Grass Paving isn't intended to take regular trafficing. It will always struggle if not given 'rest' periods of a week or so between trafficking.

With twice daily traffic, I would not recommend Grass Paving for your situation - you need something more substantial. Is the increase in traffic a temporary phenomenon or is it likely to be permanent?

One of the concrete block grass pavers might stand a better chance of survival, but I'd still be hesitant. Which system/product do you have at the moment?

the Tensar mat is usually pretty reliable, with the usual proviso "as long as it's been properly laid". If your's is cutting-up already and isn't being trafficked more than 2 or 3 times a day, it could be one of the following...

1 - poor installation
2 - poor/unsuitable soil medium
3 - inadequate drainage provision

Have you reported the problem to the original contractor? Did they give you any form of guarantee? If the mat has been properly installed they would be able to call out Tensar Tech Dept to inspect the work and have them identify the problem.

However, if that isn't going to happen, you may need to consider a more robust form of grass paving, such as Grassblock by GC Group or a grass-free alternative, such as block paving.

Without being familiar with your site, it's not really possible for me to recommend one product rather than another but I would certainly contact the original contractor and/or Tensar Tech Dept and see if they have a rememdy to offer before spending any further money.

Let me know how you get on.

an angular gravel (quarried) would indeed provide better interlock than a rounded (marine or fluvial) gravel, but I think you're using too large a size - try a 10-20mm size range. While that won't deter the cats that are hell bent on defouling your paths, it will keep most of them away, and be a damn sight easier to walk upon.

What depth of sub-base would you reccomend?

What depth of gravel would you reccomend?

Can I use perf.landrain pipe just under the sub-base?

I've no experience of concrete work in North America; I know it's done differently than here in the UK, but I'll help if I can.

Rain shouldn't have any impact on the concrete pour, as long as it's protected from very heavy rain, and as long as the temperature is above 4C, that won't be a problem. However, the sub-base layer over which the concrete will be poured, needs to be free of any mud or standing water.

Over here, we'd put down a layer of crushed rock as a sub-base, level and compact that, then place a damp proof membrane over the sub-base and pour the concrete, levelling and finishing it before covering it over for 24-48 hours while the initial cure takes place. We wouldn't pour concrete onto a muddy sub-base base, or into standing water, unless there were special circumstances.

You may be able to find a more local source of information on the US-based concrete network at ConcreteNetwork] - that seems to be where all the American concreters hang out.

Assuming you introduce a 175mm step into the line, and then allow for 75mm of fall between consecutive steps, that gives a rise of 250mm per step, and therefore you'd need 32 benches, each about 1.5m in length to accommodate your 8m drop. You might be able to 'stretch' that to 25 steps with 2m benches, depending on the sub-base or sub-grade and the type of gravel you choose, but I don't think it's feasible as a flat bone (ie, no steps).

How's that?  

read Craig Amor's comments on the Sealants page. He is probably the UK's leading expert in sealants, so he knows what he's talking about.

If you're going to use Water Seal, I'd test a small patch beforehand, or better still, email Ronseal (who own Thomsons) to make sure before you commit yourself. The trouble with sealants is that they can be un-applied, as it were.

Have a look on the Sealants Links page and get the contact details for Ronseal/Thomsons. I'd be interested to hear their comments.

Take a look at what's on offer from either Resiblock or Creative Impressions - they will have something suitable.

Good luck!

The bad news is that you cannot chemically remove this sealant from your stone flags (or from your PIC). There is no solvent that can be applied to remove it, once it's 'set'. You're stuck with it, I'm afraid.

The only way it can be removed from stone paving is by surface grinding, which is phenomenally expensive in small, residential projects and it would be cheaper to replace the stone with new reclaimed, IYKWIM. Surface grinding is not an option with your PIC - if you grind the surface, you take off the colour and the pattern, leaving you with plain, boring, naturally-coloured concrete, which you could have had for about a third of the cost of PIC.

Time for a serious chat with your contractor, by the sound of it.

And surface hardener? Are you sure it says 'Surface hardener"? That isn't a sealant: it's the colouring and a setting accelerator used on the original concrete. Have you had a look at it? Is it a clear-ish liquid and what quantity have you? How big is your blessed PIC driveway?

