DIY a Block Paving Driveway

Ok I know this is likely a 'how long is a piece of string' question.

But how long would you estimate it takes an average DIY'er to lay a block paving driveway?
It's roughly 70 m2, concrete that has cracked over the years with cars on it.

Thinking of hiring a mini digger to remove the existing, lay a new sub base, drainage etc.
Nothing too fancy with the pattern.

Thanks

 

6 months

 

LOL - I had to laugh at that one woody

A bloke up the road is doing a semi detatched front garden and drive. It started in a flurry of enthusiasm and he got the lawn and concrete up. Some 'hardcore' is down but the project has gone quiet these last few weeks. Guess he can't face the whacker plate.

Could project managing be a better option? ie get help in on the bits you need to to keep the momentum up.

Good luck with it.

 

I've got many much smaller jobs which have dragged on for years and are still unfinished. What hope does the OP have?

 

do you live up the road from me? mine has been at the hardcore stage for nearly 12months, ill get back to it when the weather comes around

 

There'd be no stopping me if only I could get started!

 

Once you have hit the gas pipe, the main sewer and finally the media cable, your enthusiasm will have took a severe denting. Couple that with the fact that you will have removed far too much gear, the job looks like the surface of the moon and that you are paying for double the amount of stone and spoil disposal - yeah crack on, six months sounds like a good start point.

 

It'll probably take 3 days to remove existing and grade it a bit going carefully on your own or less if you also have a hi tip dumper. You should locate the services by hand with a spade before going digger crazy, as noseall said a novice digger operate will tear them out easily. Hiring a man and digger and a hi tip dumper could be the best bet here and the two of you could probably do it in a long day.

Then a whole morning of scratching your head and looking at line pines and hmm-ing and ha-ing over levels and falls then a day to set kerbs and edgings carefully to correct falls etc. Assuming getting semidry concrete delivered. Mixing yourself add a good half day

2 days to distribute and compact hardcore (prob 20t-ish). Or less if access is good and a small tipper can reverse up the drive to tip. You really should set kerbs before this stage but if you can only get it dumped at the mouth of the drive in 10t loads then shifting this while the digger and dumper is still available would obviously save a lot of work and time but make sure to leave lots of gaps between large piles to allow you to check levels and run straight edges, string lines and dips for your kerbs etc

Once sub base is in and compacted the screeding and laying is quite fast. You will need help screeding but if its less than 3m wide you can do it on your own buts its hard work and you could happily screed and lay 25m in a day as a diyer, minus cuts which you leave til the end.

So lets say 3 days for laying then a day of cuts, pointing if needed and tidying up.

Add a few hours per manhole cover.

There is some rough estimates to work with, its not hard but setting your kerbs and levels is by far the hardest and most critical bit.

There are lots of time savers here and there but they all would require you hiring equipment, a probst block cart is worthwhile for sure if access is good and you can lift blocks stright from bales and wheel then straight in

 

If it was me I'd take at least two months choosing the pattern!

I saw a hit and run job by a 'pro' firm just a few doors up the other week, again it was a whole front garden jobbie.

There were many tipper lorry movements mucking away and bringing in the 'hardcore', which seemed to be glorified rubble from what I saw of it, much of it about half brick size. As soon as the final load came in they couldn't get the grey chippings down fast enough, they were there until eight o'clock raking them round.

Needless to say it looks awful and four weeks later there is already a small but visible dip where they are parking.

 

this is why i wanted to do it myself, no doubt whoever i chose would do it while i was a t work and id come home to a finished driveway and no idea what went into it. next doors had theirs done, no kerb stones, no drainage, just some cement on to the soil at the edges. i didnt see any hardcore go in and if it did go in, it was probably 5 - 10cm deep. looks nice now, but im certain it will fall apart and sink in a few years. At least if i do it myself i know its had a proper base, ive been parking on the base for 12 months so its not going to sink any further now, ive cemented in the kerbs to the hardcore with large haunches and most of that will be burried under soil on the outside and a little more hardcore on the inside. the biggest problem ive had is getting the kerbs level, but it will be 10x the job of the cowboys and cost me half as much (but take me 1.5 years longer....)

 

Isn't it funny that those that are keen to do it themselves are also the ones keen to explore the cheapo (cowboy) quotes.

 

hiring a mini digger to do what? take up the existing concrete?
hire a breaker instead

 

What about the other 4" of material and the ability to place it in a convenient heap.

Hand digging is a mugs game.

 

he cant really dig until the concretes broken up and hand digging may be a mugs game but it depends on the soil and as someone pointed out earlier theres less risk to gas pipes and cables