Driveway surface..

[MontyVeda]

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 .

also bear in mind what's growing nearby... tree roots can be a bugger, regardless of how well the surface has been laid.

 

[PK99]

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.

Whatever the paving material it must be SUDS compliant [essentially any new or replacement driveway over 5m^2 MUST NOT drain onto the roadway without a full planning application].: It MUST be Either porous to allow through draining or have a catch drain and soakaway within the garden or laid to falls within the garden. It cannot drain to the foul or surface drainage systems,

Existing driveways have "grandfather rights" but these lapse if the area is repaved.

Friends have just had a new SUDS compliant block drive - Poruous base layer and blocks with nibs giving a wide sharp-gravel filled gap. Already (6 months) weed seedlings are sprouting in the wide gaps.

 

[roadrash]

Gaps mean weeds whatever the surface, tarmac, done properly or imprinted concrete would be the only choices for me

 

[si_c]

One of my friends is in the process of getting an imprinted concrete driveway, looks really good so far. From what I understand he's also getting a polymer coating on top too so the concrete doesn't pick up any oil or other stains.

 

[vickster]

Weeds are all God's little plants too

 

[CXRAndy]

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

You'd better put in proper drainage to protect your house!

A wall constantly wetted, will lead to rising damp, brick erosion from frost jacking. Ensure the water is taken completely away from the house. Consider installing a soak away furthest point from house.

Or consider a top dressing that allows water to soak through.

 

[Once a Wheeler]

Have you thought about Grasscrete?

Basically, concrete blocks with a pattern pierced right through them. Dig out to lay the blocks, fill the voids with earth, plant with grass seed, maintain with a Strimmer. The great advantage is that it lets rain water through so your surrounding plants and trees do not suddenly find themselves in drought conditions. It also helps the overall environment in keeping the ground water where it should be — in the ground — and not contributing to potential flooding. Worth considering.

 

[DCLane]

@Once a Wheeler - it appeals to the environmentalist in me, and they're local. But ... I can't get an idea of cost and I'm sure it wouldn't help the probable future house sale (although that'll be a bit longer since SWMBO isn't keen on moving just yet) since the likely buyers of my house will want a 'proper' drive.

 

[Arrowfoot]

You can bind block pavers with polymeric sand. Its looks like sand but it hardens. The pavers can't move and there are no space for weeds to take root.

 

[jowwy]

You can bind block pavers with polymeric sand. Its looks like sand but it hardens. The pavers can't move and there are no space for weeds to take root.

ive just bought some for the paving stones down the side of my house, leading to the back garden.

 

[MrGrumpy]

Just had my drive redone in block paving. The old paving was not bad little weeds in it . If done correctly new blocked drive should last a couple of decades at least. Did think about a resin drive but I’m not sure how good they would be if anything caustic was to drop on them ? Decided that the risk was not worth taking. I know if one that ended up with a crack and it had to be lifted completely.

It’s all about the prep on the base end of the day . Seen some horrors round my way .

 

[I like Skol]

Have you thought about Grasscrete?
View attachment 629044
Basically, concrete blocks with a pattern pierced right through them. Dig out to lay the blocks, fill the voids with earth, plant with grass seed, maintain with a Strimmer. The great advantage is that it lets rain water through so your surrounding plants and trees do not suddenly find themselves in drought conditions. It also helps the overall environment in keeping the ground water where it should be — in the ground — and not contributing to potential flooding. Worth considering.

In a similar style to this there is a product that I have always thought would be ideal for 'green' parking areas and even better than the concrete.
Used by 4x4 off-road competitors as grip boards, bridging planks or jacking mats when cut into planks about 12" wide and 4-5' long and often called 'waffles'. Strong enough to drive across its length without additional support in the middle.

https://evergrip.com/products/grating-systems/moulded-gritted/

With grit on the upper side it offers more than enough grip for driving on but by filling and seeding the mesh with grass it would form an attractive lawn and only require mowing like a lawn. If the green mesh was used it would be pretty much invisible but laid in full size sheets would never move or sink so a totally flat surface forever, regardless of where you repeatedly park.
The only downside is that I wouldn't recommend walking on it in your high heel shoes!

Maybe a full driveway using this system would be a step too far? One place I have always thought it would be perfect is for those grass verges outside houses where the residents park on the grass as if it is a parking spot even though it gets chewed into a sunken muddy mess! Simply dig out the mess, chuck in a few sheets of the grp mesh and re-grass the area. Now you have a car resistant verge that continues to look good regardless of how selfish the house owner is!

 

[bagpuss]

" a few 'engine' oils spilt on the drive" thats patina is it not .

 

[I like Skol]

" a few 'engine' oils spilt on the drive" thats patina is it not .

I have an old land rover. SWMBO doesn't let me park it on the drive....

 

[presta]

ff

I have always like black tarmac with red bits in..... just appeals to me.

Don't. Just don't. Mine started crumbling in no time, if I want to do something as simple as sweeping the drive with a broom I have to find somewhere to dispose of a couple of barrowloads of tarmac (and it's hard work pushing that much tarmac around with a broom, too). You'll need a stout board under jacks/axle stands/ramps, otherwise they poke holes in it. If I try to pull weeds out they pull a load of tarmac with them.

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.

Yup. Both my neighbours lay block paving for a living, and the one who shares a drive with me is miffed because I won't let him do ours. He assures me that weeds won't grow between the blocks if he puts polythene sheeting underneath them, so he obviously never grew a bean in a jam jar when he was a kid.

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

That's what happened to the ones in our High St., they've just finished replacing it with resin bonded pea gravel. Looks nice, but we'll see how it lasts.
(Those paving slabs are too porous and absorbent, they looked shabby and second hand before the job was even finished because they blot up every bit of mess and spillage.)

My choice of drive is plain concrete, all day long. Looks tidy and lasts a lifetime.