Slate Drive / pavement

[sammoseley]

Hi
planning on doing slate slabs on small driveway, existing is old concrete slabs but seems sound enough so will go over with a screed bed on top and hope nothing moves much.
Am after some advice on how to finish the front where it meets the existing pavement which is all over the place (dips etc) and generally doesnt look good..... was thinking running a line of block paving as an edge to protect the slate when they next resurface the pavement? Or was thinking a fillet of sharp sand/cement off the slate onto the pavement but reckon that could get damaged.
Not done this before so any advice is much appreciated as ever
Cheers
Sam

 

[Andyc84]

Put a line of concrete kerb edges in, these should give you a nice level edge to work from, and will protect the edge of the slabs.

I think you will find the council wouldn't build their pavement up to meet this edge though, so it is likely that you may have to repair that edge to bring it up to yours, or just build it so the lip is minimal...

http://www.pavingexpert.com/edging3.htm

 

[sammoseley]

Thanks for that, do you mean there will be a gap as I'll run a straight line but the existing pavement isn't straight? In which case I was thinking I'll fill it in with some of that bagged tarmac mix?
Cheers for the link also, really useful site that

 

[Andyc84]

From what you have said, I would assume you would have a gap both vertically and horizontally, some of that can be filled up with the concrete mix which will hold the kerb edging.

The tarmac from a bag isn't great, but if your pavement is that material, you could give it a go...

Best to correctly prep the site though, by cutting out a clean edge to lay the new up against, it last a lot longer than just smacking a bit into the existing hole... which is what most contractors do anyway...

 

[sammoseley]

yeah the existing pavement is all over the place, so I'll run it straight from the highest point. cheers for the replies

 

[r896neo]

I'm all for having a go but If your going to spend good money on slate flags it'd be a shame to do such a half assed job.

What thickness are the flags?

 

[sammoseley]

About 20-25mm thick. Half assed as in going onto existing slab? Or the curb join?

When I said existing slabs I meant a couple of poured slabs 6 inch plus thick, rather than going over existing paving...

Cheers
Sam

 

[r896neo]

Thats a different matter then then. I meant half assed as i though you planned to lay over exiting 2x2's or similar.

It will be unsuitable for laying on a screeded bed, it needs to be laid individually due to the thickness variation of the stone even if its calibrated. Also Slate is quite hard to lay because its not very porous and therfore hard to make it stick to the bedding material.

Have a look on the paving expert site. It is recommended to lay slate with a primer to help adhere it to the base. You could also acheive this by laying it on a full wet bed with a good dose of sbr in it.

If you don't stick it to the base you run the risk of the point failing easily.

 

[sammoseley]

Cheers, yeah I've seen the paving expert site and it's really useful