The Brew Cabin

Could I complement you on your fantastic website. I have spent many hours trawling through it and following the links and somewhat belatedly come upon your offer of free advice via the Forum. Seems too good to be true.

My project/problem is a front drive and path area at my house the other side of Warrington to you in Grappenhall. We have a Georgian property close to the village in the village conservation area which we have recently extended, at the same time creating a new entrance and driveway. If you’ve nothing better to do or are in the area it’s 5 Broad Lane. As part of the main building work the drive was excavated, filled with hardcore and stoned and I now need to surface it. The approximate area is 100 sq.m..

The planners wanted us to gravel the drive but it slopes and I think this would be a disaster. I looked at resin bonded aggregate to get a similar effect but all the examples I’ve seen use very small aggregate and unless you are right on top of it, it just looks like pale tarmac. Do you know if it is feasible to use larger aggregate to get more of a gravel effect. If so is there anyone in our area you would recommend. I know I would need some form of hard surface (concrete?) before laying.

Other than this, to stay in keeping with the property, I am looking at something with a dated effect but definitely not Marshalls Tegula which is more prevalent now than 3X2 concrete flags!!. Although concrete reproductions are getting better (I am looking at some Westminster Stone stuff tomorrow – I’ll let you know what I think) genuine stone seems more appropriate and the obvious choice is to go for reclaimed stuff. Here lies the problem in that I don’t think the contractor has left enough depth below dpc etc. to allow someone to lay & bed 4-6� setts and I certainly don’t want to have to dig it all out again. Our old drive is cobbled (i.e. duck stone cobbles) but we really don’t want this again as it is very hard to walk on, for the kids to ride bikes on etc. I am therefore looking at new stone products of a shallower depth (which will also be easier to lay) but with an aged appearance or one which will age suitably. I have searched your forum and seen the exchange with “Nigel� in which you mentioned the Marshalls product and Farrers and Johnson Wellfield. Are you aware of others?

In particular I have seen in your linked pages a couple of places, Bingley Stone & Bridge Street Stone, doing new sandstone setts (there is a lot of sandstone in the area and indeed already on our property) and (if they are not the same thing) Indian sandstone setts at Hardrock Upholland and Rock Unique who quote what seems a very reasonable £24 per sq. m for these and they look pretty good on the photo! http://www.rock-unique.co.uk/newly_quarried_granite_products.htm. Sod’s law that they are the only people down south!! Have you any experience/views on these products?

Any ideas/views/advice you could give would be appreciated. If I go for setts or similar is ther are local contractor you can recommend.

Thanks

Neil Ward

Hi Nigel,

have we discussed this driveway previously? Some of the details seem familar.

I think you're probably right about the gravel - it never works well on a slope, which means a bound gravel would be your only option. I'm not sure what is the largest size gravel that can be bound with a resinous product: perhaps our mate Simeon would know, but most resin jobs use a 10mm or smaller aggregate.

Anyway, if that was what you wanted, I know a couple of local contractors that might be able to help and I can send you their details by email, if you wish.

I know what you mean aboput the Tegula/Drivesett, but that's because our area is utterly and totally dominated by Marshalls. I was asked ot advise on a large driveway in Mere earlier this year, and the property-owner wanted something Tegula-like, but not Tegula, if you know what I mean. When I showed them some pics I have of RMC Priory, they were dead keen, as the good selection of sizes, different block widths as well as lengths, plus the different colours, make it a more appealling choice for those looking for summat a bit different. However, when I tried to price up the blocks (and we were looking at 300m²+, not just a few barrowfuls!) the best price was 26 quid per square metre, a good tenner per square metre more than Tegula Drivesett! You could possibly justify a couple of quid, but a tenner?? Needless to say, the idea of using Priory was knocked on the head immediately!

Westminster Stone specialise in wet-cast concrete copies, and they do a few bits of natural stone which they source via StoneFlair, who, in turn, import it from India and elsewhere. It's considerably cheaper than British Stone but I have reports of problems with certain types/colours.

There are several tumbled stone products on the market: the three companies you mention are all top quality firms, but there are other good suppliers, such as Purpletree, Nican Stone and Stonescape. I haven't heard of any major problems with any of these suppliers and, from what I've seen of their products, I wouldn't have a problem using them on a job. All this means that it comes down to finding a stone sett that you like at a reasonable price. Bringing stone up from the south, or hauling it more than 50 miles will increase the price, so it's probably best to try local suppliers first - Stonescape at Wigan is worth a visit, and you could try Hardscape at Bolton or Nicxan at Crewe (I think).

When it comes to a contractor, it all depends on the type of product you select. If you get a standard thickness tumbled sett, then any good block layer should be able to make a good job of them, but if you go for the more variable hewn products, such as cubes, then you really need a decent mason pavior to make the best of them, and contractors with those skills are much harder to find. However, once you're sorted as to what you're using, I should be able to point you in the right direction. :)