Well, the contractor’s opinion of my bright idea was polite and helpful, but translated to:  “Baloney.”

We have a driveway drainage problem, basically.  The earth and concrete have shifted in the home’s 55 years.  My bright idea was to cut a trough to enable the rain (it does rain here now and then) to drain downhill, rather than into my garage.  Contractor:  “That looks like it would work, but it won’t.  French drains are expensive.  The real solution is to break up this driveway, regrade and repour it.”

I guess my opinion of his solution will depend on how much it costs.  Anyone ever had a driveway repoured, and if so, what’d it set you back? They vary, of course, but if it costs more than a roof, that’s going to be unpleasant.