drive way ideas

[123hotchef]

ok so time has come to start planning the new drive way.


criteria is this

1. has to be durable
2. has to look pretty the mrs says so
3. I work on 4x4s and cars a lot so needs to be resistant to stains and oil/fuel


thats it really the tarmac has seen better days oil/brake cleanner ect eats it jacks dig into it


I was thinking polished concrete and paint it

did think about block paving but it marks and stains

any other options


oh i have seen some nice resin driveways

 

[richie00boy]

I had block paving at my old house and its a pain. Long term plan was to replace it with imprinted concrete, but we moved.

 

[barracuda816]

What about imprinted concrete? they stamp it to look like block.

I wouldnt paint concrete outside if it were me. it will eventually lift and look terrible.

Beaten to it.

 

[arther dailey]

Imprinted concrete, you can get various acid stains and finishes that finish it nicely.Arther

 

[gordon stephenson]

If you are using trolley jacks you don't want a surface that won't let the wheels roll freely.
Polished concrete could be coloured with one of the finishes that are used on imprinted concrete, various powders that are scattered over the surface before final polish

 

[brightspark]

What about imprinted concrete? they stamp it to look like block.

I wouldnt paint concrete outside if it were me. it will eventually lift and look terrible.

Beaten to it.

imprinted concrete is painted . 1k clear resin is used to seal it

 

[arther dailey]

Depends who does the imprinted concrete, most use a combination of concrete colouring and acid stain, which is where I get my supplies from! it certainly isnt your average masonary paint, wouldnt last one winter on a driveway.and some seal to give a shiny finish, not keen on that myself as if you use trolley jacks etc it ends up messed up in places,but if used just as a driveway no problem.Arther

 

[TechnicAl]

My neighbour has imprinted and coloured concrete. It was fibre glass reinforced and all told cost him £22000.........yes 22 grand. The colour has faded, the "varnish" has peeled off despite him spending a further 2 grand having it re-sealed. And its slippy.

Ive got block paving.........a lot of it.........and its a pain with the joints growing grass better than the lawn

The best ive known is pebbles.....if it marks you can rake it.......and there is a science to it........you can choose the properties by the mixture you choose.....ask an expert.......done properly its not a cheap alternative

 

[gaz1]

done a mixture of driveways the concrete and pebbles is a good one for the middle

got block paving on ours couldnt care less about the oil spills on it

seen the new resin costs about 90.00 per 3 meter square or something like that

 

[skotl]

I've been thinking of something similar, Lee, with close attention to pebbles that might get picked up in our mega-manly-tyres.

I laid this stuff under my newish bike shed and I'm planning to use it again for my new drive. I would put fine gravel underneath it and the fill the hexes with fine pebbles so that they don't get sucked up into the tyre-tread.

 

[CompoSimmonite]

What hasn't been mentioned is slabs

 

[Turbo]

Avoid block paving - expensive, sags if not laid properly, grass/weeds grow in joints and if you wash it you have to get it pointed again!

Smooth concrete is ok but it gets very slippery in the winter! If you can get it laid with a lightly tamped or brushed finish that offers some grip in the ice.

Gravel would be a pain if you are planning on using trolley jacks on it and if you have a slope in your drive the gravel will all end up at the bottom!

For working on a car I think concrete is the best solution!

 

[GKQ]

Used this years ago http://www.corelp.co.uk/core-drive/ they do a huge range for everything from path ways to roads for lorries.

I would make a concrete pad for working on the cars and the rest in gravel.

Graham

 

[123hotchef]

thanks for the ideas people, i also forgot to say that we park a horse box on the driveway to and this need man handling around the corner, gravel is out as it wont work for me,

concrete i fear it could be in some form or another interesing about dying the whole mix

 

[arther dailey]

The interesting thing about pattern imprinted drives..during world war 2 the Americans developed a colour stain pattern system to camoflage runways.
After war finished one of the guys went back to his home town and set up business doing driveways, a salesmen visited on other business and was staggered by all the beutifull drives, saw the potential found the guy and opened up franchise accross the states and as they say the rest is history.
Look up pattern impression supplies or similar might give you some ideas, from what I remember most put the dye on top of laid concrete(wet) rather than mix in as I do.(ornamental,bird baths etc)
Fibreglass reinforced concrete(frc) is mainly used to stop cracking, in my opinion its only used to cope with poor aggregate/mix/foundation .and is just fibres added to mix there is no magic involved apart from the added saleability to gullible punters.
If you want a good driveway, dig deep and put in proper foundations /drainage full stop most crack or ruin due to poor prep.Arther

 

[Kent]

So you put pattern imprint or similar in and there is a problem with your drains. Power or water gas etc.
There is no responsibility for the services company to fix it to the same as new std

My drive and yard is all 40 mm to dust limestone. I should love a realy good tarmac job but size and the cost prevents it at present

 

[arther dailey]

Kent, nothing wrong with limestone to dust , I have 6mm to dust , rolled and vibrated goes down like iron..Arther

 

[fixerupper]

I built swimming pools half a lifetime ago , did a few with slab or block paving surrounds . Some of the folk who I built pools for went down the 'Creteprint ' route and I put them in contact with a guy that did it they were happy he was happy .... but for me I think it looks a bit plastic and fake , a bit like stone cladding on a red brick house or fibre glass 'tudor ' beams.... for me I'd go for a concrete hard standing to work on ,and the rest of the drive shingle .....jeff yeah and wot he said

 

[123hotchef]

i would be happy with the lot concreted I think and if it could be coloured all the better and I think the printed drives look fake too not my cuppa tea

 

[clueless77]

Does nobody use flags anymore?