few thousand extra to drive around your house.

Literally makes no sense surrounding your home with tarmac.

Horrible ugly and cheap looking

Sausage dog

You can still have a hard surface all around your house if you really want but not have it all as a driveway. Vary it with a paved area, pebbles, tarmac driveway etc. That way it allows ease of access for maintenance etc. but makes it a more useable space and safer too. Also consider some landscaping as a driveway all around can look very bare.

Needles73

listermint wrote: »

Im sorry that makes no sense. Why would you spend a few thousand extra to drive around your house.

Literally makes no sense surrounding your home with tarmac.

Horrible ugly and cheap looking

Ugly. As opposed to what. Typical crappy deck or patio area that can almost never get used in this climate. The only time you go out there will be to pick up the garden furniture when it's blown over. You can have a nice garden without it right up to house.

Lumen

Needles73 wrote: »

Ugly. As opposed to what. Typical crappy deck or patio area that can almost never get used in this climate. The only time you go out there will be to pick up the garden furniture when it's blown over. You can have a nice garden without it right up to house.

At the back of my house I have a patio door that leads out to a gravelled area with a metal table and chairs under a parasol, the area enclosed by specimen trees, flowers and shrubs. I often have my breakfast and read the paper out there during the ~8 months of the year that it's warm enough. While eating my breakfast I have birds hopping around and the occasional rabbit or pheasant will make an appearance. When I want a fresh cup of coffee I just step inside and grab it.

Now, into those idyllic surroundings you want to stick a three metre strip of tarmac to avoid having to do a three point turn out front.

Madness.

Sure, if you have an undeveloped garden/field that you never use you may as well turn your house into a roundabout, but if that's the case why even live in a one-off detached house in the first place? Massive missed opportunity.

Needles73

Lumen, I take your point and you make it sound idyllic. Fair enough.
I have a nice garden with nice hedges and a nice variety of trees but I'm happy enough with it not right up to my house so I agree to disagree. Whilst you obviously live in a sheltered part of the country I live on the west coast and patio furniture gets used a handful of times. So I'd suppose it's down what the op wants. Ps I hate pheasants and rabbits

funkey_monkey

I think we will decide not to put a drive around the house, but will have a path 'completing the circle'. This will include an outside area which would be suitable for sitting relaxing, clothes line etc. Due to plot size, it will also balance the garden/lawn better.

sydthebeat

listermint wrote: »

I wouldn't do this ever. I mean what is the point at all emergency access? Its a residential dwelling folks you can access from the front door and walk to wherever in a few steps.

You will cut off any opportunity of having the ability to walk from living areas or kitchen areas directly onto an out door garden area. Allowing the outside inside.

Its a terrible idea, your own is for living and enjoying not. For driving right around like a roundabout.

Car to front or side but leave the rear for enjoying the outside

Agreed

Terrible terrible idea.
Both from a functional and aesthetic point of view.

voyager1

funkey_monkey wrote: »

What are peoples thoughts on exposed concrete?

Was looking at this also, looks good just wondering about price compared to tar?

funkey_monkey

I think it is comparable - probably even less than tar. There is a bit more work than with normal concrete.

I'd like to see how it would wear though. Part of the problem with concrete that I have is the dust it generates. However, stripping away the top layer I would think would minimise this.

voyager1

funkey_monkey wrote: »

I think it is comparable - probably even less than tar.  There is a bit more work than with normal concrete.

I'd like to see how it would wear though.  Part of the problem with concrete that I have is the dust it generates.  However, stripping away the top layer I would think would minimise this.

The one I saw dust really wasn't an issue at all, granted I'm not living with it but it looked really well.  Not too many companies do it up the North West, if anyone has any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

honeybear

Needles73 wrote: »

I have drive all around my house. I've pretty much 13ft wide tarmac plus 3ft footpath.
Positives
Easy acces. Handy for cherry picker etc any jobs at height around house, painting, gutters, satellite, chimney
Furniture delivery i.e. Access to French doors,
Keeps house neat and segregated from garden Loads of parking
Negatives
It works out expensive , lots of extra tar......lot of water run off so needs extra drains and soak pits etc levels need to be correct which can be tricky
Safety. If you have small kids you don't want what's in effect a roundabout......
Doesn't suit smaller houses or small sites

Agree with Safety concerns.

longgonesilver

I would think the opposite in relation to security.
There are very few drive by robberies but if both cars are normally parked out front, it becomes very obvious when everyone is out and the house is empty, especially if it is easy to see from the road.

People in general are very poor at backing a car, watch in any car park.
A generous parking area helps.

bozd

I have drive around bungalow; was driven mad with people driving up to bedroom windows so put in path against house and then 8foot deep bed with plants for privacy at front. at rear utility room keeps cars out from house but space is useful for bbqs, deliveries etc. . gravel is cheaper but need to use woven sheeting to stop weeds.