Can any concrete blocks compete with stone?

[WillOB]

I need to pave a 150sqm drive (on a slope). I haven’t seen any concrete block paving that has been down a few years that hasn’t lost most or all of its colour (making the initial colour choice seem pretty pointless), and on most the gravel in the mix shows shiny on the surface, making the finished result even more obviously concrete. Best I have seen seems to be Drivesys (previously Cobbletech, which realistically replicates stone and appears to fade to a more stone-like look than most, with minimal ‘gravel show through’. At the top end I could buy 29 tons of granite setts, but they are pricey (a bit over £6k + vat) and presumably much more time consuming and costly to install. Any opinions or anything else I should be considering, given that I want a cobble/stone look that doesn’t deteriorate horribly in just a few years - without breaking the bank?

[lutonlagerlout]

resin bonded gravel
exposed aggregate concrete
PIC
Bitmac
clay paviors
LLL

[DNgroundworks]

I was going to suggest clay paviours, would be my preferred choice from the list LLL has provided above.

[sy76uk]

I always try and advise a client to go for clay or natural stone over concrete products for the exact reasons you stated in the OP.

[WillOB]

Thanks for the input. Of the suggestions, visually I am drawn to Resin bonded gravel and clay paviours, but I need to check out pricing on the former and I'm not wild about the 'long, thin' proportions of the clay paviours I have found so far, e.g. 210 x 100. Are any available in fatter dimensions, e.g. 215 x 130, or are there practical or traditional reasons why such are not made?

[lutonlagerlout]

you used to be able to get tegs in clay but havent seen anything but 200 by 100 for a looooooong time
think they have fallen out of favour a bit with manafacturers and designers
LLL

[seanandruby]

Anything bigger and you would struggle to pick up and lay with one hand. Small element paving is ideal for 'sweetening' rises and falls cutting out the lip effect. Bigger and your going in to the tile, flag sizes. No exopert but food for thought

[Tony McC]

CobbleDriveTechSys hasn't really been around long enough to judge how it abrades and fades in natural conditions, but you can be sure that it will, because it's concrete. I've got some artificially abraded/worn pieces and I suspect there will be some very disappointed customers in a few years time.

No matter how much you pay, no matter how well "engineered" is the surface, concrete will wear and artificial colour will fade. This is usually reflected in teh price of concrete which, in most cass, should be cheaper than the closest stone/clay equivalent.

For me, the fact that it fades, but never completely loses colour (unless it's a really cheap nasty block), and that you can see the aggregate, even in the new 'tight-surface' blocks, is no big problem. I think it looks acceptable for what I want to achieve. It's a matter of accepting that concrete is concrete and there's nowt wrong with it being concrete. For too long, we've wasted time and energy and dyes and moulds trying to fool people into thinking concrete might NOT be concrete, but might be stone.

So: if you don't mind a bit of lightening in tone and visibility of aggregate, and you like a great value-for-money price, then concrete is your man. If you want it to look like stone, or clay, or blacktop, or summat else, then get summat else, and pay whatever price they are asking.

Don't get me wrong: I *love* natural stone. I was brought up laying natural stone in all its forms, and it's beautiful stuff, but in terms of value for money, I still think CBPs offer a better return for your buck, as long as you accept it for what it is.

As for the Tegula format clay pavers, Marshalls no longer own the factory which produced them. In fact, that plant is 'mothballed' by its current owners, although the kiln was fired up for one day last year just to keep the planning permit 'live' for another decade.

[sy76uk]

Thanks for the input. Of the suggestions, visually I am drawn to Resin bonded gravel and clay paviours, but I need to check out pricing on the former and I'm not wild about the 'long, thin' proportions of the clay paviours I have found so far, e.g. 210 x 100. Are any available in fatter dimensions, e.g. 215 x 130, or are there practical or traditional reasons why such are not made?

210x100 are bricks matey. Make sure you get paviors, they're 200x100.

[GB_Groundworks]

We've got a set drive its been down maybe 15 years now, gets 16 ton tracked machines across it, 40 ton trucks and it looks the sane as it did when laid with the exception of slight missing in less trafficked places. Must be 500-600m2

If you plan on staying at the property might be worth investing in the stone setts.

Pay once and it's done rather than every ten years or less re doing it

[cookiewales]

Can get you setts for 3 k 29 ton but cost lots more to lay

[ringi]

Tarmac edged with stone can look very good when done well as it is not pretending to be anything else.

It is a shame that there are not more exposed aggregate blocks about, as they are not pretending to be anything else.

[Tony McC]

It's not all that hard to get exposed agg blocks, but some of the prices being asked are just ludicrous when you consider over in that Europe they sell for 10-15 Euros but a 20-odd mile sea crossing more than doubles, almost trebles, the price.