Steep driveway costing me my marriage

[Adsibob]

Thanks @Iceverge, here you go (the purple squares are to indicate two bins):

Another consideration is that the higher (and more level) the driveway is, the more light will be blocked out of our front window.

 

[SteamyTea]

1 hour ago, Iceverge said:

handy to change the engine oil

How about a hinged hydraulic ramp.  Few quits worth of steel.

 

Ford Fiesta is a future classic now.

[Iceverge]

Right ho, here we go. 

 

This is your current situation. 1:5.33 slope. Very steep. Assuming a 750mm windowsill in the house a 24 deg view from the horizon of the sky and a view of the car bonnet. 

 

 

Here's what it would look like level.  A 35 deg cut of the sky and a view of the car underside. not ideal. 

 

I tried various other styles and compound slopes etc but here's the one I settled on. It's 1:12 which is the max recommended for wheelchairs AFAIK. By shoving the car towards the road a little more ( tesla model Y is 725mm longer than your wife's Fiesta) I was able to keep a 26 deg view of the sky. You'll still be looking at the number plate but compromises need to be made somewhere. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Iceverge]

Now on to the 3D views. I'm doing my best guesses re some of the dimentions but it should give an impression. 

 

The Origional

 

 

 

 

The parking space with bike/bin ramp and bump stop. Passengers would be in danger of stepping off the ledge and a drive may accidentally

get a wheel on the bike ramp. 

 

 

The same as above but with the steps removed and replaced with a retaining wall and some greenery. This wall would probably need to be poured concrete to be strong enough to take the bump of car tyres. 

 

 

 

The logical solution.  You'll need to lug the bins up the steps but it'll be easy to park and egress the car without falling to your death. 

 

 

Finally, my favourite.  "The Oil Change". Uninhibited access to your wife's sump plug. ( No giggling at the back @pocster) Bins and bike access A-OK. Safe getting in and out of your car.  Added greenery for a nicer house front.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[saveasteading]

Some thoughts. Ignore repeats, and apologies for missing any vital points....I haven't retead it all.

 

More reasons for rebuilding it flatter. 

Doors won't open on that slope, especially long, heavy ones.

Water will overwhelm the aco unless cleaned often.

Little cars with little wheels will really struggle.

Chances of hurtling into the house? Railway buffer advised or F1 type tyre barrier.

I'd expect the setts to come up cleanly for reuse. The wax will surely rub off with spinning tyres.

 

Would an S / OG shape profile help, so it is flatter top and bottom but the middle bit steeper?

[ProDave]

I love the "sump plug access" option.

[Pocster]

18 minutes ago, Iceverge said:

Uninhibited access to your wife's sump plug.

Music to my ears !

[Iceverge]

"The rounded sump plug"

 

 

Of course, if you are willing to take move the bike shed the car could be put over there making the whole thing more aesthetically pleasant. 

[Onoff]

20 minutes ago, Iceverge said:

Finally, my favourite.  "The Oil Change". Uninhibited access to your wife's sump plug.

I can't imagine he will be doing oil changes a)himself and b) on such a pristine drive.

 

That's more my bag, on a rough, scalpings covered drive topped off with full 'o nails wood ash! 

[Iceverge]

17 minutes ago, saveasteading said:

Would an S / OG shape profile help, so it is flatter top and bottom but the middle bit steeper?

 

 

I had a look earlier.  There's not enough space. Same 2 problems. Wheelspin or a blocked living room window. 

 

[Radian]

Why did the car parking space go over on the right? To retain the view out of the window the car platform could have been placed in front of the front door. The path would be central sloping down as now then turning left to get to the door.

[Radian]

Have to redo the steps too, but the paving can be more of a feature across the whole front of the house.

 

[ProDave]

The immediate thing to me is there is only space for ONE car.  Do you have more than one?  Where do you park the other?  I would want 2 spaces in front of the house if that was the only place.  Sod the planters.  It looks like you have side access so the bike shed would be in the back garden.

[markocosic]

Agree with shoving the car out of the way of the window @Radian style.

 

I'd make the driveway full width (between planters) and have the steps/slop run left/right immediately in front of the house. Steps to left to front door / slope to right for bins and bikes.

 

Or indeed parking for two cars when visitors / valuing for mortgage purposes etc.

[Jilly]

I would also be inclined (excuse the pun) to do away with the planters and steps and have 2 parking spaces, even if I didn't use them both. Would slatted blinds help conceal the cars? 

[Adsibob]

First of all, @Iceverge thank you so much, these diagrams are absolutely incredible!!! You must have gone to so much trouble. Thank you! The good news is that the height from the external FFL to the height of where the glass of our windows start is actually 32cm more than you estimated, so we could reduce the slope quite a bit further. 

 

 Secondly, in response to:

7 hours ago, ProDave said:

The immediate thing to me is there is only space for ONE car.  Do you have more than one?  Where do you park the other?

is that we are a one car and two bicycle family. My wife uses the car to take my son to nursery and then get to work. I walk my daughter to school (and my son will go there next year) and cycle to work. We will never need two spaces.

Thirdly

7 hours ago, Radian said:

Why did the car parking space go over on the right?

This was the way to maximise the chances of getting our dropped kerb application approved. Otherwise we would have had to remove two car parking spaces from the street. I also prefer the aesthetics of walking down a path to a front door. There is no chance we are re-doing our steps. They were expensive and have come out really well.

 

Fourthly, I agree with this

7 hours ago, Onoff said:

I can't imagine he will be doing oil changes a)himself and b) on such a pristine drive.

