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Suitable Drive Surface - Block, Resin, Cobbles or.......

Suffolk Tony said:
Depends on the type of property, and type of location. If you're like us, in an old cottage and in a country lane then gravel is great. It's certainly not antisocial! Block paving & the like just look awful.

As synapse posts, every few years you just bung a new bag or two on top. There's something grand about the gentle crunch it makes, & we can hear when cars come up our drive.
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Nowt wrong with gravel if you’ve got a drive for cars to “ come up”.
 
stevec67 said:
Washing soda is sodium carbonate. Calcium carbonate is limestone. It's useless for killing moss or washing clothes because it won't dissolve in water. It makes halfway decent driveways though, if in suitable sizes. Conversely, washing soda is useless as a driveway material because it washes away in the rain. Solubility can be a real 2 edged sword.
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Yes it is. I was just tired!
 
Darren L said:
Depends on how much you want to spend and whether it's DIY or done by a firm and the quality of work carried out by firms in your area.
I've no experience of resin bound gravel.
I've approximately 20 years experience laying block paving and 10 years cobbling and laying stone flags. I did learn how to do the concrete 'Impression' patterned and dyed surface but I generally think it looks a bit cheap.
Tarmac is good if done properly but has a lifetime of about 10 -15 years.
Asphalt is better if done properly and has a longer lifespan.
Both require very little maintenance.
Block paving has a much longer lifespan if done properly, is easily repairable but requires maintenance, regular brushing , if not kept clean it will at some stage require power washing and re-grouting, much easier to give it a brush every week or two, 10 min job.
Cobbles will last a lifetime or two if done properly but is a much more expensive product but requires less maintenance.
The most important factor in all these surfaces is the prep work below.
I guess it depends on how long you intend to live there and the style of building, not all houses suit all products aesthetically but there should be a suitable style of block paving available.
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what's the difference between asphalt and tarmac? I thought that tarmac was just a brand and asphalt the general term. Or are you calling asphalt the hot rolled material that sets hard and tarmac the softer tar and pebbles mix with an 8 day set that never really goes off and sinks where the cars park?
 
Darren L said:
Tarmac is a mix of aggregate and tar, asphalt is a mix of aggregate and bitumen.
Tarmac generally is not as durable, asphalt is harder and has a better finish.
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stevec67 said:
what's the difference between asphalt and tarmac? I thought that tarmac was just a brand and asphalt the general term. Or are you calling asphalt the hot rolled material that sets hard and tarmac the softer tar and pebbles mix with an 8 day set that never really goes off and sinks where the cars park?
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+1,
'Tar macadam' - as above
'Asphalt' - often called mastic ashpalt = bituminous material: 'pitch'+ anything from fine to sharp gravel = stuff used/lasts forever: car park surfacing, 'tanking' of basements, the Ark etc...
 
Bob McC said:
Nowt wrong with gravel if you’ve got a drive for cars to “ come up”.
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Even then it needs to laid on proper base and depending on the soil conditions a stabilising fabric may be needed.

Appropriate drainage has to be planned with falls and cambers so that water doesn't settle.
 
stevec67 said:
Washing soda is sodium carbonate. Calcium carbonate is limestone. It's useless for killing moss or washing clothes because it won't dissolve in water. It makes halfway decent driveways though, if in suitable sizes. Conversely, washing soda is useless as a driveway material because it washes away in the rain. Solubility can be a real 2 edged sword.
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Well spotted and an appalling miss from me, considering I do have some knowledge of chemistry.
However, I do think calcium carbonate would help to increase soil pH making it less acidic, which would discourage moss. :)
 
Yank said:
And both will leech hydrocarbons into the underlying soil.
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I wouldn't know anything about that, 99% of my practical experience in hard surfacing has been either concrete based or stone based block, cobble and flags.
Though many times around large rural properties I have built steps, laid patios, installed drainage and kerb lines, a cobbled border and prepped the ground for then either a tarmac or asphalt squad to come and complete the driveway, but they're a totally different firm, I would generally have been finished and onto the next job.
Apart from using bags of tarmac to fill holes or dips on a road at the edge of a hammerhead entrance when completing a paved driveway I've only once completed a whole lane in asphalt and one of the guys I worked with had 30 years experience so I just did as instructed, which was just levelling with a rake and then rolling.
 
Flip i have been using tarmac for years and never knew half this stuff ( only the cold lay stuff in bags ) pfm is just amazing what you learn !
 
I only just found about porous tarmac that you can use in some applications to avoid pp . But its expensive apparently so wont be using it at the moment
 
Mike Reed said:
How many chameleons managed to sneak onto the Ark, d'you think? :)
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It's the woodworms you'd want to worry about - 2 or seven - how many is too many?
(NB Julian Barnes wrote an amusing short essay from their perspective, in his 'History of the world in 10 1/2 chapters' IIRC)
 
We've got 20mm thick porcelain tiles laid on a bed of reinforced concrete for the driveway, and a gravel area beside that to meet the SUDS (Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems) requirements.

The tiles have a rough texture and are a pale cream colour which looked great in the sales yard, but to be honest, I wouldn't choose again: amazing when it's clean, but won't stay that clean.
 
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