Installing a Recessed Manhole Cover | The New Driveway Company

Safety first!

Make sure you are wearing appropriate safety protection throughout the entire process.

Recessed manhole covers allow you to camouflage an unsightly manhole using blocks, slabs and grass.

This means your driveway, patio, lawn or even indoor area is no longer broken up with metal or plastic manhole covers.

STEP 1: Excavation

When excavating on a job that has a manhole, always leave the manhole cover on to prevent any debris falling into the manhole.

Dig around the manhole to the depth needed on the job. Make sure that you get a recess cover which fits the supporting frame.

Remove the existing manhole structure so that the frame of the man hole is exposed.

Step 1: Excavation

Apply between 10mm and 40mm of cement to attached the frame of the new recessed manhole cover.

The cover frame must be completely supported by the existing man hole frame and sit flush to the existing structure.

STEP 2: Levelling

Use a string line to measure the new height of the driveway and patio and run this string line over the man hole cover. Use a mallet to hammer the man hole cover into the cement so that it sits level with the string line. By doing this correctly, the top of the manhole cover will sit at the height of the driveway.

STEP 3: Haunching

Once the man hole frame has been levelled, use cement to haunch the frame to secure it fully. The lid of the man hole cover can now be placed onto the frame. Allow 24 hours for the haunching to fully set before you build around the manhole.

STEP 4: Blocks

During the driveway build, construct over the manhole cover, but do not secure the blocks immediately around the manhole or on top it. Lay out the blocks to ensure the pattern stays uniform, use chalk to mark where blocks will need to be cut, and do so in a saw or block splitter.

Doing this well means that the manhole cover will effortlessly blend into the driveway with just the vague outline of the manhole cover showing. The block pattern will help to camouflage the previously ugly cover manhole cover.

Step 4: Blocks

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