Hi, does anyone know if it's possible to lay pavers over concrete? And if so - how? We have a drive thats half concrete/ half tarmac and want to gravel the garden to the side of it. Therefore we would like to lay two strips of pavers over the drive for the car to drive onto and infill with gravel like the rest of the garden. Can we lay them straight onto the existing drive or would we need to break it up first?
Laying pavers over concrete
- Thread starter tigsmom
- Start date
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Never tried it and personally I wouldn't like to try it. However there may be other opinions on this matter.
As regards infilling with gravel - if the gravel is over the top of concrete and/or tarmac then you may have problems with the gravel migrating. Again, not something I'd like to do.
Yeah, it's posed us with a problem but a half concrete/half tarmac drive is ugly (and weeds grow through the cracks). It seems a shame to tidy the other half of the garden but leave the drive. That said, we don't have unlimited amounts of money (who does at the mo?). We heard on 'ground force' that you can lay a thin layer of concrete on top of concrete if you use pva first. It's another option but I'd be worried it would crack. I think we would have to use reinforced pavers plus the gravel in between would only be 1" deep so hopefully wouldn't move too much, especially if we keep the car on the pavers. I'm just not sure how to lay them, if we need sand or just mortar & if it needs to be a bed of mortar as opposed to the usual dabs.
D
dextrous
Can't really see this as being a problem - if we "assume" the current concrete/tarmac has sufficient hardcore underneath then you are simply adding an extra layer.
If it were me, I'd put a garden membrane down, covered with a 1" to 2" layer of dry mix (3 sand to 1 cement), levelled and tamped/vibrator plated down, and lay the slabs/flags or whatever over this and spread the gravel at the same time, tamped into position. When the dry mix goes off and becomes hard, the bottom layer of gravel will have embedded itself into it and will prevent lateral movement of the slabs whilst providing a key for the gravel above it.
If it were me, I'd put a garden membrane down, covered with a 1" to 2" layer of dry mix (3 sand to 1 cement), levelled and tamped/vibrator plated down, and lay the slabs/flags or whatever over this and spread the gravel at the same time, tamped into position. When the dry mix goes off and becomes hard, the bottom layer of gravel will have embedded itself into it and will prevent lateral movement of the slabs whilst providing a key for the gravel above it.
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your best option is to break up and remove the existing driveway and thats the only way i would do it for a customer, as you have no way of knowing whats underneath and how good the sub-base is.
Having said that if the existing concrete is solid and shows no signs of breaking up, then you could lay over it. Any paving slab will take the weight provided it is bedded porperly on a full bed of mortar. The concrete only needs a good clean down prior to be laid on. Forget the crap youve seen on groundforce about pva, its pointless. Theres no such thing as usual dabs by the way. thats a cheap shoddy way of laying paving that doesnt last and leads to slabs moving and pointing breaking up.
It needs to be a sharp sand mortar for this to give the additional strength. The gravel can simply be infilled in between.
Having said that if the existing concrete is solid and shows no signs of breaking up, then you could lay over it. Any paving slab will take the weight provided it is bedded porperly on a full bed of mortar. The concrete only needs a good clean down prior to be laid on. Forget the crap youve seen on groundforce about pva, its pointless. Theres no such thing as usual dabs by the way. thats a cheap shoddy way of laying paving that doesnt last and leads to slabs moving and pointing breaking up.
It needs to be a sharp sand mortar for this to give the additional strength. The gravel can simply be infilled in between.
Thanks for that. There is a way we could get an idea of how deep the drive is and thats to dig a deep enough hole next to it. That said, we have lived here nearly 6 years and it's not moved despite having a few minor cracks in the surface. It's also had several heavy skips on it after the floods which have done no damage. I do like the idea of laying the gravel over a thin layer of concrete to hold it in place (even if it's not technically necessary). I'm also pleased that we can use any pavers instead of those huge ugly grey industrial ones. I had those at my last house and ended up covering the rest of the front garden in plum slate to brighten it up a bit! Would we be ok to just slope the concrete up to the first pavers to provide an easy run up or is there a better way?
