Driveways, Paving & Landscaping in Harrow
BMS Building works across Harrow and the areas around it, including Pinner, Northwood, Stanmore and Ruislip, on driveways, paving, patios, garden landscaping, artificial grass and groundworks. The base is in Watford, about half an hour away, and Perry Niven prices every job after seeing it.
Working in Harrow
Harrow is the one area BMS Building covers that is in Greater London rather than Hertfordshire, and it is about half an hour from Watford, where BMS Building is based. The same round covers Pinner, Northwood, Stanmore and Ruislip, which is how those areas get looked after without pretending each is a separate operation: one van, one quote, one person accountable for the job. Work here is mostly driveways, paving, patios, garden landscaping, artificial grass and groundworks. Two practical things shape the scheduling. Controlled parking zones cover parts of the borough, so where a skip or a grab lorry goes, and when, is worked out with the property before the first morning rather than on it. And a new or widened crossover onto the footway is an application to the London Borough of Harrow, whose own contractors are the only ones allowed to build it, not something any other contractor can grant. Northwood and Ruislip are in the London Borough of Hillingdon, which takes its own dropped kerb applications. Either way it is started early, because it runs on the council's timetable and not ours. Every job is quoted after a site visit by Perry Niven, and the price agreed at the start is the price at the end.
Harrow is the one area on this site that is in Greater London rather than Hertfordshire, and that changes more than the postcode. The planning authority is different, the parking rules are different, and the housing is a great deal more uniform than it is in St Albans or Hemel Hempstead.
Harrow, Pinner, Northwood, Stanmore and Ruislip
These are covered on one round from Watford, about half an hour away. That is said plainly because it is the honest version: BMS Building is not based in Harrow and does not claim to be. What you get instead is one firm, one quote and one person accountable from the site visit to the last barrow, across all five areas.
What we do here
Driveways and paving are the bulk of it, in block paving and resin bound, with paths, steps and edging. Patios follow, in porcelain, Indian sandstone, natural stone and granite. Alongside those run garden landscaping and design, artificial grass, and groundworks for extensions, porches and garden rooms.
Those last three do not have enough search behind them in Harrow on their own to justify a page each, which is a statement about demand and not about capability. They are quoted here exactly as they are anywhere else.
The crossover is the council's decision, not ours
If a car is going to cross the footway to reach a drive, that needs a vehicle crossover, and in Harrow the application goes to the London Borough of Harrow. The council approves it and prices it, only its own contractors may build it, and it runs on the council's timetable. Northwood and Ruislip are in the London Borough of Hillingdon, which takes its own applications.
It is worth starting early. We will tell you at the site visit whether your frontage needs one and what the drive has to be built to allow for, and we will sequence the work around it. We will not begin a driveway on the assumption that a crossover will be granted.
Metro-land frontages, and the fall nobody expects
The council's own character study puts almost two-thirds of Harrow's housing in the inter-war period, much of it semi-detached and built as the Metropolitan Railway pushed out. The frontages are a fairly consistent size, the original crossovers are often narrower than a modern car wants, and the fall from the house to the footway is usually shallow.
That last one is the detail that decides the job. Where there is little height between the damp proof course and the kerb, the surface has to be designed to carry water away from the wall and to somewhere it can actually drain. Following the old level and hoping is how a drive ends up putting water against the brickwork.
Most of the borough sits on London Clay, which shrinks as it dries and swells as it wets. It moves shallow foundations, and it is why the sub-base depth under a drive or a patio is measured on site rather than taken from a standard figure.
Conservation areas and permission
Harrow on the Hill has eight conservation areas, and there are more in Pinner, Stanmore and Harrow Weald. A conservation area does not, on its own, change the national permitted development rules for hard surfaces, walls and fences. An Article 4 direction can, several of Harrow's conservation areas carry one, and the council publishes each on that conservation area's own page. In a conservation area, taking down a wall, fence or gate can need permission too. The London Borough of Harrow is the authority on your address.
Check with them before anything is ordered. We will tell you what is obvious from the site; we will not tell you a job is permitted when that is the council's call.
Recent work in Harrow
In Harrow itself, BMS Building rebuilt the front garden of a house from the pavement back: a Victorian style mosaic tiled path from the gate to the front door, sandstone paving either side of it, and a new brick front wall with three piers and an iron gate. The sandstone was laid over a sub-base set to fall away from the house, and the job took ten working days.
What Harrow properties are like
Harrow is Metro-land, and the housing tells you so. The council's own character study puts almost two-thirds of the borough's housing stock in the inter-war period, much of it semi-detached and built as the Metropolitan Railway pushed out, which means front gardens of a fairly consistent size, original crossovers that are now narrower than a modern car wants, and bay-fronted frontages where the fall from the house to the footway is shallow. Shallow falls are the detail that decides a driveway here: there is often less height to play with between the damp proof course and the kerb than a homeowner expects, so where the water goes has to be designed rather than assumed. Most of the borough sits on London Clay, which the British Geological Survey describes as very susceptible to shrinking and swelling as it dries out and wets. That matters twice over: it moves shallow foundations, and it is why a sub-base under a drive or a patio is dug to a depth measured on site rather than to a standard number. The other difference from the Hertfordshire towns is the authority. Harrow is a London borough, so planning, conservation areas and the vehicle crossover application all go through the London Borough of Harrow rather than a Hertfordshire council: https://www.harrow.gov.uk. Northwood and Ruislip are the exception, being in the London Borough of Hillingdon. Harrow on the Hill has eight conservation areas, and there are more in Pinner, Stanmore and Harrow Weald. A conservation area does not, on its own, change the national permitted development rules; an Article 4 direction can, several of Harrow's conservation areas carry one, and the council publishes each on that conservation area's own page.
Harrow questions
You are based in Watford. How does that work for a job in Harrow?
- Harrow is about half an hour from Watford, where BMS Building is based, and it is covered on the same round as Pinner, Northwood, Stanmore and Ruislip, so somebody is in the area regularly rather than making a special trip. What you get from a firm that is not on your doorstep is the same person quoting, running and finishing the job. What you should expect to be told honestly is the start date, which depends on what is already booked.
Do I need a dropped kerb, and can you arrange it?
- If a vehicle will cross the footway to reach the drive, you need a vehicle crossover, and in Harrow that is an application to the London Borough of Harrow. It is the council's to approve and to price, only the council's own contractors may build it, and it runs on their timetable. In Northwood and Ruislip the application goes to the London Borough of Hillingdon instead. We will tell you at the site visit whether your frontage needs one and what the driveway build has to allow for, and we will plan the work around it. What we will not do is start a drive on the assumption that a crossover will be granted.
Which areas around Harrow do you cover?
- Pinner, Northwood, Stanmore and Ruislip are all covered on the same round as Harrow itself, and we work more widely across north-west London and into Hertfordshire. There is no separate branch and no different price list for any of them. If you are nearby and not listed, ask.
My house is a 1930s semi. Is there anything particular about a driveway here?
- Usually the fall, and the width of the existing crossover. On a lot of the inter-war stock there is less height between the damp proof course and the kerb than people expect, so the surface has to be laid to keep water away from the wall and to get it somewhere it can drain, rather than simply following the old level. The original crossover is often narrower than a modern car needs as well. Both are measured at the site visit, because both change what the job is.
What we do in Harrow
We also cover Pinner, Northwood, Stanmore, Ruislip and Wealdstone from the same base.