Guidance on new driveway please

Wyldwood

My 25 year old concrete driveway is disintegrating after the winter frost. It's about 40' long and 12' wide plus a footpath across the front of house 4' wide and 35' long.

I have 2 things against paved drives
1. the weeds pop up in the joints regardless of weedkiller (I'm watching my neighbour constantly tending his, especially where traffic is light)
2. the cost (€12,000 +)

I don't like the look of imprinted concrete & I'm told it can be slippery

Is re-concreting the drive & path my only option?

Anyone got a suggestion? House has brown mix Butterley bricks in front

JuniorB

Maybe my sums are wrong but are you talking about 60 sq mtrs of paving?
12k? More like 1500 with the prices I'm getting.
Supply and fit for €25 per sq mtr (including VAT). PM for details.

looksee

Plus dig up and remove concrete and dump, (plus possibly hitting a mains cable :eek: been there...) plus hardcore, plus sand...

TskTsk

Wyldwood wrote: »

My 25 year old concrete driveway is disintegrating after the winter frost.

Is re-concreting the drive & path my only option?

Anyone got a suggestion? House has brown mix Butterley bricks in front

Did you heavily salt it during the Winter? Mine continued to corrode long after the cold snap, and it only stopped after I hosed and brushed it a couple of times. The salt remains on the surface, even after a lot of rain. If you brush it properly, it might be salvagable.

JuniorB

that's true looksee.. what cost for what you mentioned 3/4k ?
I'm on new build so have a blinkered view

looksee

Sorry, I can't remember, but our much shorter (20ft maybe) but otherwise similar job was quoted and it sounded like a good price, but just in time we discovered that he was assuming coming onto a cleared site! I think it was about a third of the total cost.

Plus one of those yokes for compressing the foundation...and a skip...don't assume anything is included, its amazing what will appear once the job has started.

Wyldwood

TskTsk, yes unfortunately I did salt very heavily during the frost and am paying the price now for no broken bones then! Have also had it power hosed over the years which certainly isn't good for concrete. It's down to gravel and dust in lots of spots now so not salvageable I'm told.

I've had 2 quotes for removal of concrete and refinish in paving - both over €12,000 (covering an area slightly bigger than at present)

Need an alternative.

dardevle

JuniorB wrote: »

Maybe my sums are wrong but are you talking about 60 sq mtrs of paving?
12k? More like 1500 with the prices I'm getting.
Supply and fit for €25 per sq mtr (including VAT). PM for details.

...while i realise there is a recession at the present time and prices are not what they were, 25 yoyo's a square seems to me to be extremely cheap for any sort of paving and i would want to see physical examples of previous work and testamony from clients before choosing a contractor.


yeehaw!;)


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Sonnenblumen

Wyldwood wrote: »

TskTsk, yes unfortunately I did salt very heavily during the frost and am paying the price now for no broken bones then! Have also had it power hosed over the years which certainly isn't good for concrete. It's down to gravel and dust in lots of spots now so not salvageable I'm told.

I've had 2 quotes for removal of concrete and refinish in paving - both over €12,000 (covering an area slightly bigger than at present)

Need an alternative.

Granite Driveway, forget the rest.

Wyldwood

Granite would look good but I'm back to the problem of weeds between the pavers again & the cost would be astronomical I'm sure.

Thinking of concrete edged with double row of pavers & broken by horizontal double row of pavers every 10 - 12 feet or so. Saw a pic of one online and looks quite good. Cost would be more realistic also.


Feel free to comment please

87pio

What about just covering the concrete with crushed coloured chipping stones?:cool:

Wyldwood

chippings are a non-runner due to the fact that I live on a small estate with no footpaths so chippings would constantly be spreading onto the road outside with the movement of cars in and out.

This is what I have in mind now

Sonnenblumen

Wyldwood wrote: »

Granite would look good but I'm back to the problem of weeds between the pavers again & the cost would be astronomical I'm sure.

Thinking of concrete edged with double row of pavers & broken by horizontal double row of pavers every 10 - 12 feet or so. Saw a pic of one online and looks quite good. Cost would be more realistic also.


Feel free to comment please

Natural Stone Granite Driveways ( Paving slabs and Setts) are usually set in concrete (well that's how we would complete installations) and all joints should also be mortared to give a vastly superior finish to the perfect weed growing environment associated with pavers/cobblelock with brush-in sanded joints. Granite Driveways offer a superior finish with many advantages but initial outlay will cost more but you will also reap the benefits of an appealing but durable and troublefree longterm solution.

Various designs are possible which may provide for a more cost effective solution.

You will see various examples (Driveways) on our website.

dardevle

Wyldwood wrote: »

chippings are a non-runner due to the fact that I live on a small estate with no footpaths so chippings would constantly be spreading onto the road outside with the movement of cars in and out.

This is what I have in mind now

nice choice but i would go the extra bit and have an exposed aggregate in the concrete, bit more cost but def a step up in finish.

mt-conc-exposed-agg.jpg

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Wyldwood

exposed aggregate sounds interesting, will investigate further. Thanks for all the suggestions everyone. Plenty of food for thought but limited by budgetary concerns I'm afraid.

yop

Lovely idea there with the paving between the concrete. Is there a separator there between the paving stones and the concrete?

How is the aggregate done? Is it just thrown on?

dardevle

yop wrote: »

Lovely idea there with the paving between the concrete. Is there a separator there between the paving stones and the concrete?

How is the aggregate done? Is it just thrown on?

can be done in a couple of different ways: 1) regular concrete which is top dressed with the chosen aggregate before it sets(cost effective)
2) concrete made up entirely of the chosen aggregate, which then has a retarding agent sprayed on top(5-10mm) and left to penetrate and stop the surface layer from curing, this is then washed off to leave the top layer of aggregate exposed.



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Fiesta

dardevle wrote: »

regular concrete which is top dressed with the chosen aggregate before it sets(cost effective)

...

Has anyone any experience of doing this?

Do you just fire the chosen aggregate at the wet concrete?

Sounds good in theory, but is it nice in practise?

just do it

Sonnenblumen wrote: »

Granite Driveways offer a superior finish with many advantages but initial outlay will cost more but you will also reap the benefits of an appealing but durable and troublefree longterm solution.

Various designs are possible which may provide for a more cost effective solution.

How much more percentage-wise would a granite driveway cost in comparision to a concrete driveway?

Sonnenblumen

just do it wrote: »

How much more percentage-wise would a granite driveway cost in comparision to a concrete driveway?

Granite would cost approx 20-30% more, but with significantly better performance and life expectancy.

RubyGirl

Sonnenblumen wrote: »

Granite would cost approx 20-30% more, but with significantly better performance and life expectancy.

How much would doing your driveway in concrete compaired to tarmac be, would any one know? Generally who would you look for when looking to lay a concrete driveway?

Sonnenblumen

RubyGirl wrote: »

How much would doing your driveway in concrete compaired to tarmac be, would any one know? Generally who would you look for when looking to lay a concrete driveway?

Tarmac is much more cost effective for larger areas ie > 200sqm, good quality tarmac would cost c € 25.00/sq m. For Urban driveways, concrete is probably a better cost option.

There are some (in)famous vendors offering low cost tar driveways, and such is not being considered.

There are specialist installers for tarmac, but the choice is wider for concrete. You need to do some research as there is a considerable history of disappointment with various driveway finishes (essentially due to poor workmanship).