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

It’s refreshing to hear someone talk about what they gain from spending their time this way as opposed to the more traditional “oh my time is worth ‘x’ .” Glad you had fun and made a great driveway!

The 5-year guarantee requirement on contract work is an excellent regulation! We do not have that in Canada. Not many contractors take pride in doing a good job, unfortunately. That regulation would protect customers and raise standards. Very impressed with your driveway. Congratulations on a job well done.

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.

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 😂

Make sure you plan ahead for water runoff or you will be pulling up your bricks and resetting them because water pulls both sand and setting stones away, so always put pipes under your tamping gravel in a sloping way away from high spots and towards gutters in street. Trust me I've done lots of pavers and walks

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.

Being an Engineer myself I love basic over engineering of a every day issue. Looks fantastic but don't forget to mastic the open copper pipe ends or you'll be inviting every bug to use the super highway into your basement.

As someone who lived in Germany I’m always pleasantly reminded of these little rules. Like the Sonntagsruhe and stuff. But great project. I love to follow these build projects. 👍🏼😊👏🏼

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

I'm pleased its not just in England where contractors do not turn up!

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

This project came out fantastic! I think it was well worth the cost and time to do it yourself.

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.

I love the tracks because it saves on materials, adds water permeability and reduces stored heat. If you add some terracing to your property, and driveway, it will: Decrease ground subsidence (reduce the need to repair concrete structures); reduce the amount of water at the foot of the hill; decrease downstream flooding; decrease the need to water the upper portions of your garden; prevent overdrying, and soil loss: maintain greenery longer; decrease grid strain on 'gridded'(pumped) water; reduce irrigation/watering effort; build soil, etc, terracing is a great way to offset maintenance and other problems.

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

A few things: 1) In the USA, driveways can cost $10-20k depending on the features, so the contracted quote is pretty accurate, but it's still smart to save money where you can. Love seeing the ways in which you're using your engineering background to add value to your home with the new driveway and Trash Train. The real draw here is the acquisition of new knowledge and hard skills which is more useful than conveniently contracting out such services. 2) All of this home renovation work is reminding me of the 1990s Father of the Bride films with Steve Martin. As a kid, I once helped a friend and his father lay down lots of new red brick for their walkway. I agree, it's fun learning a new skill. Love that you are forgoing the use of grass. Can't wait to see an update with the new flowers and herbs. 3) All of the red brick featured here reminds me of older places in the Northeast like Cambridge, MA (specifically Harvard Square), the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia, and various buildings around NYC and Georgetown that feature Federal and Georgian style architecture with beautiful red brick.

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.

It's always worth DIY. Any Knowledge gained is priceless.

First time viewer. Your decision to DIY was perfect. Your attention to detail is top shelf. The final product looks fantastic and kudos for not planting grass. The aroma and the color in the summer will be amazing. Great job!!!

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.

Thanks for sharing your DIY projects, its great to see people enjoying their homes 🏡.

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.

I’m 100% with you, I do everything myself, and whilst ground works like that would be new to me, after watching your video I would very happily roll my sleeves up and do it. Definitely in the summer though 😂😂

I am astonished at the engineering considered necessary for a drive way in Germany! In Australia we’d only dig out about 30 cm and lay the bricks over a foundation of gravel and then sand, but no edges of any kind except perhaps a decorative brick border. I’m not quite sure what the edging is for really. Fascinating.

Well if you get what you paid for, you got a great deal! It looks wunderbar!

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

Love the work and design. Can’t wait to see what the thyme looks like once it’s all filled in. Great job!

Can't wait to see it fully grown. Great work!

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!

I like the way you think. “If you want a job done, do it yourself”. Kudos and subscribed.

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!

I would never do something like this because this is so much planning and I freeze when there's too much planning to do but it was so satisfying to see such good planning AND execution, very well done sir!

Very well done. Not your usual driveway - some really great ideas. Had fun watching it.

Looks great and your enthusiasm and passion is contagious. 👍👍

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)

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

Worth it every day of the week… and it’s the satisfaction every time you park and charge that gives the real pay back!

Great job! It will be lovely when the plants fill in and bloom.

".....and I did have a lot of fun and gained a lot of knowledge..." . This is the best part of the story

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

Great job! Looks much better than before both these projects, and I bet your quality of life has gone up as a result!

My husband is German and his mom and Dad house is so nice with all that brick just like yours I just love when I visit your country..

This is such an amazing video. Thank you for sharing your journey.

careful with having plants under your car as the hot exhaust can light fire. prolly not an issue for your climate but for others it might, looks amazing!!

