The Brew Cabin

I'd go for all blocks for the following reasons...

1 - getting a contractor willing to supply and lay 4m of bitmac is damn near impossible, even if it's 5m wide giving a total area of 20m2.

2 - Cost - The set-up costs for bitmac are considerable - bringing in a roller, the insulated delivert wagon, the tarps, the firebox, the special laying gang, all the tools etc, costs the same whether you're laying 20m2 or 200m2, and so bitmac becomes very expensive in small quantities.

3 - Block paving can be sealed to prevent erosions of jointing sand and bedding by water, even from inundation. And although quality sealansts aren't particularly cheap (reckon on 2-3 quid per m2) it's still a lot cheaper than having a small patch of bitmac laid.

4 - Aesthetics - That 4m bitmac strip is always going to look like a council-installed crossing apron over a service strip, even though it's your own property.


If you're really, really worried about the possibility of inundation, then you could consider a rigid form of block paving, rather than the usual flexible construction.

Have you had any costings provided? It's worth asking a reputable local contractor to give you prices for all blocks and the blocks/bitmac split, just so you can see the effect of having a small patch of bitmac laid to a residential driveway.

Thanks for prompt reply.
I was always going to do the blocks myself so haven't had any quotes for that. Groundwork chap who did excavation was going to do the tarmac but we never got round to a price ........
Started laying Type 1 today. Lets hope Bank Holiday weather doesn't do its usual. :)

It's been persisting down most of the day here in The Peoples' Republic of South Lancashire - typical, as I was planning to spend the day in the garden!

Keep us informed about your progress - or lack of it!

It rained !
However, the subbase is all down and I'm just finishing off the levels having gone over with the wacker and not expecting it to compact soooo much.
Would you recommend keeping all vehicles off of the compacted subbase ? The 7.5 tonne lorry with sand is ( hopefully) arriving this Sat. Would it be best to get him to dump sand on road at end of drive ?
Must say the bit of land to the front of the house is lookin more like a drive than a building site now. Will be glad to go back to work for a rest though. :)

I wouldn't let the delivery wagon onto the sub-base, just in case it causes rutting. If the sub-base is over really firm ground, then it might not be a problem, but it's always better to be safe than sorry.

Try and dump the sand as close as poss to the working area. It's ok to dump it at the edge of the proposed driveway, and then feed from it as you lay your edge courses and then establish your screeded bedding. Any excess will have to be moved off the working area, of course, but it's easier to barrow, say, 1T of excess off the working area, than barrow 7.5T into the working area.

Alternatively, you could get the wagon driver to split the delivery, dropping 4 T or so on the working area and the remainder somewhere out of the way.

Makes sense - ta.
Next problem - when I come to screed off the sharp sand, I am ok with the majority of the drive as it is rectangular. However, at the bottom part I have incorporated a "reversing arc" so that we can get vehicles in and out of drive easily from the narrow access road that the drive leads onto.
How do I screed this ? I can't work out how to place the screed rail in the middle as the screed bar will push it out as I screed up the drive. I am including ( hopefully !) a diagram to try and help explain that awful piece of English :

.

The drive also has a slope on it in this section from drive to access road. Two sides of drive are same level (no fall side to side).
Hope this makes sense.

(Edited by darrenm at 7:56 pm on Sep. 3, 2002)

You need a trammel bar or a screed rail, and establish it from the mid point of the arc to the corner in the top right of your diagram. You can then screed from the soldier edgings to the trammel bar, and just tittivate the bits your screeder board doesn't reach.

Hello again.
The blocks are here and once the rain stopped we layed a 2m run before the rain started again. And I've got up and it's raining again. AArrghh !
I have seen in other posts that it is ok to lay in mild wet weather but I am worried that heavy rain may affect the bedding layer underneath the blocks that I have already laid. Should I be taking precautions to protect them or am I being paranoid?

You're being a teeny bit paranoid.

Once the blocks are laid, they protect the bedding from the worst of any rain, but, if there was a real, torrential downpour, that might cause some problems if it is allowed to saturate the bedding and the sub-base isn't capable of draining it quickly enough.

You should always allow the bedding 24 hours to drain itself before final compaction of the blocks, otherwise the bed can become 'fluid' and pump its way up through the joints, and the jointing sand itself is a bugger to get settled into the joints.

The best protection you can give your paving is to get the ground covered with blocks as quickly as possible, get the cutting-in done, and get it sanded and compacted ASAP. Once all that's done, it can look after itself. :)

I am slowly getting there with the cutting in but its difficult getting in a couple of hours after work at the moment. Neighbours must think I'm mad outside with a blockcutter and floodlight :)
However , I upset meself tonite as I took up and relaid a section in the middle of the drive run where the screed had been particularly affected by rain before I could get it cut in. As I relaid it , gaps appeared in the pattern. These are only upto about 3mm but I was really peed off as they weren't there before ! This made me spit out me dummy for a bit as I thought I'd have to re-lay the whole drive to take up this bit of slack but me wife said "email that bloke" for a bit of reassurance.
So, will the jointing sand take up this slack ok ? Or shall I start pulling it all up ?

Once you start taking up and re-laying, you can get some 'pattern drift' and end up with wider-than-normal joints in some parts, and tighter-than-normal joints elsewhere.

Don't get stressed - re-lay the blocks and then use the blade of a trowel to adjust the spacing once you've got them all back in place, trying to even out the joint width. As long as you keep the joints to 6mm or less, you'll be ok, as the jointing sand will take up any slack and hold everything tight.

These are concrete blocks, aren't they?

Thank you for your prompt reply again Tony - much appreciated and yes , they are concrete blocks - Brett Omega 60mm.

Nice blocks! I only asked because pattern drift is more common with clay pavers than with concretes.

Remeber to send me a pic when you're done!

It's done ! (did you hear the sigh of relief ? :) ) Car is now parked on drive, rather than annoying neighbours, although I can't put van on yet as it has a tendency to leak stuff now and then and I haven't sealed the drive .
I want to go for Resiblock , bearing in mind potential submergence problem mentioned earlier. However, there is some effloresence on blocks and obviously jointing sand will settle over next few weeks. When should I be looking to apply the Resiblock ?
I have taken a series of photos for you but film is not yet finished off.

Congratulations! :)

Can't wait to see the piccies, Darren, and add you to the Hall of Fame!

As for the sealing, you need to leave the sand jointing for 6 weeks to let it settle, and then top it up, which puts us in to mid-November, when the ground is hardly ever dry. So, I'd be tempted to leave the sealant until next Spring, say late March, when the sun has dried off the surface once again, and the efflorescence has dissipated.

If ordering direct from Resiblock, tell them I referred you and you'll get a decent price. :)