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All the gas pipes in my area are being replaced and I had a letter saying that they may need to dig up my drive to replace pipes up to my house. It says that they will repair any works and replace the tarmac. What worries me is that I currently have a lovely tarmac drive without a mark on it, the house is up for sale and if they dig a trench up to the house I will end up with a patched up drive. Is it reasonable to expect them to return it to its current state or am I going to be stuck with a patched up drive? Just wondered if anyone has had experience of this and what was the outcome.
The might use a mole to avoid digging up the whole drive. If its a recent house then the services might run in a "Soft" services strip.
House built in the 70s so probably have old cast iron pipe which need replacing.
It will be patched up I've seen the work local to me as they are currently replacing the older pipes. It will depend on who the main contractors are but cheap as chips springs to mind.
You and FunkyDunc need to get together.
http://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/where-does-one-find-tarmac-experts-on-the-cheap
Take photo's before, so at least you've a 'baseline' in case of an argument.
I thought, wherever possible, they put the new insert up inside your old pipe?
So unless your pipe is too twisty or knackered, you won't feel a thing. 🙂
If they are proposing to dig a trench, you need to get in touch and make it clear that putting it right involves completely relaying the drive.
Just be thankful it isnt block paved..... Itll never look the same again.
When British Gas (think it was Trasco who did the work) replaced our external cast iron pipe they somehow inserted a plastic inner pipe within the existing pipe.
I wasn't in on the day they did it (would have liked to see how it's done), but there wasn't any visible sign from outside the house of anything being done.
Depending on where the meter is theyll also need access to the house to disconect the meter and check for leaks and no appliances left on, they usually just need to patch repair, and have seen block paving relaid upside down so a dirty long strip along drive of a different colour.
Natioanl grid own the pipes and employ the cheaspest workers, who usually do a good job, if fed with tea nad biscuits, its the management who pay the workers though and who save cash.
Our entire estate has just been done - I don't think I've seen a single house that needed the drive digging up. Lots of footpath holes and mess to replace the main pipe, but all the house legs were plastic shoved up the inside of the old one. Tarmac footpath repairs have all been quite tidy. They weren't the best at communications, but generally made an effort to be helpful around your working day - i.e. disconnecting at 8am and then not needing access for reconnection until late afternoon.
It'll only be National Grid if you live in their gas network area, different areas of the country are owned/operated by different companies, though usually this type of work will be done by outside contractors, it all depends.
If you are worried, call the network and explain, you will usually be able to ask for someone to visit you and explain. Try to speak to the project manager or similar.
As above, more than likely they will be able to do it without digging up, but if you're not in and they have an issue doing it, they won't wait to speak to you before they get the jackhammers out. You need to make it clear to them that this would not be at all acceptable. The problem is, that they won't know exactly what they're dealing with until they start doing the work. But the vast majority of the gas networks are doing everything possible to avoid complaints, so don't be shy about getting in touch with them.
Again, message or email me if you want more info.
Will do that in the morning thanks j4mie. Wasn't sure if they would take any notice if I rang before they had even started!