The Brew Cabin

Hi Tony & all

I intend to extend my drive width-wise and incorporate a right hand curve as you face the house.

How do I :

1. Get the level of the extension to match the
existing drive which gently slopes away from the
house?

2. Minimise the disturbance caused to the drive body as
I break up the soldier course?
( I dont mind re-laying it in order to mix & match old
and new blocks. )

Would it be easier to use Keyform Edging as opposed to bedding and hauncing the soldier course?

help help help

Thanks Eugene

Hi Eugene,

I'm not with you on Q1 - what's the difficulty in making the area of extension tally with the existing?

On Q2, if you're taking up an existing soldier course, you can use a length of timber as a temporary brace. Position the timber (a length of 100x50 or similar) so that's it's tight up against the exposed block edges, then use road pins or steel dowels to fasten the timber in place. Old sleepers make good temporary braces, too, and they don't usually need bracing.

Try to keep any vehicles at least a metre away from the exposed edge for the duration, and get it re-paved asap. You may need to take up a half metre or so of the existing blocks to accommodate the new extension levels.

Hi Tony

Thanks for the speedy response, I am a bit nervous about not getting existing and extended drive to level out evenly.

Do you mean getting the surface of the extended area to tally/coincide with the surface of the existing paved area?

Hi Tony

Just as you put it, to tally / coincide with the surface of the existing.

And many thanks for your help and inspiration so far.
I feel confident to tackle this project in the spring.

Once you've got your sub-base in, and you're preparing the screeded bedding layer, screed from the existing drive, running the screeder board over the top of the existing blocks to establish a bed for the new paving. You'll need to do a bit of tittivating, tidily feathering-in the new bed to match the existing blocks, but it's quite easy - honestly! :)

Many thanks Tony.

I'll take before and after pictures to show you the result.

Thanks for all the advise.

(Edited by Eugene at 1:20 pm on Feb. 2, 2003)

Hello Tony

Hope your Ticker and all are fine, and that you stay in good health.

Is it possible to replace the old blocks (they are under a year old) with new ones to match the proposed extension?

Otherwise given that they are fairly new, can I alter the layout from the current strecther bond, to herringbone for extra strength, all this without having to go over the entire site with a whacker?

There's a few ticks left in the owld ticker, yet, but it needs some fettling later in the year, whicjh will lay me up for a few weeks - get all your paving jobs done asap, before they put me under the surgeon's knife again! ;)

I can't see any reason why you wouldn't be able to swap old for new, assuming they are the same size. You might be able to re-use the old blocks on another project elsewhere in the garden.

But, whether you re-lay the old, or replace with new, you're going to need a vib plate to do the job properly. Ideally, you'd partially compact the bedding layer before laying the blocks, and then you need the plate to consolidate the blocks and rattle in the jointing sand once the paving is laid.

Were you hoping to avoid the hire charges?

Thanks for the reply Tony

Just wanted to make sure that I do the job properly.

Get well soon, cause we all find your wealth of information and encouragement invaluable.

Best regards