How I Saved Thousands on My Driveway Makeover: DIY Steel Design and Sustainable Landscaping!

[@JimiQ2]

It was definitely worth doing it yourself, the skills and fun gained are immeasurable and it looks amazing. Can't wait for the update with blooming flowers.

[@MaxMakerChannel]

They are growing for sure, but this winter is annoyingly cold. Always about 5° which could be much worse emergy wise, but the plants need 10° to start growing.

[@lookship]

I bought a house 2 years ago at auction with no surveys and we've slowly been renovating it (because it was falling down). Got to say the landscaping/driveway was the most fun and rewarding job I've completed to date. Roof next. Wish me luck 😂

[@pansepot1490]

Take care of your safety when you work on the roof. Good luck.

[@MaxMakerChannel]

In Germany you are not allowed to drain towards public land. So here the slope is backwards into the garden. Luckily the house has a good drainage system in the the lawn. The water gets funneled into a underground cavity from where it slowly seeps down.

[@LaughingInTiny]

Good luck! That's a big job!

[@RichardLamsdale]

That looks really good, and I like the idea of using galvanised steel as the border. I'm all for doing work on a house as much as possible, as long as you know your limits. A competent DIYer can do a better job than most contractors, as you don't have the time pressure. The satisfaction of completing a job is massive and satisfies something deep inside us to create things. It's also a welcome change from being infront of a computer.

[@MaxMakerChannel]

Very true! I think the same way.

[@mojominecraftmike]

Your house looks beautiful and these additions and hearing about all the laws and regulations is super interesting.

[@MaxMakerChannel]

Thanks! The house was a part of a architecture competition. So 5 architects submitted plans and one was built.

[@Tasodek]

One hot house indeed

[@murphychris9811]

his house looks like a IKEA

[@alltimenative]

germany seems to have a high standard than a lot of places here in the US. that 5 year warranty? that sounds really cool

[@ColonelSawyer]

@@alltimenative And most of all it got high prices, most people cant afford a house as the prices skyrocket. even flat units are overpriced.

[@johandavid9774]

Very nice! Would like to see later how it turned out with all the plants etc.

[@MaxMakerChannel]

Lets hope it gets as nice as the Photoshop in the Thumbnail! 😂

[@rikutoivanen]

Very unique and nicely built driveway! Not sure if anyone have mentioned this but, there shouldn't be any vegetation under cars. (Though I can't tell from this video if you leave your car over the flower bed). The moisture coming from that compost and plants will significantly speed up rusting of any vehicle.

[@runed0s86]

Thyme helps with the moisture, and the undercarriage of electric cars doesn't rust as easily. I don't think he'll have any rusting issues.

[@kameljoe21]

Yeah no. Its so little that it does not bother the car.

[@armadillito]

Bigger hazard with combustion vehicles is hot exhausts setting fire to dry grass in summer

[@joemccarthy4532]

Be very PROUD of yourself ,you did a super fine job

[@Grazzhopper]

Ah yes, German laws and regulations :D The driveway looks really good, I would love an update once the plants have grown.

[@SunflowerTwix]

I'll be honest, I played this video on my second screen while doing some work...just for the sound of someone talking. I spent the entire 17minutes watching this video instead of focusing on my work. 😂 Super interesting to watch and it came out perfectly! I wish I have the effort to do that sort of work in my life. Haha. New subscriber earned. ;) Keep up the awesome stuff!

[@Dorabada]

I don't know about the rest of the world, but where I live contractors are usually considered unreliable and dishonest. If you have a problem with a job they did they would do everything not to take responsibility for the damage and blame everything possible or straight up disappear into the void. your videos are always satisfying but with this one you've outdone yourself. Thank you for making quality content!

[@MaxMakerChannel]

Same here! You get a mix. 60% do high quality work. 40% cut corners which leads to defects and they never owe up to them. But we have a good legal system to deal with that.

[@johnculbert1927]

one hundred percent you doing it yourself was the best way. enjoying your time is worth money. its a different kind of fun plus satisfaction and pride. and you got to make a video on KZbin showing others.

[@Mighty_Steve]

Sieht mega nice aus ! (Eine kleine Sache hab ich aber, Kabel im Außenbereich bitte mit Warnband verlegen so wie 60cm Tief mit einer schicht Sand unter dem kabel damit durch Vibrationen das kabel nicht beschädigt wird)

[@MaxMakerChannel]

Hab ich tatsächlich gemacht!