Clean job , interesting video and learnt a lot from this, Thank you

I saw your dumpster train video a while ago... Didn't expect to see your video to pop up in my feed again, but I'm glad it did! This is such a nice project and it ought to look fantastic when all the greens have grown in!

Well done. Fun to watch.

That is an absolutely beautiful house! Great job on the driveway!

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

Amazing job! I love your house! The copper roof and brick goes so well together and so does your addition!

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

Very nice! Well done. Regarding workmanship guarantees, the US doesn't have rules about that, each company can set their own plan or not have one. That allows more freedom of choice and lower costs to build, but it also reduces quality in many places.

I love the copper look to the top half of your house!

Great work man! Really nice seeing someone doing their work properly and enjoying it! Turned out great!

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

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

Job very well done. Sir! Regarding the price; What you get of knowledge by doing it yourself is worth it´s weight in GOLD! I have done a job like that (and similar) before, and now...37 years later i still get to teach someone how to do it 😊 Knowledge is the best cash saving thingy on the planet 😉

The most important thing in doing a good job is wanting the job to be the best possible. Builders don't care, but you as the owner do. I've learned this with my own house and I try to do the things that I can.

Das war Perfekt Job. DIY ist der richtige Weg.

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

Dude very nice Idea with the minimalistic Bricks it looks very cool. But you should have added measurements in soccer field size to further spread the German vibes

Another amazing DIY Max. Truly inspiring.

It turned out wonderfully!

Great video, it really looks professional! I’m always impressed with German made tools, and me being from Nova Scotia I like the fact that you used Canadian made (Robertson) screws, and not inferior Phillips head screws.

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

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 KZfaq showing others.

Einfach super, hat sich wirklich gelohnt!

While you may have found it worthwhile to do the job yourself, not everyone has the necessary skills, knowledge, or equipment. Additionally, some may not have access to rentals nearby. It's important to keep in mind that DIY projects can often lead to mistakes that can end up costing more in the long run to fix. Just my take.

now put the car on a train.

It looks amazing.

I think it turned out looking really nice. Great idea with the plant choice also.

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.

Wo wohnst du ?

You did a very good job. I am in rural US and it has become nearly impossible to even find a contractor in my area to get a bid. So DYI 👍

Here in Qazaqstan contractors give only a single year of warranty. Five years is so nice. Those kind of small things are nice to know. Thx

Fantastic driveway, great job.

Can't wait for your future videos, love them :)

Wow, it looks great!

I thoroughly enjoyed this video. Very informative and was overall a very fun watch. Turned out amazing and am keen to see how the plants will look in the future!

That Drive way looks fantastic!

Wow that turned out great.

You did a beautiful job, worth all of your time and effort, congrats ❤👍

This driveway is awesome. Totally worth it to diy.

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

By Canadian standard this the outstanding job. It's 10 out of 10 job.

Fun and informative video and the driveway looks great! I've got to say though, you are likely to have some issues going forward: The galvanized steel will be straight and look good for a few years, but it won't last under soil. That's the reason the normal procedure is to use concrete blocks. The steel, even galvanized, will corrode eventually, you'll probably get 10+ years, but concrete would last 50+ years. Also, you kind of built a bathtub from what I saw in the video. You have lots of free draining material in your subbase (the granite dust and sand under your paver layer) and around your pavers, but where does the water go once it drains through them? Perforated underdrain pipes to collect the water in your subbase sloped to an outlet would be the best way to handle this. You may get lucky and the soil under your constructed subbase may drain well and then you'll have no problems, but if you have a lot of clay in the native soil, that makes an impermeable layer that will hold the water in your free draining subbase material. Where that material is so shallow, you may well find everything frost heaving over the next winter and spring. If your bricks move up and down after a few freeze thaw cycles, know that it is because you have water stuck in your subbase without a good outlet. That water expands as it freezes, then contracts as it thaws, creating a lot of hydraulic pressure pushing upwards where ever water is trapped. Just some lessons learned working as a civil engineer for the last 16 years building public roads and sidewalks in Maine, USA. Again, great video, thank you for sharing!

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.

Absolutely worth it. Good job 👍🏻

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! 😊

I love the subtle comedy amazing work

It looks amazing, well done with the DIY! 🙏

It looks really nice! Well done Max 👍

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.

Good job. It really looks excellent.

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

Great video, loved watching it. Will watch the video when the plants grow in!

Great job, well done.

Beautiful!

Great job - Well Done!!