You cannot mix the colour hardener with water and 'paint' it over the damaged or exposed area. CH reacts with plastic (ie, fresh ) concrete to actively bond to the surface. Your notion of painting on a repair will last about 24 hours, on a good day. The first time it's trafficked, or if there's a shower of rain, it will crumble and return to dust, I'm afraid.

There are some concrete 'paints' that can be applied to cured concrete, but they will not match what you currently have, and so, to avoid the 'sore thumb' look, you'd need to treat the entire surface. Touching-up is simply not an option.

A decent sealant would possibly improve the overall appearance of the PIC, but without seeing the pavement for myself, I couldn't say what would work best, Have you thought about asking one of the local PIC Contractors to take a look and offer their advice?

Pattern Imprinted Bitmac is a highly specialist trade, normally reserved for streetworks and commercial applications. I know of only 2 firms in the UK that undertake residential driveways - if this is what you mean, email me and I'll send you the contact details.

your mention of the spinning skip etc made me smile - I know exactly the sort of site you mean - a triumph of technology over content. There's a certain paving site that's similar: Lovely Flash gimmickry, but no bloody phone number to enable potential customers to give them a call!

Anyway, back to your play area. I'd be very cautious with slate, as it can have sharp edges, even the tumbled stuff. You say you don't want bark, which is fair enough, so that leaves either sand, gravel or play surfacing. Sand would need to be kept covered over when not in use or it will be full of cat crap in next to no time, which is even worse than scabby knees!

A play surface is relatively expensive, but you might be able to get some crumb rubber from a local recycling facility if you're lucky. Again, keep it covered, and order an extra 100kg or so as it does gets blown away by the wind.

But I reckon the best vaule-for-money solution is a rounded gravel. As long as it's from a marine source and well-rounded, it's quite kind to knees and a 10-18mm mix keeps the worst of the cats out, but it's still worth covering it over, just to be extra safe.

If you have a local sand & gravel quarry, you might be able to pick it up at a reasonable price (ie, 20 quid per tonne max) but if you have to buy in via Bretts or Supamix, it can be a bit more expensive, but no dearer than what you would pay for tumbled slate (unless you happen to live in N.Wales where it's a waste product!)

Hope that helps.  

There used to be a quarry here in Culcheth that did a bloody wonderful river gravel and would sell it to DIYers by the trailer load for 6 quid per Tonne. It was owned by the Love Bros, who have the egg farm in Boothstown.

However, it's now a private landfill, which is a major loss to us all.

Cooper Clarke at Farnworth or at Swinton should have something suitable, or you could try Travis Perkins in Leigh, but they usually only have the limestone chippings. Offerton Sand & Gravel do a great 10mm gravel, if you can take a 16T load(!) or if you have a trailer and JF Lord at Cadishead (now Builder Center) should be able to get you a suitable gravel to order, if you want at least 5 Tonnes.

Try Cooper Clarke first - they're probably the best bet.

£40 per m² is dear for gravel and £90 is dear for standard block paving. I'd expect somewehere around £50-60 per m² for standard block paving, given the concrete that has to be broken out and dumped.

If subbase is ok do I really need whole site excavating or just tarmac and concrete taken up?

If you have a good sub-base, there's no need to replace it. It may require re-grading and/or regulating, but there's no sense in ripping out a well compacted sub-base that has given umpteen years of trouble-free service to replace it with something new.

However, if it's of questionable thickness, or too high etc, then it's as well to rip it out and start from fresh, so that you can be certain the new paving will be sound. It's not worth 'risking it' and ruining your new paving to save a couple of hundred quid.

If in doubt, rip it out.

If I do it myself will I need to incorporate line drainage?

Possibly - it all depends on the layout. You definitely need some drainage, whether it's a linear drain, gullies or fin drains at the edges.

If on gravel will this act as suitable drainage?

Probably not. Again, don't take a risk - install proper drainage before constructing the driveway. It's 3 or 4 times as expensive to install it as an afterthought.

Does that help at all?

Gravel is not bad, but the ball will not bounce true and it will be slippy/skiddy for your lad. Same with bark.

