Viewing 30 posts - 1 through 30 (of 30 total)
  • Driveway Surfacing
  • marcus
    Free Member

    If you had the option, what would your choice of driveway surfacing be. The current block paved affair is in a poor state of repair and needs at the very least relaying. In addition, we’ve got a gravel area which could do with a better surface / matching in. For the purpose of this thread, lets assume there are no requirements for limiting run-off to drains.

    igm
    Full Member

    Same here.

    Considering gravel in that hexagonal matrix stuff to stop it migrating.

    IHN
    Full Member

    I can’t remember (and didn’t notice) what state your current block paving is, but if a thorough jet-wash, dig up and relaying it would sort it I’d probably go for that, with whatever tarting up of the gravel bit is needed. That way, with an occasional brush through of fresh sand, you’re then sorted until you move on.

    We looked at doing something with our old drive, which was pretty tired, and that’s much smaller than yours, and it was going to cost us a number of thousands of pounds to end up with……a drive. It just didn’t seem to justify the cost.

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    Bikingcatastrophe
    Free Member

    If I had spare cash to throw at it I would change our current gravel based driveway to resin. But it wouldn’t be cheap to do that

    dc1988
    Full Member

    I like to service my own car so would go concrete

    sharkbait
    Free Member

    Our house has a (30m) gravel drive with a 90 degree turn at the top to large parking area. At the turn the gravel was always pushed to one side by the tyres and it was a mess – there were also a couple of pot holes in the drive that would never stay filled for long.

    Eventually I had the whole thing tarmacked for about £6k (this was about 17 years ago).
    The company we used actually laid road surfaces and where branching out into driveways and, thanks to the size of the drive, they were able to lay the tarmac using their big machinery that could contour the surface with almost mm precision to produce the desired surface water flow.
    It still looks as good as tarmac can and I’m pleased its the route I took – I doubt I could afford it now!
    Whether we’d have had such a good result if it had been hand laid is another matter.

    For a smaller area I would look at slate as it tens not to move around much.

    fossy
    Full Member

    Tarmac. Ours started looking tired after 25 years – oil spills, etc etc, paint spills. £18 for a tin of Wickes driveway paint and it looks like new. Fab stuff.

    grantyboy
    Free Member

    tarmac, just keep it simple unless you want added maintenance. I was just quoted £6k for 70m2 space all one level with minimal kerbage, another product line that has gone up in £££

    j4mie
    Free Member

    Check with gas/water whether there’s any plans to replace the pipework as having that done on a new drive is… annoying.

    spacemonkey
    Full Member

    Ours was in a horrid mess when we bought it a few years ago. Went through pricing options (space for 5 cars) and it was insanely expensive and unjustifiable. So I ripped up half of it and replaced with proper MOT etc then added 20mm shingle on top. A complete transformation for ‘only’ the cost of aggregate and a lot* of digging/shovelling.

    *I dug up the entire front lawn at the same time and re-turfed it. In all (lawn and driveway), I got rid of 18 tonnes of rubble/earth by hand. It took a lot of work over several weekends during winter. Not something I’d take on again, but we’re happy with the end result.

    stumpyjon
    Full Member

    My choice would stone sets but that’s probably very expensive. Trouble with the concrete based ones is they bleach and don’t stand up well to jet washing.

    That said ours is tarmac and was laid 20 years ago by the house builder and apart from around a couple of man holes is still fine.

    marcus
    Free Member

    Quick google is suggesting £60/m2 for tarmac, which ties in well with grantyboy’s quote. Brick pavers £210/m2. – Just done the maths and its safe to say I won’t be using ‘new’ block pavers.

    spooky_b329
    Full Member

    We are about to get ours done, quoted about £110 per metre for large block paving for a large drive, part is existing concrete and part is currently lawn. Fair bit of muck away and lowering part of the existing drive, it’s also pretty steep. 135sq metres in all.

    Southeast prices by a council approved company.

    I’d have liked to get exposed aggregate concrete (top surface gets hosed off to reveal a textured/decorative aggregate as it would be similar to resin, but much more durable. However it doesn’t seem to be a popular option and I can’t find anyone that specialises in it.


