New Drive - Advice Wanted

[salsheikh]

guys,

i currently have a drive made of broken slabs/concrete which

1. looks pants
2. is sinking in places
3. needs weeding too often

so i was going to get it sorted this summer but not sure what to go for.

wifey wants a tarmac drive but idont in case i need to use it and ruin it with jack wheels sinking into it

i saw something on watchdog ages ago where it was a concrete drive and they put a pattern on it and then covered it in powder which gave it colour? no idea what it was but the final finish looked good to me. obviously i dont wanna employ cowboys/pikeys to do it so what do you recommend? the drive itself is 5m x 7m with an additional 4m x 2m front garden attached to it, if you get my drift! (p shaped). advice on how deep it should be dug etc would also be appreciated.

[scarr89]

Guess it depends on your budgets, how many sheets you willing to spend?

All I can I say is if you get block paving make sure that the company/your self use proper bedding 'concrete' to lay the bricks on other wise in heavy rain/flooding/water main bursting just on the pavement beyond your driveway the water will carry all of the sand away and totally ruin it.

[chrisr103]

My Girlfriend had the driveway done in "Impressed Concrete" (Think thats what its called??

Its in a sort of Red / Brick colour & is very good, Doesnt fade, Can jet wash it when its dirty & a Trolley Jack doesnt sink into it

[bob23]

Guess it depends on your budgets, how many sheets you willing to spend?

All I can I say is if you get block paving make sure that the company/your self use proper bedding 'concrete' to lay the bricks on other wise in heavy rain/flooding/water main bursting just on the pavement beyond your driveway the water will carry all of the sand away and totally ruin it.

Concrete is the worst possible thing to lay block paving on, it doesn't bond to the bricks and has no movement when set, so needs to be absolutely perfect all over the drive, a 1mm ridge will mean that the blocks wobble when walked on and crack when driven on, also when it sets it will let water sit between the block and concrete when it rains, then in winter it freezes and can crack the blocks, sand is used to let the water drain away and allow the blocks to settle evenly.