As practical as that is, we are a low mileage family and wouldn’t realistically do any sort of work on the underside of our car. I’m much more likely to be tinkering with one of my bikes in the garden. Although the sump plug access would double up as a ramp for the bins, perhaps the solution is to raise the bin area so that it is level with the raised driveway. We could preserve the “air gap” with the front wall of the house to avoid bridging the DPC by just creating a metal raised platform for the bin nearest the house. With the increased height to the window there is space to reduce the slope and just raise the whole sloped plane that is in front of the aco drain upwards. The bike storage will have to be higher up, but that isn’t necessarily a big problem as it is on the north side of the driveway so doesn’t really impede light into the window.

 

By how much should I reduce the slope? I don’t mind having a shear drop down to the aco drain. Or could that be dangerous? I guess it depends on the depth of the fall to the bottom, but presumably we are talking about 50cm to 60cm max?

Edited October 29, 2022 by Adsibob

[AliG]

You cannot go higher than 600mm without a barrier to stop people falling over the edge, so that it the most the slope could be reduced by still keeping a gap to the front of the house.

 

I would go for something like this option, except no grass so that you can still access the bike store and bins and the end of the driveway can probably be closer to the house. You just have to take the bins up and down the steps. I would give it a go before starting, but I don't think bumping a bin up the steps will be a big issue. You should be able to move the lights up the wall and it won't require moving the shed and so on.

 

Although removing the wax from the setts will help at the moment, this problem will only get worse over time. As the setts get older they will get smoother and they will get covered in dead leaves, moss etc making them even more slippery. Edinburgh is full of setts and most people consider them a safety hazard in wintery weather. They aren't used on slopes, people would consider that crazy. Marshalls are talking nonsense saying they are fine up to 15 degrees.

 

 

[Adsibob]

Thanks @AliG. I’m going to get some marking string and see what it looks like with a 600mm drop. That will change the gradient from about 11 to about 4 degrees, so that’s quite a big change.

3 hours ago, AliG said:

Edinburgh is full of setts and most people consider them a safety hazard in wintery weather. They aren't used on slopes, people would consider that crazy.

I should clarify that these are not actual setts. They are artificial, cast from concrete. They have a textured finish which makes them look like basalt setts. I’m hopeful that once the wax is removed they will be quite rough and that a 4 degree slope will be ok.

[Ferdinand]

I think this is getting close to an answer.

 

I would make 2 points:

 

1 - Fit something at the front to prevent cars on their own or drivers with slippy feet-on-pedals entering your lounge window by accident.

 

It needs to be aesthetic and discreet, but strong.

 

Options are something like a lowish fence with strong posts, which would also help with the falls issue depending on the level change, or just posts. I wonder about knee high lighting posts?

 

You need ones that are hoon-proof, and will stop the car. Perhaps the place to look is at attractive products from bollard-suppliers.

 

eg https://www.lighting-direct.co.uk/outdoor/post-bollard-lights.html 

 

Or you could do something like a slightly ornamental bike stand so that visitors could lock their bicycle there.

 

2 - That set of step look to be 1.6-1.8, wide, so their should be space comfortably to incorporate a set of wheel ramps for your bin, and letting you trolley or slide big items into the house.

 

This sort of concept but adapted for your dimensions and style.

 

I think it needs to be at one side, so normal pedestrians have a clear path. You get a bonus wheel ramp for bikes, and potentially wheelchairs and prams and pushchairs if your dimensions and slope are suitable.

 

F

 

[SteamyTea]

8 minutes ago, Ferdinand said:

 

Looks like a trout run on a dry river.

[Adsibob]

19 hours ago, saveasteading said:

Doors won't open on that slope, especially long, heavy ones.

Water will overwhelm the aco unless cleaned often.

To date, neither of these issues have materialised. 

 

19 hours ago, saveasteading said:

Little cars with little wheels will really struggle.

Yes, there has been one occasion when the fiesta/SWMBO struggled. I’ve never had a problem, but I suspect we will in winter.

 

19 hours ago, saveasteading said:

Would an S / OG shape profile help, so it is flatter top and bottom but the middle bit steeper?

I’m not sure I follow what you mean by this.

[SteamyTea]

Why the worry about parking on a slope, tide timetable and a weather map is more useful.

 

 

 

[Susie]

I worry that not all drivers would know where the front of the car finishes to avoid falling over the edge, driving straight over a bump or hitting a wall. Will all the drivers be aware how far forward they have to be to ensure rear of car is not still on pavement. A big plant to the side you line up with helps. Not a blob of paint or big arrow as not every one likes that past experience has taught me. 

 

I have driven many cars from Volvo V70 to BMW mini and now a Toyota landcruser but my my daughter is more suited to the Mini, her comments on the other cars have ranged from how much do I turn the steering wheel for corners to how do I know where the back end is (V70).   
I suggest looking at neighbours drives and if possible having a practice I’d hate to make so many changes to just have a new set of problems. 

 

I know it was mentioned earlier about changing the car, could you borrow a small automatic my daughter commented on how good it was not having that extra peddle, and why we didn’t tell her before how they had less peddles and so much easier.  

That would just leave the slippy cobbles.

 

 

 

 

[Ferdinand]

6 hours ago, SteamyTea said:

Why the worry about parking on a slope, tide timetable and a weather map is more useful.

 

 

 

 

/offtopic 

 

Nah. Get a Toyota.

 

 

[Radian]

27 minutes ago, Susie said:

I worry that not all drivers would know where the front of the car finishes to avoid falling over the edge, driving straight over a bump or hitting a wall. Will all the drivers be aware how far forward they have to be to ensure rear of car is not still on pavement.

 

And you know how mental Amazon delivery drivers can be as they rush from place to place!