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nguyen_thelong

sloppy driveway

Luke Nguyen
2 years ago

Hi all,

My new house doesn’t have a driveway so we are thinking to apply to construct one. There is no access to the back of the property and the front is quite sloppy which is likely the reason of no driveway being built in the first place.

So to get a chance of getting approval, I am thinking to spread out the gradient of the driveway by demolishing the front wall of bed 2, extending the roof and do concrete footing to make it an open carport. Then I will convert lounge into a master bed by opening a window. Bed 2 is nice but as the house is close to the main road and faces west, it can be quite noisy and hot (in summer). The other thing is that we need to replace all the front windows anyway as they are from old ages so often get stuck or not close properly; heat and noise insulation is also an issue. We also need to render/repaint the external wall at some points so I need a final answer whether a driveway is doable before doing anything else.

Please let me know what everyone think.

Cheers,
Long

Comments (3)

  • Kate
    2 years ago

    Talk to you local Council. That looks like a significant level change from roadway and you are likely to have a problem with footpath. That would need to be dropped as you can’t have much cross fall on the footpath.

  • PRO
    Dr Retro House Calls
    2 years ago

    It looks very steep from the road level to your front boundary. I would be having a chat with council first about a new crossover, as it will be a big disruption to their gutter, footpath and their land. If they are happy to accept the principle you will need to engage a surveyor to work out the levels to see if it can be designed to be usable. Are there any other adjacent crossovers and driveways that could act as a precedent?
    Best of luck, Dr Retro of Dr Retro House Calls and Dr Retro Virtual Visits via Zoom

  • dreamer
    2 years ago

    Instead of trying to access the SLOPING front yard on a busy road, enquire through the council and neighbours to who owns the property that your land backs onto. the neighbours home, from the aerial photo, shows a driveway which may of been a rear laneway many years ago. This driveway would go directly past your back yard. Who owns that land now? Ask your local council. you may be able to have rear access into your property.