Driveway options - Resin, block, tarmac?

[pjm-84]

Crumbs I dont need to know all that....

What I do know. Brett paving is cheap. Contractor's love the stuff and I have recently had premium products substitued for Bretts which I refused to take the respondsibility for. In principle the Client has paid for an Porsche and the Contractor has given him an Hyundai and I'm suppose to sign that off. The world of Design and Build.

Type 1 is a capping. The other stuff in the picture looks like a Type 2 via an 6F2.

My 2p. Draw and design your installation. Consider colours and blocks, demarcation, falls, edgings and bond patterns. Dont leave it to chance. Clean and simple works well and doesnt date prematurely .

 

[reserves]

An update.

I've gone to view and speak to 2 local people who were both happy with their driveways, there was some small bits which could have been neater that I saw but all in all they looked good.

Both customers seemed genuine and happy, first one this one they did in 4 days:







Second one they did in 3 days:









Some other work from their Facebook page:













Can anyone spot any red flags in any of these photos?

 

[soulstyledevon]

Maybe it’s the pictures, but they don’t look great from here...
Wouldn’t pass the Soul quality satisfaction test.
Sorry.

 

[Vagophile]

It looks as if you might just have found yourself a contractor who will do the sort of job that you are looking for.
As I understand it, you want the area tidied up for sale without spending the earth.
Remember, it's foundations that are important and there is not much to see in those examples.
Despite @soulstyledevon's comments, if it is carefully supervised you are likely to achieve your objective.
The Guy doesn't seem shy to showcase his product, which to me says a lot.

 

[reserves]

It looks as if you might just have found yourself a contractor who will do the sort of job that you are looking for.
As I understand it, you want the area tidied up for sale without spending the earth.
Remember, it's foundations that are important and there is not much to see in those examples.
Despite @soulstyledevon's comments, if it is carefully supervised you are likely to achieve your objective.
The Guy doesn't seem shy to showcase his product, which to me says a lot.

Exactly this, I wish we had more time but we simply don’t. The whole house has been refurbed and painted inside and out (1 year project).

We’ve ran out of time to wait too long for the drive, but the drive *really* let’s the house down.

The only quotes we’ve had around this price are for Cotswolds stones.

I also have set my expectation level, will it be perfect? Probably not. Will it enhance the property, 100%

They are also moving and rebuilding a wall which will allow 2 cars to park comfortably, at the moment that Cali and the car are a bit of a squeeze. That’s got to be worth a fair bit in itself.

Appreciate the comments.

 

[andyinluton]

The only thing I would suggest is not parking the Cali on it once it’s done. Parking 3 tonnes of van in the same place every time will show up any deficiencies in the foundation pretty quickly.

 

[Amarillo]

In one of the photos with all the sand, it looks like crushed concrete is used as a foundation. But if you are just tidying up for a sale, go for it. Just don’t park on your driveway until after exchange of contracts.

 

[reserves]

In one of the photos with all the sand, it looks like crushed concrete is used as a foundation. But if you are just tidying up for a sale, go for it. Just don’t park on your driveway until after exchange of contracts.

Thanks, Which photo?

I’m up for getting it done quickly but wouldn’t want it collapse for the next person!

 

[soulstyledevon]

The lack of proper drainage channels speaks volumes about the workmanship, IMO.

 

[Seaview]

At least by viewing previous jobs you’ve seen their work and can press on with getting the work done.

 

[pjm-84]

Yep. I'm 50 / 50 at the moment. No edge restraint (big issue) / no haunch visible to the pcc edging. A soft spot in one of the pictures. Top soil within the subbase. The arrangement against the timber fence is a bad detail. Once the post rots.....etc. Weed control layer look clumped and not across the whole area.

Item that confuses is the 45 degree herringbone. Contractor's hate this as it more time consuming. Edging is clunky and old school. Typically run a 2 course stretcher. There is a pattern to the installation so I suspect he is the "designer"

 

[pjm-84]

Also height pre whacking. Should be slightly higher against the edging to allow the sand to interlock and the subbase to be compressed

 

[reserves]

Yep. I'm 50 / 50 at the moment. No edge restraint (big issue) / no haunch visible to the pcc edging. A soft spot in one of the pictures. Top soil within the subbase. The arrangement against the timber fence is a bad detail. Once the post rots.....etc. Weed control layer look clumped and not across the whole area.

Item that confuses is the 45 degree herringbone. Contractor's hate this as it more time consuming. Edging is clunky and old school. Typically run a 2 course stretcher. There is a pattern to the installation so I suspect he is the "designer"

Thanks.

