Driveway

[sotal]

We currently have a driveway which is tarmac and holds four cars.

The tarmac is crumbling at the edges and we had the mains water pipe replaced right through the middle of it.

We want to add ACO drains, and extend the drive to the side to make it hold 6 cars.

It will be about 100sqm I think.

Current quotes for tarmac or pavers have been too much for us to justify.

I'm considering hiring a mini digger (have used one before) and pulling it all up and doing the drive myself.

I don't think I can do tarmac, but I would have thought pavers would be doable.

I've got a bit of experience and did work for a year or two in construction about 15 years ago.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

 

[stevie888]

Eminently doable if you have enough time and energy and plenty of videos on t'Tube to guide you.

Key thing is get a solid base. Dig deep enough to at least get rid of topsoil, wack the formation and lay Terram. Grab lorries will be cheaper than skips provided you have space to heap stuff up on a surface that you can protect or won't matter if damaged and can be reached from the road.

Crushed concrete is generally cheaper and better than proper type 1, both lay better damp. I would put my edgings in to give me levels ahead of finishing the type 1

 

[Ivor Windybottom]

You may find there's some re-usable crushed rock under the tarmac. It will need removing, digging deeper then putting back in. Then probably a layer of more on top.

Sadly your tarmac isn't reusable.

You will need some space besides the new driveway to mound the stuff.

Don't skimp.

 

[sotal]

There is a good depth of hardcore under the tarmac which was evident when digging the trench for the new water pipe.

At the moment we have the 4 car drive which is two cars behind two cars. The extra part would be too the side of the top half of the drive. It is currently grass.

I'm thinking we would have to do it in stages as we wouldn't have enough space to do it all in one go.

Job 1, would be to remove grass and dig down enough to fit hard core to the required depth and compress. Also remove the old 3'x2' slabs that make a path. The waste from here would have to go on to the drive and be collected. Avoiding the fibre for the internet which I have marked and it has a fairly long service loop left to give us some room for movement.

Then I could perhaps put some boards down on the new hardcore and remove the tarmac from the drive and put it onto the boards to then get collected. (Watching out for gas and water pipe which I have both marked, but also watching out for electricity supply which I don't have marked)

Redistribute existing hardcore and add to it if necessary then whacker plate the whole lot level. Adding ACO drains at this point and fixing edging in place.

Then get pallets of pavers delivered into the new section of driveway and then lay them on the original driveway area working my way through until towards the end I have to shift the last couple of pallets to give space to last underneath them. I do have space to store 2 pallets in the front in an area that will become a border, which will help. We live at the end of a cul-de-sac too so although not technically correct to store anything on the road for a day or two, I doubt anyone would mind and it wouldn't hinder anyone.

 

[stevie888]

A couple of additional thoughts then:

1. Skips might be dearer at first sight but often work out more economic and convenient overall and are better in tight spaces for sure.
2. You certainly can use the black as hardcore it's just harder to break down and compact. You can make this task easier though by deliberately taking your time with the break out to achieve small pieces.
3. 100 sqm is a good quantity of blocks and I'm sure a split delivery would cost little to nothing extra.

Crack on and think of all the money you'd spend in a gym getting that fit!

 

[noseall]

There is a good depth of hardcore under the tarmac which was evident when digging the trench for the new water pipe.

At the moment we have the 4 car drive which is two cars behind two cars. The extra part would be too the side of the top half of the drive. It is currently grass.

I'm thinking we would have to do it in stages as we wouldn't have enough space to do it all in one go.

Job 1, would be to remove grass and dig down enough to fit hard core to the required depth and compress. Also remove the old 3'x2' slabs that make a path. The waste from here would have to go on to the drive and be collected. Avoiding the fibre for the internet which I have marked and it has a fairly long service loop left to give us some room for movement.

Then I could perhaps put some boards down on the new hardcore and remove the tarmac from the drive and put it onto the boards to then get collected. (Watching out for gas and water pipe which I have both marked, but also watching out for electricity supply which I don't have marked)

Redistribute existing hardcore and add to it if necessary then whacker plate the whole lot level. Adding ACO drains at this point and fixing edging in place.

Then get pallets of pavers delivered into the new section of driveway and then lay them on the original driveway area working my way through until towards the end I have to shift the last couple of pallets to give space to last underneath them. I do have space to store 2 pallets in the front in an area that will become a border, which will help. We live at the end of a cul-de-sac too so although not technically correct to store anything on the road for a day or two, I doubt anyone would mind and it wouldn't hinder anyone.

Re-using the existing gear is doable but faffy, time consuming and requires a deft hand with the digger. Its easy to get overwhelmed with heaps of wanted and unwanted gear, all mingling together in a heap. If you are confident there is enough sub-base already down, whist removing enough material to accommodate both the paving and the sand layer, crack on.

Make sure your road water stop tap is turn on/off - able.

 

[^woody^]

The base is the most important thing. Don't cut corners on that, don't assume, get it right.

Paving is ideal for doing in stages, but again spend time on the levels to avoid several different sloping sections when it's all finished

 

[Ivor Windybottom]

I'm a big fan of hiring a mini concrete crusher and turning rubbish into aggregate. You'll pay about £300 for one for a day, it would turn any paving or edging into re-usable hardcore, saving the cost and effort of disposal and moving in new aggregates.

You probably don't have enough concrete to justify it, but I don't know if they can handle tarmac, I've never tried it. If so then it could make sense. Perhaps ask your local hire place, see if they tell you it's a terrible idea or not...

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This is what I used last time...

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