[@Mighty_Steve]

@@MaxMakerChannel Dann will ich nichts gesagt haben :D Sieht wie gesagt schon echt nice aus, bin momentan selbst am überlegen ob man sich was eigenes kaufen sollte bei der momentanen Lage.

[@lodunost]

I got my stepdad one of those dumpers since he is getting on in years. He loves it. Makes things easier for him around the farm. Sure wasn't easy finding one around. So I went online and there was a company that has tons of attachable beds for it. I ordered that. So much easier for him doing the light jobs and he still has the larger trailer for the bigger jobs. That little excavator is so fun to use. Everyone that has some land should have one or rent one just once. Remember if you want to save your lawn there are systems you can rent with your equipment that aren't that expensive. You might also want to look at just some simple PLYWOOD. I just did a drive way in the country for my stepfather about a year ago using a cellular grid system. It was the easiest and best things ever. I love it, and even with the grain trucks going down our farm drive we have 0 issues. Anyone looking for a solution to their driveway or long paths or even for like a rock yard and you want it to hold up. I highly recommend that you check out a cellular grid system. I know it's easier to find them over in the Europe.

[@msbealo]

I'm a pay-for-it kind of guy. I did a lot of DIY on mates house over the years, so I'm not inexperienced, i just don't have the time these days. 3 weeks, 15 days. I noticed a few people helping so I'm going to assume 2 people per day. That's probably about €300 per day to pay professionals (in the UK). That's around €4500. So, with your materials and hire cost, that adds up to €8800. The original quote wasn't far off.

[@volkhen0]

Yes, but you can’t count your time like this. If he did it in his free time and he likes it. You can also sit and watch KZbin all day like me ;)

[@zaranea7920]

I mean that was the idea xD. Sure the bid was done buuuut at the end of the day he still did not spend half the money but his tone and if he does not mind, best possible solution i guess

[@goldenfish31]

For reference: you said 5 years of warranty in Germany, but it's 10 years of warranty ("décennale") in France for anything made by a pro to your house.

[@MaxMakerChannel]

Very good!! Thats how it should be.

[@goldenfish31]

@@MaxMakerChannel indeed, not complaining about that :)

[@ingela_injeela]

Good job! It looks good, and well made. I love the use of thyme as a middle strip. The only thing I would do differently, is that I would plant the tall ornamental grass "Carl Foerster" in the flowerbed next to the wall. This will give you height and movement, as a nice contrast. (You leave it standing through winter, and then cut it down completely once a year, in March.)

[@creamsiclecat]

This was fun to watch! I dont think I could ever want to do something like this by myself so I really admire the work you did. It looks so nice! And its true that the people you pay, dont always do a good job, sometimes its even bad.

[@somdhomestead9031]

Love the work you did. I don't know any contractor here in the U.S. that would give 5 year warranty, that's amazing to me.

[@YosemiteSam01]

Nice Work! Simple inexpensive way to repair the 1 loose solid brick...Try silicone caulk as glue.

[@Dustmadeout]

Worth 100%. They only thing I don't understand, why didn't you choose those gitter stones with grass growing in the openings?

[@MaxMakerChannel]

Because we need a way to walk back from the cars. You can walk over the thyme but it doesn’t feel good. Its not as smooth as gras. When you open your car door you don’t step on the paved area.

[@Dustmadeout]

​@@MaxMakerChannel I mean Rasengittersteine instead of plain stones where your wheels roll. It would blend optically better with greens around and they are rather cheap from a Baumarkt.

[@MathieuDeVinois]

I think those Rasengittersteine look awful. And those bricks match perfectly with the house and do give the whole area a common style instead of an additional element. I also think that while planing someone might have thought about what he will like and do. Especially when the research goes as far as to use dwarf Thyme as a lawn substitute.

[@Dustmadeout]

@@MathieuDeVinois Then why he doesn't say "I don't like how they look" if that's the case?

[@robertgriggs8636]

This is how you "throw it together"? Well done man. Stunning!

[@namarrkon]

The greatest German to ever German has returned! He has even blessed us with a new video!

[@medhashas]

You did a Great job - Planning, Executing and also Learning along the way!!

[@danilolattaro]

This 5 year warranty that contractors have to give on anything they do at your home, I don't think it exists anywhere else 😅

[@Karincl7]

10 in france

[@ErickBuildsStuff]

Das war Perfekt Job. DIY ist der richtige Weg.

[@KenetorTV]

you should be really proud of this job, it turned out great! not only that it looks like it was original with the house!

