expansion joints

[10phil79]

Hi - question relating to my driveway.

Just had drains repaired and extended. The contractor has left the surface below the finished level, using scalpings and wacked them down. It's more or less ready for me to lay the surfaces.

At the top end of the drive, I will be putting a shed - this section will just be flag paved, the remainder will be block paving.

one 10m length of the drive (3m wide) runs between the house and a retaining wall - effectively a wall either side. The top of the retaining wall is around 400mm higher than then finished level and it holds back the difference in height between my neighbour's and my drive (around 1.5m).

Question is, where concrete flags and block paving are used, should i run an expansion joint down the 10m length of the drive? I don't wish to risk damage to the retaining wall (or the house). If an expansion joint is required, is there a compressible material or suitable mastic that should be used?

Thanks!

 

[r896neo]

you would only need an expansion joint if you were planning to lay it in a solid concrete slab. It's definately not needed for block paving and only very unusual specific situations would it be needed for flags.