Driveway surface..

[potsy]

Hi all, looking at finally getting my drive re-surfaced and was wondering what the CC gang would recommend I do with it..
Its only a 5x5 metre space, so enough for 2 cars, just.

Originally fancied block paving, but I keep seeing resin and imprinted concrete ones that look very nice for a lot less cash...

Any pros and cons of any of those I should know about?

Cheers.

 

[Dave7]

Hi all, looking at finally getting my drive re-surfaced and was wondering what the CC gang would recommend I do with it..
Its only a 5x5 metre space, so enough for 2 cars, just.

Originally fancied block paving, but I keep seeing resin and imprinted concrete ones that look very nice for a lot less cash...

Any pros and cons of any of those I should know about?

Cheers.

Most of the block paving drives I see on my walks have weeds growing through the 'gaps'.
I like some of the resin/printcrete I see, very nice. Some of them look slippery though.
I have always like black tarmac with red bits in..... just appeals to me.

 

[annedonnelly]

My neighbours got a resin one when they moved in two years ago. It looked smart enough that passers by took photos. Still looks pretty good now though it has a few marks on it. They get a lot of water lying when we have heavy rain but it seems to drain fairly quickly.

Puts mine to shame, but I use the gravel edges of mine as a rockery to get more plants into the garden for the bees and other insects.

 

[Brandane]

Most of the block paving drives I see on my walks have weeds growing through the 'gaps'.

This. I used to work as handyman at a care home which had a large area of patio done in block paving. It was a complete and utter PITA to keep it looking good. See a lot of block paving drives where the weight of cars has caused the blocks repeatedly driven over by cars to form a slightly sunken trench for water to gather in. That's probably down to poor workmanship, but you're not going to know for a year or two. By which time Bodgit and Scarper will be trading under a new name.

 

[fossyant]

Seeing how bad my neighbour's block pave gets, don't bother - he's even lifted the lot, cleaned and replaced, only for the jungle of weeds to be back within a year.

Other option, tarmac edged with a single strip of block paving ? That's what my folks are doing this year, and it's a 3 car drive.

We've got tarmac, and it's been pretty good. I re-painted it with driveway paint this year and it's come up like new. Cost to repaint was less than £40

 

[raleighnut]

Any 'hard surface' will not allow water to drain unless provision is made i.e. a slope to a 'soakaway' or a drainage channel.

 

[potsy]

Seeing how bad my neighbour's block pave gets, don't bother - he's even lifted the lot, cleaned and replaced, only for the jungle of weeds to be back within a year.

Other option, tarmac edged with a single strip of block paving ? That's what my folks are doing this year, and it's a 3 car drive.

We've got tarmac, and it's been pretty good. I re-painted it with driveway paint this year and it's come up like new. Cost to repaint was less than £40

The tarmac with edging is another option I am considering, good to know its a decent one.

Knowing my lack of aftercare with most things, I will be looking at something I can forget about for a few years

 

[potsy]

Any 'hard surface' will not allow water to drain unless provision is made i.e. a slope to a 'soakaway' or a drainage channel.

The drive slopes towards the house so was thinking of having a drain to hopefully keep things dry, will discuss options once I decide on a surface

 

[bagpuss]

What ever surface you have its all down to the quality of workmanship in putting it down and follow on maintance .
Our tramac has been down 25 ish years .It has never cracked etc . Ok it has lost its colour , but hey it is for standing a car on . Once the cars on it I cannot see it . The said company laid the back yard at the same time . Apart from the odd jet washing over the years it still looks good .
As with all thing you get what you pay for . Ask for details of their work in your area .

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

We have Indian Stone - which is OK as long as it is laid properly
AT one bit the slabs were not perfectly lais and became loose - and cracked pretty quickly then - the bloke next door knows about this stuff (he owns a property maintenance company) and says they are brittle and have to be done well or crack easily
They also grow moss and stuff - but I have found some stuff by a company called Smart Seal that cleans them up - but it does need a good going over with a power washer a couple of times a year - or more - as well

The bloke who owns the property maintenance company has a resin drive which was new when we moved in - 7 years later it still looks good and he does very little with it
Only problem with that is that if it needs to be dug up in one small area then it can;t really be put back to look the same without redoing the whole thing
As our drives go over some cables and stuff this is a risk - but it does look good

 

[T4tomo]

Border with blockpaving or similar and cover with membrane and pea shingle

 

[fossyant]

What ever surface you have its all down to the quality of workmanship in putting it down and follow on maintance .
Our tramac has been down 25 ish years .It has never cracked etc . Ok it has lost its colour , but hey it is for standing a car on . Once the cars on it I cannot see it . The said company laid the back yard at the same time . Apart from the odd jet washing over the years it still looks good .
As with all thing you get what you pay for . Ask for details of their work in your area .

Ours is 26 years old, but was looking rather messy as there had been a few 'engine' oils spilt on the drive by my son and his mates. 2 tins of tarmac paint from Wickes and it looks like new. It also seals the surface so you aren't losing 'stones' from it again, and it resists oil spils.

 

[DCLane]

We're in a similar position; a mixture of 25 year-old tarmac, some slabs, a bit of concrete and a gravel section which currently can take 3 cars at a squeeze. The intention's to replace all this whilst slightly widening it but again it's on a slight slope.

SWMBO will get people in to quote, but if they don't consider a drain/soakaway then they'll be automatically excluded.

 

[T4tomo]

You defo need a grid & soakaway, especially if it slopes towards the house!

 

[MontyVeda]

My next door neighbour is very fussy about his driveway. He's had several paved driveways, which inevitably had weeds and moss occupying the gaps and he'd spend half his summer trying to get rid of them, before spending a small fortune on a 'better' driveway, which was paved again and soon had the same problems as the other paved one regardless of what miracle stuff the pavers claimed they're putting between the paving.

Then about five or seven years ago he splashed out on imprinted concrete and he's much happier. Looks dapper too.