a roller is probably better mate but a wacker does a good job if you take your time with it
crushed concrete is ok in the lower layers but make sure thats what it is
last time i got some it was like crushed anything that was in a skip including cement bags wood,paint tins ,bits of mud etc
but with 500 of depth you need something to build it up before the mot
cheers tony LLL
I've ordered some in the past when I was doing some terrace work in the back garden. It seemed pretty clean i.e. all concrete, with lumps no bigger than 50mm and it came straight off a tipper from a recycling plant.
I'll work out some prices first and see how much it will save but I will make sure there is at least a 150mm layer of MOT on top.
Does the geo membrame have to go under the MOT or can it sit on top under the bedding sand?
I also forgot to mention about the quote I had from "paramount paving", they suggested I only needed a 170litre soakaway for 70m2. This set alarm bells ringing after browsing this site because the calculations here suggest at least 1000 litres for this size of driveway (on a sandy soil)?? Worried me a bit because the drive will be sloping towards the house ???
minimun soakaway we dig is always 1m3 below pipe invert level
its such a cheap thing to make why scrimp on it??
btw sandy soil is good for drainage
LLL
After long absence I have decided to have the concrete (pertern imprinted) paving done as it was a choice of either a 46" LCD tv or paving .
I live in welling bexleyheath area And so far I can only thing of possibly 2 companies that i have seen doing work in the area i.e Creteprint & Jade. Any recomendations please ?
funny that the only address of creteprint that I found in yell is in Staffordshire. Is it truelly them? .....
Creteprint don't use the flexible polyurethane mats but the older aluminium ones. With the aluminium imprints you don't use coloured release agent and so the paving looks less authentic as it is just one colour. However, Creteprint are much better than most installers and they can achieve a two-tone effect by using acid stain. Creteprint are not a bad firm at all as proven by the fact that they have been in business for ages. I would get them to quote.
I have seen Jade about but don't know much about them.
There is also a guy in Thamesmead called Andrew who drives an old yellow Iveco 1.5ton tipper with 1st Impressions down the side and a tel no. He does a lot of work in Welling and is very good at the imprinting.
He used to be foreman for Multiprint the other big firm in the area. Impressed Concrete Company are another firm in the area.
I would recommend getting Creteprint, Multiprint and one other to quote.
Thanks for the reply, mutliprint was the other name i forgot to mention, but I saw a job they did close to a year ago and it was
not up to standard in my opinion. the drive looked too black, the design did not grab you / look perfect and it was not particularly a good slope.
The other work I say done by creteprint looked perfect and the coulour was not to black .... looking more like a very dark slate colour allowing the design to shine through.
Jade, I have seen a few of their drives around but none in pattern inprinted, so i can only guess that their mastery lies more elsewhere.
Ganger can you give me more info on this paving process re: flexible polyurethane mats ..... or where to read up more on this as I'll like to have a good job done
I presume when you say mats then people have to use their weights on them to imprint on the concrete ..... If this is the case won't that cause irregularities in the dept of the designs
I have only seen black and deep Red/mud red colour of these things and was wondering if other colours exist.eg looking more like brick work ?
You could call PICS (www.pickuk.com) or Creative Impressions (www.creative-impressions.com). These are two large supply houses of the specialist materials needed for PIC. Creative Impressions once gave me a four page brochure which cleary set out the PIC process in detail from excavation through to concreting through to final seal; if you can get that this would help hugely. PICS on the other hand I find to be a far more helpful firm so you could call them too. Both these firms should be able to recommend the best local contractors on their books... this site also lists some other PIC supply houses on the PIC pages.
Imprinted concrete used to be done with aluminium imprinting pads which are pushed into the still green concrete to imprint a pattern. These days most contractors use flexible polyurethane mats. I don't know much about the old ali pads as I only uusethe new sort but Creteprint are well kknown for being old school and still using the ali pads.
You often stand on the mats and often also use a stamper to exert more pressure on the mat to get it to imprint. A good imprinter can ensure that the same amount of texture is imprinted throughout the job. This is quite a skill as you have to be aware of shade from buildings, wind etc and you find different parts of the slab are more green than others so you have to be careful how far you imprint each mat.
Multiprint have several teams I believe. I imagine that one team is maybe letting the side down and not doing such good work as the others. Creteprint on the other hand is a husband and wife team. I have worked for neither of the above firms so can't recommend either. But Creteprint are very established and have been around for ages. They are also distributors for Lafarge in that area. Lafarge, the French cement company,supply the materials for PIC too.
thanks for your recommendations, it has been really helpfull. there is a strong possibility that i would go for creteprint cos the jobs i have seen them do have been auitegood but then again, its all dependent on price
However, I'll try to get some quotations from other people you have mentioned as well as see their handy work.
