"Shaun Eli" wrote in message
ps.com...
My driveway has slowly been sinking.... here's why:

The garage is under the house, and the original driveway sloped down
about ten feet. The previous owners filled it in (no access to garage,
now have a level driveway).

I need to redo the driveway so it's level (or slopes slightly towards
the street, away from the house).

I got three bids. Two said they'd tear up the old driveway, haul away
the rock, and put down a new driveway (4 inches, if I remember right).
Around $2000.

One contractor said he'd just put the new one on top, $700.

I suppose the two contractors would say that doing what the third guy
suggests would let the driveway continue to sink. But I think it's the
fill that's sinking, and their 4 inches won't stop that.

Is there any reason NOT to go with the cheaper version? I figure that
if in a few years it turns out the first two were right, well, $700
wasn't much to spend to take the chance.

No good answer for you, but you have my sympathy. Original owner of this
place added a 2-car garage up top, and filled in the original driveway to
the orginal 1-car basement garage. Twit. So now I have what would be a good
workshop space, execpt that the only way to get to it is via a narrow
interior basement stair, and a narrow door into the original garage. If he
had just put a 36" steel door, and left a 'hidden' offset access path in the
front yard to this walk-out door, I'd have a great place for power tools,
where I could actually carry 4x8 sheets into. And to add insult to injury,
in blocking the original driveway cut and/or adding the addition, he somehow
fubar'd the original foundation drains, so the floor drains and washer
standpipe are connected to each other, but nothing else.

Sigh. Beginning to understand why this place sat on market for six months.

aem sends...