Concrete driveway - suggestions needed

jos28

We have a concrete driveway edged with red brick and it's brutal. There is a major problem with the drainage. Huge pools of water gather in one area and I have to keep sweeping it away. My beloved son has restores old cars occasionally so you can imagine the oil stains. We cannot afford to get a major job done and I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions. If we got the drainage sorted (no idea how) can the concrete be sprayed or coloured to cover up marks. The front of the house is north-facing and my neighbour's cobbled driveways are prone to moss. I don't want any cobble-lock effects that moss/weeds can gather in. Any ideas ?

Carlow52

A few picture would help but one idea is to cut out the concrete where the pooling and oils marks are and back fill with decorative gravel, with or without Gravel Stabilizer mesh

You could hire a proper water cooled concrete saw to do the cutting once u are happy there is no pipes or cables underneath

jos28

Thanks Carlow, I will take of couple of pics today and post them up.
Cheers

Ronin247

A lad I know does this "Smartseal" stuff for driveways and the likes.I have been told it is pretty decent stuff.I think they do colours as well.

http://www.smartseal.ie/smartseal-affiliate/list-of-agents.html

jos28

That Smartseal stuff is exactly the kind of thing I was thinking about. I am going to give them a shout. They may even be able to do what Carlow suggested and cut out the 'swimming pool' section and refill it. Thanks a million lads. Mind you I should get the son to pay half as his junkers (sorry restoration projects ) caused most of the mess.

jos28

Sorry to drag up an old thread but I still have not got this sorted. I contacted Smartseal (really nice guy) and he was not sure if he could shift the oil stains and will be getting back to me but did not seem hopeful. In the meantime, any suggestions ?
You can see the state of it in the photo and I can only imagine what is underneath the red car (I've been promised that it will be moved soon :rolleyes:) Water gathers on the front left hand side and has to be swept away after heavy rain.
Could I get it skimmed with new concrete and perhaps leveled off ?
Could I get a layer of tarmac put over it ? What about that imprinted concrete ?
I don't like it but anything would be better that it is ? Any advice would be much appreciated.

cnarf

I don't know if you have sorted your problem but my mother used to soak with laundry detergent (persil) and scrub the concrete door step at the front of our house to get rid of black grease stains from adjacent family run garage.

jos28

Thanks Cnarf, I managed to clean it up a bit with the persil trick. The 'restoration project' aka junker is still there so I gave up on doing anything permanent yet. I was talking to a neighbour who sorted a similar problem by covering the entire driveway in large decorative stones, not gravel. It looks really well and is easy to maintain. Think that is what I will eventually do.