D
dextrous
The slope up to first run may be a bit of a problem - if the pavers are 50mm, on a bed of 25-50mm, then you have a bit of an ugly slope of wet mortar to contend with, which will most likely be worn down with the car quickly. It may be worth breaking the first metre of concrete to sink this down and create a more gradual initial slope.
Just to be clear, you are laying the pavers on a mortar mix and not fresh concrete. These are different, so for (my) peace of mind, please could you use the terminology correctly?
Just to be clear, you are laying the pavers on a mortar mix and not fresh concrete. These are different, so for (my) peace of mind, please could you use the terminology correctly?
D
dextrous
Yes, sorry. I would always double check before buyingI'm the thinker/ planner/ project manager - hubbys the do-er! I'd never live it down if I gave him the wrong instructions.
Once helped my son's school lay base for a playhouse. We sent the lovely teacher down to bq for some more cement (was sunday afternoon) and she came back with concrete. Wrong stuff to lay slabs on!!
Just to clarify - the dry mix mortar - does this work like the dry mix post mix i.e. you put it down dry, tamp it down then add water on top of it? Or do we lay the pavers on it when its dry & wait for the rainwater to seep through & gradually set it like you do when you fill in between paving? How long does it take to go off? I wouldn't want to drive/walk on it until it's fully set.
Also, the front edge of the drive is the tarmac part so maybe we could break the first bit up and embed those bricks with the corner cut off that you use for edging block paved drives? What do you think?
Also, the front edge of the drive is the tarmac part so maybe we could break the first bit up and embed those bricks with the corner cut off that you use for edging block paved drives? What do you think?
D
dextrous
Dry mortar mix - mix it up straight from the bags (sharp sand and cement) on a hard area such as your existing concrete(unless you hire a mixer which may be wise given the amounts required), and spread it without added water. Ideally, you should put a couple of timbers along each edge of the run and use a plank with the corners cut off to the required depth of paver to slide along this "tramline" to help get it flat and smooth and to the required level. If you hire a vibrating plate, run this over the whole area again and apply more dry mix, again scraping it perfectly flat. This process will mean that the dry-mix area is already highly unlikely to move or give way.
Put the pavers on top and tap them down (turn you T-shape plank over) to ensure that they are in place and pour in the gravel. Either wait for rain or finely drizzle a hose over the area and leave for a couple of days. (you can always scrape away some of the gravel to check that this is now solid)
As for the drive-on/off edge at the pavement, not sure about those bevelled edge pavers. - think they might give way under the "shock" of sudden weight of car, if you know what I mean, with subsequent pavers following suit.
Would still go for a gentle slop of pavers set at same height as the pavement.
Put the pavers on top and tap them down (turn you T-shape plank over) to ensure that they are in place and pour in the gravel. Either wait for rain or finely drizzle a hose over the area and leave for a couple of days. (you can always scrape away some of the gravel to check that this is now solid)
As for the drive-on/off edge at the pavement, not sure about those bevelled edge pavers. - think they might give way under the "shock" of sudden weight of car, if you know what I mean, with subsequent pavers following suit.
Would still go for a gentle slop of pavers set at same height as the pavement.
Ah. Easy when you know how! I was thinking of using timber at the edges anyway but the t shaped timber is new to me. Thanks for the help, I'm fairly confident now.
Our preschool could do with someone like you. They've just been quoted £10k to do a small play area for the kids (smaller than my back garden!). We're a long way from Antartica though.
I was thinking of using timber at the edges anyway but the t shaped timber is new to me. Thanks for the help, I'm fairly confident now. Our preschool could do with someone like you. They've just been quoted £10k to do a small play area for the kids (smaller than my back garden!). We're a long way from Antartica though.
D
dextrous
Ah. Easy when you know how!
Our preschool could do with someone like you. They've just been quoted £10k to do a small play area for the kids (smaller than my back garden!). We're a long way from Antartica though.
They may be quoting for a rubber compound flooring. On the other hand, they may be thinking council prices and are just being unpleasant!
As for antartica - it's really just over the border, west along the M62 (the only good thing to come out of yorkshire
)
D
dextrous
Have seen and done both ways - wet and dry. Providing the dry mix has been whacked down, it's never been a problem.
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