[@MaxMakerChannel]

I am!!

[@lordrynogaming1553]

Doing it yourself is often worth it, so long as your able to do it.

[@MemekingJag]

5:25 You know your driveway is a success when things just want to drive into it before it's even finished.

[@JeremyCook]

What a cute little excavator and dumper! Interesting you found some buried cinder blocks. Nice, job, enjoyed seeing the process!

[@MaxMakerChannel]

The blicks were there to support the lawn when the house was new for mud free access to the back. You could not see them later on because they were over grown.

[@ChrisFredriksson]

You got more than you paid for! What a beautiful and awesome driveway! Really nice job 😃❤

[@volkhen0]

Don’t paint the A/C because it will flake off. These units are often powder coated and it’s hard for other paints to stick to it.

[@michaelplunkett8059]

The tire straps remind me of my Dad. His first house had them to backyard garage but Mom couldn't stay on them all the way to street so he gravelly the abutting sections.

[@MaxMakerChannel]

Sometimes I screw up too.

[@lakecityransom]

The one thing about doing it yourself is you know you care and you did it right (hopefully).

[@seanmivey]

"Wouldn't mind doing my own electrics, but putting wallpaper on the wall is not my skillset..." Yeah, you summed me up too :)

[@whardyphotography]

You definitely did a better job than the contractor would have done. This is always the way to think about it. Although they're professional and complete a job quickly- no one will take as much time care and effort as yourself on your own house! Only use contractors if you do not have enough time to complete a job, never for a better finish.

[@JeronimoStilton14]

I mean when it comes to foundations I would tend to disagree. Pretty hard to beat 7 people working at once with the tools and experience. Doubt I could beat that pouring my own concrete.

[@lillerosin2915]

"You definitely did a better job than the contractor would have done" are you a bit thick?! Of course he didnt. theres a reason they are doin these kinds of jobs in a professional capacity ... Also the fact that you have no way of knowing AT ALL . even if hell burned over if he "did a better job .." your comment is prob some of the dumbest crap ive read in a long time. Sorry!

[@lillerosin2915]

@@JeronimoStilton14 ikr .. some people are just at tad bit slow and thick as bricks. not much to do about that apart from telling them they are wrong ... :)

[@rejaneberclaz3331]

Your house is beautiful! now take care of the garden. I'm sure everything will be wonderful. Have a great day 🤗

[@MaxMakerChannel]

Thank you!

[@cbleslie]

Question. What kind of research do you do before you start a project like this? This looks super intimidating.

[@MaxMakerChannel]

I typically watch KZbin videos. There is so much knowledge there and I have been watching people make things for years now. For specific things like the layer heights of the granite I read building codes. Also sometimes I ask for advice on Reddit.

[@metabo]

Perfect outcome and perfect advice. Thank you! Best regards, Mike (Team Metabo)

[@kippetjes500]

nice video, it also adds a huge value to the house. you save yourself even more than half ot the contractor price.

[@Guerrillapicnic]

That Drive way looks fantastic!

[@Thekidfromcalifornia2.0]

I love the subtle comedy amazing work

[@MikeHarris1984]

That powered wheel burrow is freaking awesome... looks like a giant version of the Tonka toy trucks every boy growing up had here in the US... and you would push it around bent over with your fingers outside and thumb inside the dump bed and it would stick and you would slide your skin accross is and slice the side of your hand open..... This happened to so many kids in the 80's/90's... lol... My brother had to get stitches

[@lookeron2467]

There is precision nuance to "german" made. This looks like it has it in spades. Very nice job!

[@NobleProductions-nu9bn]

I like that self-driving compactor 🤣

[@philmoregain]

Wo wohnst du ?

[@Koril]

Bricks = Hamburg, most of the time

[@MaxMakerChannel]

Lübeck!

[@ChristopherCricketWallace]

that's a life well-lived. Great work!

[@PhG1961]

DIY is much more fun and often better. Indeed, I enjoyed this video, very entertaining and fun to watch!

[@ArashizakiEn]

Hi! You mentioned wanting to know what sort of DIY I would or wouldn't do. One I would always do and urge you to consider is involved electric wiring for your home. It is great to learn but I would recommend you at least have someone who has training guide you through the process. I do not know the laws for electrics but they are very involved here. Since messing up or improper grounding could lead to house fires or electrocution there is many benefits having someone knowledgeable to guide an electric project even after the youtube videos. Good on you getting out and learning new things!

