The Brew Cabin

I've had some movement from the council regarding my flooding problem so now my attention is turning to the question of relaying my drive.

I've drawn up some plans which I've put up here. Sorry about the quality of my scan :( I'll include some pictures of the house to put the plan in context shortly.

Unfortutely all the radii of my bends are between 2m and 3m. I was hoping to lay a soldier course of Tegula Drivesetts around the edge of the gravel area - which by my calculations needs almost 4m radius before you can lay the blocks uncut.

Would it look a bit odd if I used charcoal Driveline as the soldier and Tegula for the paved areas? Or should I just bite the bullet and cuts some blocks?

I've got a diamond blade, water-cooled tile saw which I used to cut the limestone tiles I laid in the kitchen - I think it's 550W - will it have enough oomph to cut concrete blocks or will I need to hire something else?

Also, since I've never done anything like this before, is it feasible for me to do this more-or-less single handed if I take a week off work? I might be able to get some help operating machinery (cement mixer, for example).

My estimations are:-

soldier course: 88m
paving:6 m sq.
gravel 100 m sq.

Thanks

Neil

(Edited by nezza at 5:08 pm on Jan. 29, 2003)

Charcoal Driveline looks OK-ish with Drivesett, but it's quite 'modern' looking against the tumbled appearance of Drivesett, which may not be to everyone's taste. I'll have a root through my photo library to see if there's any pics that might help you visualise.

For the soldiers, I'd rather trim Drivesetts than play about with different blocks. Drivesett are quite easy to trim in a splitter and the cropped edge looks more authentic than a sawn edge on tumbled blocks.

But, have you considered using 120mm Drivesetts, Drivesett Deco or even Drivesett cobbles? They are small enough to accommodate your radii.

When it comes to laying the drive, I'm sure you could do it yerself, but it might take you more than a week, if you're starting from scratch. With a mini-digger and a bit of good organisation, along with favourable weather, it could be done, but I'll wait till I see your house pix before committing meself one way or t'other. :)

I hadn't really considered the small Drivesetts... I've had another think and they could be the answer. Unfortunately it means laying 730 of them instead of about 550 of the larger ones :( On the plus side they're cheaper, and I'll use a bit less concrete.

If I use Tegula for the edges and for the paths how do I stop the edges of the paths from getting 'lost'? Or am I worrying unnecessarily?

My rough time plan looks like this:-

Days 1&2 (Sat/Sun) Excavation and marking out
Days 3-5 (Mon-Wed) Lay soldiers
Day 6 (Thu) Install sub-base
Day 7 (Fri) Install gravel and paths

which leaves the following Sat/Sun as contingency. I'm going to have to trust to luck for the weather - and hope that http://www.metcheck.com is reasonably accurate.

I wouldn't worry too much about the number of blocks being laid - the area covered and total weight of paving handled remains the same. There's a bit more messing about, but, compared to cutting, it's a lot easier. :)

What do you mean by edges getting 'lost'? If they're laid on and haunched with concrete, there's nowhere for them to go, and they will retain the rest of the paving.

With regard to your schedule, I reckon 3 days to lay the soldiers is unduly pessimistic. You should be able to do it in 2 days, but then, I reckon you might need 3 days for the sub-base, the gravel and the paths, so it's all academic, really.

The only weather that can stop you is hard frost or torrential rain, and, as far as I know, neither is on the menu for next week. Bloody cold today, though!

Looks like I'm on the right lines then :)

What I meant by losing the edge was that, since it's all the same material, will it look like there IS an edge, or just that the paving stops - if you see what I mean. In other words, there won't be a border to the paving - oes that matter or will it look OK? I hope I'm making myself clearer... :)

It won't be next week, but depending on when the council say they'll do their part, it could be the week after.

Cheers

Neil

Won't your paths have a soldier course? That should provide edge definition.

Or do you mean "upstand", like a kerb provides?

Yes, the paths will have soldiers - I'm clearly worrying unduly, then.

The council will let me know on Monday when they expect to start, but since there's a crew in the village doing some kerb work etc at the moment the chances are they'll be able to do their part soon.

Neil

Right! So, what's the arrangement with the soldiers? Have you decided one way or t'other?

If you go with the 160x120mm units, a good-looking wide-ish soldier is a 160 wide block on the outside, a 120 in the centre, and then another 160 on the inner edge...




as in this detail from a recent design.

The council altered the footpath profile and built up in my driveway last week, so hopefully no more inundations from next door.

As a result I'm go to do my part the week after next, with a couple of helpers, and I'm looking around for suppliers at the moment.

On the aggregates side, Lafarge has a depot in my village so I think it's quite likely I'll use them - I notice that they also have block pavers and wondered if they have anything comparable to Marshall's Tegula - the web site doesn't have any pictures to show their products.

As for the arrangement of the edging, I'm going to go with a single soldier course for now. I hope that in a few years I'll be able to afford to take up the gravel and in-fill with blocks, but I can't spring for the extra at the moment.

Regards

Neil

Lafarge are relative small fry in the world of Concrete Block Pavers, but they do have a tumbled product that could be viewed as an alternative to Drivesett. They call it "Courtyard Paving', and in an amazing coincidence, it comes in exactly the same sizes as Drivesett/Tegula, and there's even a 50mm thick version! Amazing, eh? ;)

We don't see it up here in t'north-west of England but it seems it's slightly more expensive than Tegula/Drivesett. Lafarge, like almost every other larger manufacturer, will not sell direct to one-off customers, so you'd have to buy via a buliders' merchant, anyway, so give your local BM a call and ask them for a price.

All the other manufacturers have their own versions of a tumbled block - Woburn from Charcom/Bradstone, Alpha from Brett, Clifton from Formpave, Priory/Chelsea from RMC - once one manufacturer has a 'good idea' it's never long before the rest of them are on the band-wagon. so it might be worth looking at other options! :)

We did consider the other 'majors' like RMC etc. but SWMBO likes the Tegula, so that's what I'm doing.

Incidentally, I've been quoted £16.21/m sq. for my 22 m sq., inc delivery but exc. VAT. Seems a reasonable price to me.

Many thanks for all your advice - I'll take the 'before' photos this weekend and post them with the plans.

Cheers

Neil

That's a typical diyers price for ex-yard delivery via a BM.

22 m² is just a bit more than 2 full packs, but the Tegs come with each size in a separate pack, so, to get a decent mix, the BM is going to have to split the packs, or you'll end up with twice as many 120x160s (smalls) as 240x160s (large).

Have they told you what 'mix' of sizes they'll supply?

That price was to my specification - ie 840 small, 110 medium, 80 large.

Oooh! That's an awful lot of smalls! Is there some reasoning behind your (roughly) 10:1 ratio?

Most of the smalls are for the 88 lin. m of soldier