I’m at the stage where I can ask them to put what they would do in writing.

All our driveway would be against a brick wall or against the house (apart from the front). Would that act as an edge restraint?

What is a haunch out of interest?

They have said we can have any pattern.

I’ve now seen 5 driveways in total and spoke to 4 owners of them (2 we’re neighbours so didn’t speak to both) they were all generally happy, 1 said he did add extra charges on, but he’s told me it’s a fixed price.

One of them was done over a year ago and still looked good.

My gut feeling is it won’t be perfect but I’ll be able to get a better job if I’m around (which I will be) and I tell them exactly what I want.

They have offered to put a eco drain (my words) or a grate if I want one at the entrance to the driveway but he says it’s not necessary ?

Another reason for me to do it is that the existing driveway (tarmac on top of tarmac) sits too high against the house so is nearly above the DPC and air bricks which come up on any survey.

I spoke to him again and he’s promised me it’s going to be a MOT Type 1 base. I’m not sure how thick this needs to be? He’s also mentioned the membrane and the sand.

I’m leaning towards getting it done, he’s promised it will be finished by next Sunday which fits in with what we need, so it’s this or nothing, so whilst accepting it won’t be perfect I want to go in with my eyes as wide open as can be.

 

[Amarillo]

Thanks, Which photo?

I’m up for getting it done quickly but wouldn’t want it collapse for the next person!

Someone else will be more qualified to comment than me, but the foundation doesn’t look like compacted type1 to my layman’s eyes.

 

[Vagophile]

The comments that have been made about quality of work, drainage etc are all valid.
You've put in a lot of effort to satisfy yourself as to the bona fides of the contractor.
You know what you want, what you have seen and what your budget and time scale are.
This company can do the work at a cost and in a time scale that suits you, the main question is quality.
Edge details do not appear to matter if you are edging to existing vertical surfaces.
You will be there to keep an eye on things if you have the work done.
I don't know what your alternative is, only you can decide.

 

[westfalia]

Well with the above pictures it looks like they might
give you what you need, be wary of patterns though.
Or don't have any.

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Good luck.

 

[pjm-84]

Trust me workmanship these days is poor.

Edging is required to restrain the construction / layering. Think of it as making a cake without the cake mould. Edge restraint should be in place to allow you to compress the type 1 base / sand and paving blocks into the sand. Without restraint it just flattens itself out. Off course this depends on how much weight you put on it.

Brick wall is fine as it will restrain the construction at this point.

The edging will be laid on a bed of lean mix concrete and haunched at the same time. This is the same concrete brought up the sides to stop it tipping over. However this needs to be finished below the surface and to allow the blocks to be installed. I can not see any haunching in the picture (remember the sand is not in place). If its in its too low based on a standard 150mm high edging (50mm block / 50mm sand = not a lot left)

The weed membrane. I would prefer it to be under the type 1. This allows the sand which is finer to interlock with the type 1 which is coarser (but does have fines within it) . Personnally I think its a waste of time with block paving due to the joints and subbase. Under mulch and gravel yes.

Amarillo - Tend to agree. The surface is loose and containmated in places by topsoil so hard to confirm 100%.

Interesting to note that 50mm thick blocks allowed for Householders. As an professional I'm stuck with 60 and 80mm for the same product!. I would probably go 60mm as a min if I was installing

Agree the works. Do ask him to put it into writing. Take pictures and post them if you're not sure.

 

[pjm-84]

Dont worry I'm currently doing Brexit infrastructure facilites for a port (been working today) so my head is still whirring. Hopefully it makes sense.

 

[Wildcamper]

If the top looks good that is a start. What really matters is what is underneath. If the foundations are poor then the top will crumble very quickly. Pictures of the finished jog are ok but don't tell one much. Take pictures every 6 months and compare.

 

[reserves]

If the top looks good that is a start. What really matters is what is underneath. If the foundations are poor then the top will crumble very quickly. Pictures of the finished jog are ok but don't tell one much. Take pictures every 6 months and compare.

Thanks. I saw one which they had laid a year ago and it looked ok to me.

 

[westfalia]

Did you get the job done?

 

[reserves]

Did you get the job done?

Not in the end, the timings didn’t work out.

We have viewings on the house so we’ll see what the feedback is and hopefully they can see past the driveway.

If we need to get it done we’ll get another quote as we have more time.

Appreciate everyone’s advice, will update when / of we go ahead!