There's still a flood alert in place for central Scotland today - north of the Clyde will be affected far more than where I am, as we were on the edge of the amber snow alert the other day. Snow melt has contributed to the rain all day yesterday. Those are the sorts of factors that can make it difficult.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Many thanks to my fellow forumites for their previous input.
I went ahead with the landscaping work. The fencing is now mostly done and the landscapers are now turning their attention to my front, including my long drive and sandstone paving in my front garden. I was going to say to them that I didn't mind if they moved on to another job this coming week due to the forecast cold, but they already made a start on the driveway last Friday. I have previously expressed my concerns to them re: tempertures so they are aware of this. The temperature for my area last Friday was 7 degrees with a forecast low of 2 degrees. This coming week for Monday it is 8 degrees with a low of 0 degrees and the same for Tuesday. Do you think that it should be okay with the higher temperatures during the day, or would you advise postponing? The driveway is two rows of concrete slabs for the car on a sub-base. I'm not sure if they are just bashing ahead to get the job finished.
They probably are bashing ahead to get the job finished. You should be fine with what you are doing. It's just concreting or masonry work which is temperature sensitive.
I've mostly been happy with all the work done early in the year apart from a few issues which I suspect were a result of them rushing to finish. The reason I'm posting again is that I have booked them in later in the year for more work but today I've noticed that nearly all the sandstone slabs laid in front of my house are completely loose and can be lifted right up. I had them laid with gravel in between to form a path. I texted the landscaper and mentioned whether it was due to the cold. He says that that wouldn't have been the reason and he'll fix. Also, one driveway slab can be rocked slightly when you stand on it. Having these issues addressed is one thing, but now I'm questioning whether to proceed with them for future work considering this. He's been doing this for many years and he appears a decent enough guy, but I'm now having some doubts. Am I right to have these doubts or is this something that can happen? It could be that in their rush to finish the sublayer wasn't properly done or something. I'm not sure what to do, but of course I'll be looking for them to at least sort out the loose paving.
It could have been a bad batch of cement that didn't go off properly. Cold weather is also possible but if it wasn't cold when the work was done, then maybe not. https://probuildermag.co.uk/features/working-with-cement-in-the-cold-weather. Give the guy a chance to explain what he thinks went wrong and to rectify it, and if that's all OK and his work is otherwise good then better the devil you know for the future work. If you go to someone else they could be worse.
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
Further to my last post I have discovered that more of the driveway slabs are loose. I found four more then found that even more are loose during this spell of hot weather. It could be that the warm weather has affected a failed baselayer? I've not texted the landscaper again. He is booked in for later in July and also advised me to chase him up mid-June if I hadn't heard from him to arrange a visit to discuss additional work. Obviously I want the driveway sorted. It looks fine just now but with loose slabs it's probably only a matter of time before they either move or crack. My concern is that it probably isn't just a case of relaying the loose slabs as I fear that the whole damned driveway should be redone to ensure the problem is resolved as the problem will no doubt be with the baselayer. Although it isn't my problem, the landscaper has already been paid for the work and the amount of time to fix the various issues is significant without pay. I hope that they will do this but I can see the motivation not being there. I'm also considering paring back all additional work due to the loss of faith. Part of me thinks that it is the temperatures at the time and that he risked it due to being in a rush to finish as the fencing took longer than they thought. I wonder whether he's just denying it as he aware that it was a worry of mine at the time. The other thing that I wanted to mention here is I am already getting weeds through the gravel. They used VERY small sheets of what appeared to be fleece weed suppressant membrane (geotextile?) which they overlapped. I've come to the conclusion when it comes to trademen the best thing to do is order everything yourself as if you leave it to their discretion they might not get the best to increase their margins. Maybe I'm just being cynical here. I'll spray the weeds with glysophate and hope for the best. I've also noticed that they have put photos of their work on their Facebook page. Shouldn't they have asked consent for this?
Ask him to re-lay the whole thing, and if he won't ask for a refund. You won't get it but it will show that you're serious.
I've never heard of laying membrane under slabs but I'm no expert so maybe someone else will comment. As for facebook, I've no idea whether permission to post pics of your drive is needed but it certainly would have been polite to ask. If you get no joy when you ask for it to be re-laid, perhaps you should post pics of the loose slabs and other problems
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
Thanks for the advice Jenny. The membrane was under the gravel that was laid either side of the two rows of driveway slabs and also in the front garden.
Posts
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
You should be fine with what you are doing. It's just concreting or masonry work which is temperature sensitive.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.