[@playnicebegoodtoothers6944]

Not all work is required to be warrantied here in the states unless you buy a new house with a purchased warranty. Super awesome work and we appreciate your can do spirit!

[@maryb6576]

Fantastic driveway, great job.

[@wessel2009]

I would have done that my self. it seems like a lot of fun to do on your spare time.

[@MaxMakerChannel]

It was a lot of fun!

[@simon-qy2xe]

Nice Job, I am currently building a Driveway for my RV. There is one thing you should have done different: Put your cables that are under the soil in KG 110 Rohre and dont forget a cable to pull them throug. If you need a bigger cable you can just change them but if your conduit is to small you have a problem

[@volkhen0]

I always use 110mm sewer pipes to put them in places under the driveway. I did driveway in 2020 and these pipes became VERY handy when I was installing power in my car port for my level 1 car charger.

[@MaxMakerChannel]

I have two spare cable pipes with 45mm diameter, but there is already a 22kW cable there. So I don’t think I will ever need more than that. Next year I will build a big industrial workshop and there I will place plenty of 110mm pipes.

[@jpats6124]

Great job, it seemed pretty complicated but it was what you wanted (I would have just gone with plastic driveway you can plant grass into) but well worth your effort to do it yourself. I live in NZ though, and bricks are soooo hard to come by here. Nobody builds with bricks in NZ as we are very earthquake prone and they don't stand up to the pressure, but in jobs like this it would be great to have a steady supply of bricks.

[@pr1sm55]

Insane work, really well done! But the best part are the last few seconds of the videos seeing these trash cans come out automatically. Golden! 🤣

[@jafearplays4972]

It turned out wonderfully!

[@tessiepinkman]

This looks beautiful! You are truly talented. Picking up new skills here and there is the best way to learn :) Sending you loads of love and inspiration on your continued DIY-journey, from this Swede in Norway.

[@MaxMakerChannel]

Sting made a song about you I think!

[@johnmeinhardt-jensen7713]

Always satisfying to do something yourself, I don’t count mytime

[@schubie02]

Came for the driveway, but stayed for your narration. You have a nice voice and a good rhythm.

[@MaxMakerChannel]

Thank you!

[@tomas489]

You inspired me! I suddenly want to buy house. Im tired of limitations of rental living. You did very great job. So aesthetic!

[@tayred81]

Absolutely worth it. Good job 👍🏻

[@enagonzalez6463]

I enjoyed the video!!! My mum and I where watching it and she also liked it! Daniel shön!!!😊

[@lemons_s]

Wow that looks incredible! good work!

[@aquual1462]

House is looking better and better, congrats

[@MaxMakerChannel]

Thank you!

[@josealc87]

Wow that turned out great.

[@migpinx]

Your channel is hugely underrated.

[@MaxMakerChannel]

Thanks!

[@bojidar12345]

This driveway is awesome. Totally worth it to diy.

[@MotoGraham]

This looks great, well done!

[@martinogold]

You have a realy cool looking house 🏠😎👍

[@DIYtechie]

Looks great. Love the bricks. Interested to know how the rails hold up over time.

[@W2APS]

Fantastic job! I love doing work like this when I can fit it around looking after my kids. Also your house looks awesome, I would love to live in it! 😊

[@MyBelch]

I'm building a similar ribbon style driveway at my home in Thailand. This vid was very useful. Cheers.

[@MaxMakerChannel]

Good luck!

[@jan-pcro]

Yo, die Auffahrt sieht gut aus! Was mich wahnsinnig machen würde, wäre der versiegelte "Vor?garten?", da muss die Hitze im Sommer unerträglich sein.

[@MaxMakerChannel]

Ach da geht man nur drüber. Würde man heut nicht mehr so machen!

[@MonkeyDude1999]

Great work! All things considered the contractor’s price was fair. (People usually don’t think about this stuff because they just lack the knowledge, the contractor has a company to run that money isn’t going straight to his pockets like most people with an employee mindset think, he has expenses and tax to pay and salaries to pay and he also needs money for new tools and marketing etc there’s just a bunch of costs people don’t consider so that’s why companies need high profit margins to grow, the better the margins the better the company’s off. The better companies look for a MINIMUM of 80% profit margins and the best companies (mainly software etc) run on 90-99% margins. The fact that he ‘only’ had around a 40% profit margin is very reasonable. So that’s why I said the price was fair ALL things considered. To answer your question. You worked for 3 weeks on that project. If your job would’ve made you more money in those 3 weeks than you saved by doing it yourself it would’ve been worth it to hire the contractor. Of course it’s more fun to do it yourself and you learned new skills so there’s also that. 😊 you also made a video about it that generated profit and entertained us so in my books it’s a win-win for you and for us that you did it yourself. 😃

[@Invatator]

Happy to see this, and the fact you gained something out of it. I went the same route, after getting quoted 15k for some hardiebacks tiling, and flooring installed, for 3 weeks. Ended up doing it ourselves, and saved about 12k, and spent 200 on extra tools. It took us a month to do everything, because we did it after work hours, and week-ends.