Hoggin binds itself over time, but can be sticky or claggy when wet.

Have you considered a safety play surface or an astro-turf from one of the Playground Equipment Companies? Failing that, you can't beat a sports turf. It won't last (just look at any footie pitch in regular use) but it's cheap and you could probably afford to replace it each spring.

Sports Turf is just a hard-wearing turf - lots of rye grass and other tough grasses. You should be able to get it at any decent turf supplier. I'm not familiar with the SE, so I can't name suppliers, other than CB Winter (see Links Page for contact details), but Turfland is the biggest supplier up here in t'north.

As you're on heavy clay, mix plenty of coarse grit sand (NOT Building sand) in with the soil before laying the turf. It will make it easier for the sod to root and will help with drainage.

It's a popular treatement with Local Authorities looking to revamp their footpaths at a minimal cost, and there are specialist contractors dotted about the country that do this type of work.

It's a bit unusual in a residential setting, as the 'set up' costs for a surface dressing team often costs more than a whole new driveway!

Fill with base course to the top, then compact - you'll need to use a punnel as a roller won't fit!

...and then top it off with the wearing course.

In the past, we've done this by taking the tray out of the frame and setting it on a hard surface while it's filled with the blacktop and compacted, as most of these trays tend to 'flex' under a load and you can't get proper compaction. Also, a little wacker plate is damned handy for getting a good finish, if you do it this way.

It's one of those 'Tricks of the Trade' you hear about.

Of the non-bound surfacings, Hoggin is, as you say, a bloody nightmare when wet, and gravel is a trap for wheelchairs, and should be avoided at all costs. Hoggin is, allegedly' a bound gravel - it's "Sunday" name is self-binding gravel. It could be cement bound, much like a concrete, but, if you're going to follow that route, you might as well have a decent concrete, rather than an inferior cement-bound hoggin.

A concrete could be used, and you could opt for an exposed aggregate finish to avoid it looking like plain, boring concrete, but that pushes up the cost. The same with resin-bound aggregates - very pretty and rusticky, if you want, but much more expensive than plain grey/black tarmac.

So, that's the bound and unbound surfaces, which leave sthe elemental surfaces, which are, in layman's terms, flags/slabs or block paving. There's sopme great rustic looking block pavers available, but we come back to the cost factor. You have to reckon on even simple, everyday, bottom of the range block paving costing around 1.5 times the cost of tarmac for a car park, and, if you go for a more decorative block, that soon reaches twice the cost or more.

So, your basic choice is between bitmac and concrete. neither are stunningly attractive, but they are low maintenance and wheelchair frindly. If you want aesthetics, you have to be prepared to pay!

The Concrete Society

Best mix for fencepost is a lean-mix, such as a C7.5. there's no need to use a concrete that is going to cure rock-hard: the purpose of haunching around fence posts is to fill the space between the posts and the ground. If the concrete is a high-strength mix, there's no real advantage, as the ground itself is unlikely to be as strong.

For footpath work, hoever, you need a concrete that can handle the traffic, carry its own weight etc, and so a higher grade is normally used. C20 for residential footpaths, patios and driveways and a C30 for public highways would be typical examples.

gravel over concrete won't stay put - it will be scattered everywhere. Think of ball-bearings on a solid floor!!

You could overlay with flags or think blocks, but given that using even the thinnest flags on the market and a minimal bed, it will elevate the level of the patio by at least 50mm, you have to be conscious of breaching the damp proof course. Have a read of the 'Laying over an Existing Base' page in the block paving section. The same principles apply to flags as to blocks in this type of situation.

Possibly the easiest solution is to re-cover the ugly concrete with a granolithic screed. It's simple, it's cheap, you can add colour or patterning and it's extremely hard-wearing. Grano is discussed further on the Mortars page.

Best to bed the flags on a 'just damp' bed of 10:1 grit sand and cement, and make sure they have adequate fall to drain them properly. With block paving, you need to follow the advice on the 'Laying over a Base' page and provide drainage holes through the concrete, or some other way of preventing the bedding (which should be unbound sand) from becoming saturated. Aletrnatively, you could consider rigid block paving, if your budget stratches that far.

