Do block paved driveways ever last?

[joe90]

1 hour ago, Onoff said:

could be applied down to 2mm thick,

What a load of bollocks. Stuff I saw was laid 100mm thick over properly whacked mot and they pushed steel mesh in it. Just depends if the contractor knows his stuff or not ?‍♂️

[TonyT]

Problem is you don’t push mesh into concrete, you lay mesh first with appropriate packets/depth and pour concrete on top , I see a lot of the push mesh into concrete brigade

[Onoff]

13 minutes ago, joe90 said:

What a load of bollocks. Stuff I saw was laid 100mm thick over properly whacked mot and they pushed steel mesh in it. Just depends if the contractor knows his stuff or not ?‍♂️

 

They literally trowelled the stuff on and pressed it with a mould to get the pattern. Batted on about special resins. I remember trying to warn him off at the time. Mug! ?

[Bitpipe]

I think the above goes for any driveway irrespective of what's on top.

 

Our landscaper grubbed up 5 grab loaders worth of old driveway and top layer and replaced with about 100t of crush and then scalpings which were rolled flat, not whacked.

 

He concreted in edging blocks, well haunched on the outer side and the resin contractor laid pourus tarmac and resin bound gravel. 5 years in it looks more or less as it did when it went down. We also have block paved bell mouths in and out. Few gaps starting to appear between blocks now but he's coming back to resolve.

 

 

[Onoff]

Did this with a neighbour mate circa 1991:

 

 

Concrete with red dye in it and loads of waterproof PVA. I then made a board up with strips to effect the mortar lines. Put slight tapers on the strips. Once "pressed" I dipped a plastic broom head in black dye and "splattered" the whole area by holding the broom head upside down and pulling back on the bristles. Then a half inch paint brush in all the mortar lines turned them very dark due to the black dye. It still looks like this to this day. Retained its colour etc. 

[Oz07]

Prep even more crucial on solid concrete imprinted driveways. Concrete doesn't flex!

[tonyshouse]

Almost impossible to repair and prone to unexpected cracks 

[joe90]

2 hours ago, tonyshouse said:

and prone to unexpected cracks

Not (IMO) If it’s prepped properly installed properly (with mesh) and any movement joints installed if required.

[tonyshouse]

Trouble is that the world isn’t perfect, base, sub base and underlying ground can be not fully compacted, heavy vehicles can apply uneven loads, corners snap off, in the real world there are lots of cracked concrete and printed concrete driveways, patios and paths. Always looks good when new, but not after a dig, trench or repair 

[JanetE]

Talking about weeds in the gaps.  For the last couple of years I've gone around with a sharp knife teasing out the weeds ?  Looking at it the other day I've decided to ditch that idea so am interested to see if anyone has any suggestions for a weed free drive?  Thought about using a weed burner?

 

I have to say that, weeds aside, I really like these paviours, we had tarmac for years, which is OK but these look much nicer and were properly laid, only sinking in a small area where the skip lorrys foot wasn't properly protected.

 

[jack]

5 minutes ago, JanetE said:

Talking about weeds in the gaps.  For the last couple of years I've gone around with a sharp knife teasing out the weeds ?  Looking at it the other day I've decided to ditch that idea so am interested to see if anyone has any suggestions for a weed free drive?  Thought about using a weed burner?

 

Weed burners are okay as long as you do it regularly. They're a lot less effective if the weeds get above a certain size.

 

Unless you get a massive one, they also cover only a small area at a time, so you may end up spending a lot of time covering a large area like a driveway.

 

Little and often might be the key. Weeds are killed immediately if they've just sprouted, so you can just do a fast sweep every week to get new sprouts rather than a massive effort every month involving more established growth.

 

 

[joe90]

11 minutes ago, JanetE said:

Talking about weeds in the gaps

I have block paving paths and patio and I find a blast with a pressure washer not only gets the weeds out but removes the dirt which weeds root into so lasts longer, it also cleans the block surface after a winter. (Make sure your wearing full waterproofs tho ?)

[Vijay]

25 minutes ago, JanetE said:

Talking about weeds in the gaps.  For the last couple of years I've gone around with a sharp knife teasing out the weeds ?  Looking at it the other day I've decided to ditch that idea so am interested to see if anyone has any suggestions for a weed free drive?  Thought about using a weed burner?

 

I have to say that, weeds aside, I really like these paviours, we had tarmac for years, which is OK but these look much nicer and were properly laid, only sinking in a small area where the skip lorrys foot wasn't properly protected.

 

Hi Janet,

 

Would it not be best to use a weedkiller and try and kill things from the roots?

[SteamyTea]

On 02/04/2021 at 11:36, Onoff said:

Did this with a neighbour mate circa 1991:

 

 

Looks like skinny child labour.

[Bitpipe]

41 minutes ago, joe90 said:

I have block paving paths and patio and I find a blast with a pressure washer not only gets the weeds out but removes the dirt which weeds root into so lasts longer, it also cleans the block surface after a winter. (Make sure your wearing full waterproofs tho ?)

 

We were advised against pressure washing the block paving area on our drive as it dislodges the sand that is vibrated into the gaps and keeps the blocks from moving, can also erode the sand below onto which they are bedded.

 

I just do a dose of path clear weed killer early in the season on visible weeds, grass and on any new weeds that emerge. Need to pick a dry day with no rain forecast and be patient. You see the effects after a week or so.

[Onoff]

48 minutes ago, SteamyTea said:

Looks like skinny child labour.

 

I was several stone lighter then. Ribs like a xylophone.

[SteamyTea]

20 minutes ago, Onoff said:

Ribs like a xylophone

Isn't that wat Rolf Harris played with.

 

Will paving get rid of my, well hidden, middle age spread?

Edited April 3, 2021 by SteamyTea

[PeterW]

3 head weed burners are a really good tool to clear driveways but they need a full size bottle so you need a trolley. 

[Declan52]

I use sodium hypochlorite to clean mine. Kills everything that's not meant to be there and brings the pavers up looking brand new. A 25 litre drum costs £15 here and it goes a long way. 

[JanetE]

We've tried the jet washing as I have planting on one side of the drive and didn't want to use any kind of systemic weed killer.  It has dislodged some of the sand but not much,  only problem we have is that a lot of the weeds are still there ? but the drive is pretty clean! 

So I'm now thinking of just spot spraying them with the pathclear stuff as per @Bitpipe 's recommendation.

[MrSniff]

Ours hasn't budged in 15 years (very fussy contractor who did drives and patios and that's it). I use one of these to get rid of weeds and moss between the blocks:

 

And a light jet wash to clean the surface.

[JanetE]

@MrSniff Not quite clear what 'this' is?  Has it got a long handle? Can't see from your picture, perhaps you could put in a link! ?

Edited April 15, 2021 by JanetE

[markc]

8 minutes ago, JanetE said:

@MrSniff Not quite clear what 'this' is?  Has it got a long handle? Can't see from your picture, perhaps you could put in a link! ?

Patio brush, basically a wire brush on a long handle.

[daiking]

Unfortunately, a long period of neglect means I have rampant Horsetail which will quite happily come through the sub base to my block paved drive (but prefers growing up the house footings).

 

Stamp on new growth, spray it, repeat for 20 years.

 

 

[MrSniff]

@JanetE Sorry, yes a patio brush - long handled and the wire brush has a tapered edge for getting between blocks.