So our garage door has taken a bit of a pasting and is now unusable, due to someone turning around in the small bit of drive we have and reversing into it.

Insurance have paid to have it replaced (door will not even open and looks like a crisp packet).

Before we get it repaired, we want to put something in front to stop people turning on the small piece of land (less than 10ft deep) in front of our garage. A chain won’t work as we need to get a push chair past regularly. I was thinking of some sort of bollard – anyone got any opinions or experience? The parking area in front of the garage will be used by the mother in law regularly, so we want to make it easy to fold or lift the bollards.

After years of using dropped/ sunken bollards I’d say go folding .

We need Jamie’s gif of the disappearing bollard.

Is it definitely without doubt your land and has not ever been designated as a turning area? If so that’s fine, bollard away, however if not it can cause all kinds of problems as we found out on a job a few years ago.
One we fitted was a galv one that lifted up and down, quite heavy so perhaps not ideal for mother in law usage.

Just use a road cone. Just as inconvenient for anyone wanting to turn but much more convenient for you

Sunken bollard = pain the arse. Mine just got grit / silt in it and became unusable.

Couple of these across the front of the garage at bumper height?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ULTIMATE-Door-Window-Pad-Locking-Heavy-Duty-Sliding-Security-Bar-Shed-Garage-/272049543532

adds a bit of security too

my two cents as some sort of vague traffic planner/ engineer is that the bollard will get hit eventually and become a maintenance problem. Cone as said above, , make the garage door super visible, especially at night or just suck it up

the bollard will get hit eventually and become a maintenance problem.

I agree with this. I would go for a gate.

Folding bollard, but put a cone over it. The offenders will soon learn they can’t nudge it out of the way, plus it keeps the weather off it

Thanks all. It is definitely our land, I have checked recently (the title confirms it is ours).

The other option might be a chain and just suck it up. I don’t want to become the citizen pest who puts cones out like some angry neighbour, or have a bollard, or a chain, but one or the other seems necessary as the space is tight and the last person to hit the garage definitely did a job on it. If the car had been inside, we could not have got it out.

I had thought of upside down old suspension forks set into the ground, but then not that helpful for me to get the car out…

I don’t want to become the citizen pest who puts cones out like some angry neighbour, or have a bollard, or a chain,

If you don’t want do do it then don’t spend any more time, money or effort on it than you have to. An old cone – stick your wheelie bin there, anything cheap and easy.

Try and imagine dealing with whatever you put there when its chucking it down, or you’re late, or you really want a piss or whatever. Anything you put there is going to be principally your inconvenience. Would you rather be dealing with keys and locking bollards or chains or whatever? – or just kick a road cone out of the way.

What about an electric gate? Give the mother in law a button to press so she can come and go too. That’s if there’s enough room for the gate to swing open and still get your car in/out of course. And you wanted to spend a bit of money on the problem.

Why do people chose your drive to turn in do you think?

dmorts – Member

Why do people chose your drive to turn in do you think?

Because they are headed in the wrong direction? 🙂

.dmorts – think it is because we are down the end of a track and it gets used as a turning area.

We have something similar where turning vehicles have caused issues, mainly by hitting the sign that says it’s private! Signs aren’t much of a solution and bollards might become a pain to use. Although a bollard directly in front of the garage door might mean you can still use the drive and it’ll save the door being bashed?

One solution is to make the area look much less appealing to use for turning, e.g. a large planter or other solid object placed in an inconvenient location, such as one corner. But obviously you need to be able to have access yourself and it will depend on the layout if that’s possible. Another option is narrowing the width (and even height) of the entrance to the driveway to make people think twice, especially if your neighbour has a more open looking driveway

Those drop down bollards are relatively cheap though so might be worth trying for the short term

I think the obvious solution is a drawbridge-moat combo

maccruiskeen – Member

Just use a road cone. Just as inconvenient for anyone wanting to turn but much more convenient for you

Classy too.