Good luck!

The force or a wacker plate is a bit of a funny issue, as it's not quite as simple as weight:plate area - it's the force generated by the plate when it's running.
I had this explained to me by a field engineer at Wacker's workshop in Warrington (before it was closed down) but it's not the sort of thing mere mortals such as me and thee can fathom out for ourselves.

There's supposed to be an info plate affixed to all kit declaring the compaction force, but many vib-plates we've hired in have had no such info attached, although the hire co will find out for you, if you ask.

Generally speaking, all known vib-plates provide adequate compaction for 100mm of sub-base on a residential driveway or patio. It's only when you get onto the larger, commercial or civil schemes that compaction force really becomes an issue.

15 degrees over 20 metres is more of a challenge, but 2 metres is just a ramp. If you can reduce it in any way, you should, but if you've no choice, don't worry about it.

What do you mean by a "threshold strip"? I know what I understand to be a 'thereshold strip' but I can't see how that could help a tarmac drive laid to a 15 degree (1 in 4, roughly)

You sometimes see these threahold strips used to delineate private driveways from public footpaths, but they usually have no structural purpose. If the Threshold Strip was omitted, the paving or surfacing would be held in position by whatever paving, surfacing or retainer was there in the first place, even on a gradient.

What's on the public side of the proposed Threshold Strip, Steve? More bitmac?

Your best bet is to find a tarmac gang working locally and cross their palms with beer vouchers to bring their kit around with a couple or three barrows of wearing course to patch in your path. If you 'phone a local driveway co that does tarmac work, they might be able to add you on to the end of another local job for a more realistic fee, but you could end up waiting 12 months or more for such a job to come their way!

So, if you go with the pre-pack option, you're going to need 15-20 bags (25Kg) minimum, and they need to be spread and levelled (which is easier said than done with that stuff!) and then compacted. You could compact with a punnel or a wacker plate, but the damned stuff sticks to everything, including the soles of your boots for the next 6 months!

You can reduce the tackiness of the pre-pack cut-back material by scattering dry sand over the surface when you've finished compacting, but it will remain soft (compared to real bitmac) for the next few weeks, so don't be wearing your stilleto heels!  

Try the local companies first, Jonny, and, if they can't guarantee you a visit within, say, the next couple of months, then price up the pre-pack option, but it really is worth hanging on for the proper stuff, if you possibly can, or looking at an alternative surfacing.

I never like more than 2 surface types on a property, and with your flags, the block paving and the small amount of tarmac, you've one too many. Get shut of the tarmac and extend the block paving - you know it makes sense.

You need at least a 100mm concrete slab, and 20 quid per m² is pretty cheap - does that include excavation and cart away, damp proof membrane, jointing, formwork, vat and all other sundries? Because I doubt it can be done for that price. If a sub-base is needed, it definitely can't be done for that sort of money!

The other alternative is a bitmac base layer, which would need to be at least 50mm thick, over a 100mm sub-base, and would be even more expensive.

The price for the resin-bound aggs is there or thereabouts, depending on total area and type of gravel selected, but what sort of guarantee/warranty comes with it? Can you see previous work? How long have they been in business? Have they given you a written spec?

If you're keen on resin bound aggs, then I'd strongly recommend you get at least 2 other prices, just for your own peace of mind. I get the feeling this could be one of those, "Oh dear, we'll have to charge extra for...." jobs, and what was originally 70 quid per m² suddenly becomes 100 quid per m².

Caveat emptor, as my Latin master used to say when he was selling ciggies to us.  

Be careful, Dickie!

Cracking is usually symptomatic of bad preparation or shoddy materials. If you choose a good contractor (easier said than done, I know) then you minimise the risk. Thorough, meticulous preparation is essential. The substrate must be sound, free from any contaminants. There should be no cracks in the substrate that could propagate through to the resin-bound surfacing, and movement joints should be installed, if required.

Check out your contractor. Check previous work, talk to previous clients, make sure you get an insurance-backed written guarantee, and don't jump at the lowest price. You have to live with the surfacing for a long time, so an extra few days of sussing out should not be passed over.