Hardcore for new driveway
- Thread starter vegasgo
- Start date
Come on Noseall, put more pictures of your work. 
Andy
Andy
What's been delivered though doesn't look too disimilar to this
https://www.northwestaggregates.com...ecycled-aggregates-20-tonne-minimum-509-p.asp
https://www.northwestaggregates.com...ecycled-aggregates-20-tonne-minimum-509-p.asp
What you have has been supplied by a muckaway company
they pick up mixed spoil: soil, bricks, concrete. It’s sorted crushed and graded, but it’s often not done well, internal block work like cinder blocks crush down to dust.
Concrete crush graded to the correct ratio of aggregate and fines is ok for driveway sub bases but not as good as type 1.
Type 1 is by far the best, when compacted it locks together and is proper solid…..you could make a pretty effective driveway with alone.
Whenever people post on here with serious issues, it almost always leads back to an online trade site.
These websites are funded by the tradesmen that advertise, so the website owners are on the side of the tradesmen not the customer.
OK ... so how exactly do I tell the boss of the company your hardcore is rubbish and I want it replaced with proper type 1. He will tell me they've been using it for years and never had a problem. If I could call on a true expert to come and take a look it would makes things easier, but where do I start?
There are various British Standards that regulate the quality of recycled aggregates. But you don't know whether your supplier claims to meet these, and I seriously doubt you could call the BS "Police" to help you out.
Even if that stuff is just about adequate, there are various warning signs on your job - the edge restraints should be put in first to retain the sub base as it is compacted and as a guide to the levels and falls, the statement that the MOT will be compacted with a Wacker plate (this is fine for the sand and blocks but you really need a vibratory roller for the sub base (and it should be compacted in layers of no more that 100mm), general lack of care and damage to existing structures, lack of consideration for drainage etc.
I think you will end up with a just about acceptable job that will be ok for a few years for foot and light vehicular traffic - seems to be a fairly normal standard for block paving.
If you are generally unhappy, and the job is costing a lot of money, I would contact Tony at Pavingexpert.com (I have no connection to him but spent hours on his website getting great advice when doing my own block paving job) - he appears to offer exactly what you need, a quality report on your job! I should image a few hundred well spent and an "expert witness" should you wish to call off the job or get some remedial works done. He also has a list of "approved" contractors should you wish to get someone else to do the job.
Also, pay for some of the work with a credit card for extra protection.
Even if that stuff is just about adequate, there are various warning signs on your job - the edge restraints should be put in first to retain the sub base as it is compacted and as a guide to the levels and falls, the statement that the MOT will be compacted with a Wacker plate (this is fine for the sand and blocks but you really need a vibratory roller for the sub base (and it should be compacted in layers of no more that 100mm), general lack of care and damage to existing structures, lack of consideration for drainage etc.
I think you will end up with a just about acceptable job that will be ok for a few years for foot and light vehicular traffic - seems to be a fairly normal standard for block paving.
If you are generally unhappy, and the job is costing a lot of money, I would contact Tony at Pavingexpert.com (I have no connection to him but spent hours on his website getting great advice when doing my own block paving job) - he appears to offer exactly what you need, a quality report on your job! I should image a few hundred well spent and an "expert witness" should you wish to call off the job or get some remedial works done. He also has a list of "approved" contractors should you wish to get someone else to do the job.
Also, pay for some of the work with a credit card for extra protection.
Has the OP checked that it is an 'insurance guaranteed'!
Andy
Andy
They are using a wacker plate, not a roller.
I have contacted Tony and waiting to hear back from him, and also an arborist about an established pine tree that looks like 30% at least of its roots have been ripped out.
I have contacted Tony and waiting to hear back from him, and also an arborist about an established pine tree that looks like 30% at least of its roots have been ripped out.
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That sub base is crusher run i think... but has a lot of soil in it . A few years ago, when I knew no better, I contacted a company from ebay who were selling type 1 sub base that was really cheap. 10 tones was about 100 quid pr there abouts. It was for a patio. When I got home from work, I hD 10 tonnes of ****e dumped on my drive. It was full of all sorts..... metal, soil, old wires the lot. It was basically the contents of a skip that had been fed through a crusher. Looked exactly like yours..... its called crusher run. My patio has been ok, but I wasn't happy and I deffo wouldn't be happy putting it under a drive
It won't be a comfortable conversation, but I'd get them to stop now, before they do more work which you'll have to redo (or live with) in a few years time.
It's your home, so you'll have to look at it for years to come, so even if you simply accept you may have to cut your losses on what's been done, better to spend more now and have it done right.
Out of interest, how much are you paying? Pavingexpert used to quote roughly £80 - £100 per sqm, but looks like they have removed their prices.
It's your home, so you'll have to look at it for years to come, so even if you simply accept you may have to cut your losses on what's been done, better to spend more now and have it done right.
Out of interest, how much are you paying? Pavingexpert used to quote roughly £80 - £100 per sqm, but looks like they have removed their prices.
OK, spoke with the boss on site today. The hardcore delivered to date is only the initial base, proper type 1 hardcore is coming tomorrow to whack on top - contrary to what one of the workers told me on Tuesday. I am relieved by this, and hope there is sufficient quantity and height availability to give the driveway a proper base before the blocks go down.
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