Post hole partly under neighbour's tarmac

[Jimbo]

Hi folks,

After about a decade of putting it off, I'm biting the bullet and putting new estate-style gates in.

One post will be on the boundary with my neighbour, who recently had his drive re-surfaced. I need my post to be butting right up to his drive, which means the hole (and concrete) will extend across by a few inches. He's happy with this but doesn't want his drive ruined. So I want to dig out under his tarmac without making a mess of it.

At the moment I'm envisioning going in at an angle with a ground breaker, then chipping away at the "roof" to clear the earth etc. up to his tarmac.

Just wanted to know if there are any problems with this approach? The one thing that springs to mind so far is that this is a potential water trap unless I can fully fill the void. Anything else to watch out for?

Thanks
J

 

[cleggy]

just mark it out and dig the hole.fill with postcrete to about 4 or 6 inches below the tarmac.then just make good the remainder with new tarmac if done with care it should be nearly invisible

 

[JohnD]

I like to knock up a wooden form so the top six inches or so of concrete can be neatly shuttered and will not leave a big ugly blob visible on the surface.You can slope the shoulders so water runs off.

In your case, I would make it of a size that will look small and neat and will look like it butts up to, but does not go under, his drive. You may have to patch the tarmac flat.

Make a good big lump and a concrete post as you won't want to be digging it up again. If you insist on a wooden post, cast a concrete spur into the ground so you can bolt the relacement post to it when the first one goes rotten.

You can use masonry paint on the visible concrete to make it less obtrusive. I usually use "dark chocolate" where it comes out of the soil, but black might match the drive better.