Driveways in Balsall Common
Balsall Common sits out at the eastern edge of the borough, where the old Kenilworth to Stonebridge road crosses the Coventry to Knowle road. It grew from a scatter of heathland cottages into a commuter village, so the work here is mixed. Post-war estate drives on one street, long approaches off a country lane on the next.
About Balsall Common
Ribbon development joined up the older scattered cottages in the 1930s, but the bulk of the village is post-war, built out once people started commuting from Berkswell station into Birmingham and Coventry. That leaves a lot of 1950s to 1970s detached and semi-detached housing on decent plots, where the original tarmac or in-situ concrete has been patched more than once and is now cracking faster than it can be patched. Out towards Berkswell and Temple Balsall the properties are older and further apart, with long gravel or hoggin approaches, grass verges instead of kerbs and no footpath to cross. Those jobs are about building a base that carries a delivery van in February, not a car in July.
Weather and drainage
Village-edge drives take run-off from the lane as well as their own rainfall, so we work out where the water arrives from before we set any levels. The heavy field-edge ground drains slowly, which means deeper stone, a geotextile between the stone and the subgrade, and somewhere on the plot for the water to soak away. Standing water that freezes overnight is what breaks a badly built base, and it does the damage in the first hard winter, not the fifth.
Balsall Common postcodes we cover
CV7.
Planning and dropped kerbs in Balsall Common
Permission is only needed for a new front driveway over five square metres that uses a hard, non-permeable surface and drains onto the road. Choose a permeable finish, or send the water to a border, and no permission is needed at any size. A new vehicle crossing over the footpath is a separate application to Solihull council, and it takes weeks rather than days, so start it early. More detail is in our guide to driveway planning permission.
What we lay in Balsall Common
- Fixed written quotes Priced by the square metre, in writing, before anyone lifts a spade.
- No cold calling, ever We do not knock doors and we never turn up with spare tarmac.
- Insured local installers Public liability cover on every job. Ask and we send the certificate.
Get a price in Balsall Common
Free site visit, measured up, fixed price in writing.