    @marcus
    Seems very high, might be worth a quote before writing it off

    airvent
    Free Member

    Quick google is suggesting £60/m2 for tarmac

    That’s a touch expensive I’d say, although it all depends how much sub base prep is needed. If you have a good well compacted sub base that can be re used you should be aiming for around 45 to 50 pounds per SQM.

    phil5556
    Full Member

    Ours is knackered block paving, it looks terrible.

    A couple of people in our road have recently had tarmac laid with a block border, it looks really smart. When we finally get around to doing it I’ll probably go for the same.

    I do like to jack cars up on it though which I think could be an issue with tarmac?

    MarkyG82
    Full Member

    Having jacked cars up in my dad’s tarmac drive I’d say it’s nice to work on (on cars) but the jack’s did sink in a little. You could spread the load but may be worth something else. I also like to work on cars if I can but not sure I can afford the block paving. Maybe larger pavers?

    crispyrice
    Full Member

    I have just had mine done in resin bound gravel this week. Fab job!

    Merak
    Full Member

    Do you like dags?

    sharkbait
    Free Member

    I do like to jack cars up on it though which I think could be an issue with tarmac?

    Just put a bit of wood under the jack to spread the load, job sorted.

    wzzzz
    Free Member

    Exposed aggregate concrete

    Tarmac not ideal for low traffic areas

    dangeourbrain
    Free Member

    Considering gravel in that hexagonal matrix stuff to stop it migrating.

    Works very well. We had ours done a year or two ago, needs a bit of a top up as you do lose a bit of the gravel over time through tyres etc but it looks much better, drains brilliantly – a big part of the reason we moved away from the previously laid concrete.
    Down side is its not comfortable to walk on in bare feet or kneel etc, this is likely down to our choice of stone mind, oh and working on the bike outside it now a PITA as anything you drop vanishes, it needs an occasional blitz with a burner or weed killer, maybe twice a year.

    Oh next door’s cat is also much less keen now than they were on the concrete. This is likely down to our choice of big pointy stone and the fact the grids stop them scratching in it mind.

    b230ftw
    Free Member

    Works very well. We had ours done a year or two ago, needs a bit of a top up as you do lose a bit of the gravel over time through tyres etc but it looks much better, drains brilliantly – a big part of the reason we moved away from the previously laid concrete.

    I’m using it a lot at my house and found a great company I bought some grids from – miles cheaper than the stuff from builders yards. I’ve used it and my BIL has done too for his driveway.
    Ibran.co.uk is the place we got ours from. Made in UK from recycled plastic.

    b230ftw
    Free Member

    Check with gas/water whether there’s any plans to replace the pipework as having that done on a new drive is… annoying.

    They should replace it as it was before if this needs to be done. If they have made a mess kick up a fuss and they should be sorting it.

    woody74
    Full Member

    We got a load of quotes for tarmac and block paving. Tarmac was about £200 cheaper with a total cost for the job being £6500. We went for block paving as easier to repair and hopefully longer lasting. God knows why tarmac is so expensive.

    dangeourbrain
    Free Member

    God knows why tarmac is so expensive.

    Well there’s lots of marble to pay for

    spooky_b329
    Full Member

    They should replace it as it was before if this needs to be done. If they have made a mess kick up a fuss and they should be sorting it.

    They can’t and won’t guarantee a perfect match. Paving can be invisible when reinstated, you can get a good match with tarmac that’s still in good condition, but resin, concrete and imprinted concrete is going to show a scar.

    igm
    Full Member

    oh and working on the bike outside it now a PITA as anything you drop vanishes,

    Wife has four bikes, I get to work on bikes indoors. 😉

    oldnpastit
    Full Member

    We went resin bound driveway. Looks very good so far. Replaced some very worn out tarmac.

    Blazin-saddles
    Free Member

    God knows why tarmac is so expensive.

    Dunno, maybe because it’s got a ton of oil in it, and that’s not known for being cheap?

    chambord
    Free Member

    If you’ve already got the pavers I’d just reuse them and save a load of money unless you want it to look different.

    * Pressure wash
    * Remove pavers
    * Hire whacker, tidy surface
    * Screed
    * Put down pavers again
    * Spend spare money on new bike

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