[@MaxMakerChannel]

I bet that was very satisfying when you were done!

[@Invatator]

@@MaxMakerChannel You bet!! We finished it on 24th of December, around 1am. Just in time for Christmas tree 😅😎

[@MaxMakerChannel]

@@Invatator Awsome!

[@seadubya1]

It looks amazing.

[@Ahussain7528]

Wow, it looks great!

[@ПользовательПол-м3е]

Красиво и аккуратно сделали. Какие маленькие участки

[@lipcsaiify]

I like how safe Germans are, you even had headsets for noise pollution, i newer see that in my country in construction sites :)

[@MaxMakerChannel]

Nobody uses it here either, but we always do. I value my safety.

[@philtucker1224]

It looks really nice! Well done Max 👍

[@rikkusayian2649]

was worth it half the price and you get some new skills also got ur charger in at the same time

[@yoonkiminpleasetakecare8641]

That's some skill well done

[@njipods]

if you dont want to repoint the brick superglue works great!

[@steve1102]

Looks great, we’ll done

[@raynatullett7063]

Excellent video - and so many new things I learned while watching! Thanks for the inspiration, Max.

[@MaxMakerChannel]

Thanks for watching!

[@veraniseholmes2295]

Great job - Well Done!!

[@TheSpiralnotizblock]

Richtig cool und auch richtig schönes Haus!

[@ldf4064]

“I guess it’s the same in other countries.” 😶.🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣Where I’m from, a 5 year warranty is a mythical being. 🇿🇦

[@superandy89]

Good idea to do this yourself. Best use of your money was the excavator rental. I did a similar project by hand once and the digging cost is soooo much time.

[@MaxMakerChannel]

Yeah! Definitely never digging anything by hand again.

[@eredaane4656]

so my father did something like this when we built our house, he saved about 120'000 Euros like that on a house that was built almost from scratch (we tore down the old barn to make the new house in its place) He did almost all the main walls and the brickwalls, as well as some of the floors and all. The contractor supplied a crane, concrete mixing equipment, know how as well as doing things like the roof support structure, doorways, electrical and water infrastructure and windows. The roof has metal tiles and my father did almost the entire roof together with a neighbor who was a roofer telling him how to. This project reminded me of us redoing our jard out front a few years back. Good job. (only pls mix the cement before using it, dont just poor the powder into a void and put water on it, thats how it looked xD)

[@MaxMakerChannel]

I never mix cement : )

[@eredaane4656]

@@MaxMakerChannel not sure about the terminology in english for cement,mortar and concrete. I meant the part where you went to fill the void at the street border. and it looked like you just put powder in a hole and then added water

[@notawinemom8540]

5 year warranty? You live in paradise! In the US nobody actually honors warranty of any kind.

[@MaxMakerChannel]

The thing with the warranty is that a proper company doesn’t have to worry. Most do good work here. Its those that are new in the trade that do bad work ans cut corners.

[@missjohri]

Worth doing it ur self. Good job

[@jeffrydemeyer5433]

I wonder how the steel will act during hot summer weather. Also think about renting some construction mats when using heavy machinery on your lawn next time

[@MaxMakerChannel]

I calculated that the maximum expansion over those 14m will be less than 1mm.

[@mafiacat88]

Honestly even if it doesn't save much money and takes a lot of my time; I like doing things like this myself. It's just fun to do, and they're great projects. Plus you'll know for a fact how sturdy it is (for good or for ill)

[@lindataylor1127]

Beautiful!

[@zachwolfrom4522]

Your house is awesome!

[@philipdemaeyer1665]

You did great job 👍

[@JRMcDowell]

Turned out great! Well done sir.

[@yolo_burrito]

Contractors are the same around the world. I’ll be there Monday.

[@MaxMakerChannel]

Good to know its nothing personal.

[@MariusVerbavicius]

If it was fun and you had time for this price it is worth. If you do not have time, it is worth to let others do this.

[@carlametcalfe4342]

Looks amazing