Well I've been reading this website for months now and decided to take the plunge and create a block pave driveway up to the house. Excellent site by the way!
This week I've had my front excavated and had the area refilled with dtp1 which has been compacted. In about 97% of the area (roughly 55m2) everything is as solid as a well wackered compacted base!! The problem I appear to have is that a few spots towards the front of the area nearest the road are a little spongey (or is it spongy?). Now while the chaps that prepared the base for me were working this week it's done just about nothing but rain. It's rained while digging and rained whilst filling the area back up, it's rained whilst wackering and rained since. Do you think that this softness will dry out? I've read posts by a chap called paj from a couple of years ago along with your responses and I am wondering how long I should let the area dry (weather permitting) for, today has been a nice warm sunny day so hopefully some firming will have occurred. If when I check it in a while it's not firmed up much should I pop out, hire a wacker and get myself a tonne of dtp1 delivered in the morning, begin excavating and start recompacting a bit at a time? Am I jumping the gun or should I wait a while. Also how long should I give it before laying the sand and blocks? I am quite happy to wait a while if necessary. (Tony) I presume from previous posts that you are a Liverpool fan, do you reckon we can do Chelsea next week?
Block paving base - Spongey areas in base
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Tony McC
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Chelsea? Nae bother! 
Very often, spongy/spongey areas of sub-base firm-up after a couple of days of dry weather. A bit of sunshine helps drive off any excessive moisture and the improvement can be quite dramatic.
However, if you need to get cracking with the paving and there's still a bit of movement, try digging out the sub-base that 'soft' and replacing it with some fresh sub-base material mixed with a dash of cement - 10% is plenty. That little bit of cement is usually enough to stiffen-up the sub-base in the short-term without creating a solid mass of rock-hard concrete that will react in a significantly different manner to the 'normal' sub-base once the paving is complete.
Once you're happy the sub-base is (reasonably) firm and stable, get on with the paving asap.
Very often, spongy/spongey areas of sub-base firm-up after a couple of days of dry weather. A bit of sunshine helps drive off any excessive moisture and the improvement can be quite dramatic.
However, if you need to get cracking with the paving and there's still a bit of movement, try digging out the sub-base that 'soft' and replacing it with some fresh sub-base material mixed with a dash of cement - 10% is plenty. That little bit of cement is usually enough to stiffen-up the sub-base in the short-term without creating a solid mass of rock-hard concrete that will react in a significantly different manner to the 'normal' sub-base once the paving is complete.
Once you're happy the sub-base is (reasonably) firm and stable, get on with the paving asap.
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