The Brew Cabin

Tony,

I'm having problems with my block paved driveway. The driveway is edged with a soldier course which is then haunched with concrete. Problem is that the level of my lawn which is next to the haunched concrete is 6 inches below the block paving surface, so the haunching is 1) exposed and ugly and 2) the weight of my car at the edge of the drive has pushed the haunching away leaving a big gap between the haunch and soldier course. What do you think is the best way of holding the soldier course in place. Do I need to replace the haunching with a deeper, more substantial haunch which cuts deeper into the lawn, or maybe I could use edging kerbs in place of the hunch which would look better, but then again would kerbs also move due to the 6 inch level difference ?

I have also noticed dips appearing in other parts of the driveway and reckon that the original drive was laid on a bed of sand that was far to deep which would contribute to the movement of blocks and haunch.

Grateful for any advice,

Cheers

If the haunching is parting company with the driveway, that's a key indicator of it being slapped on as an afterthought, rather than as an integral and essential part of the structure. I'd wager this week's pocket money that the edge blocks are laid on the bedding and the haunching isn't part of a cement-bound bed, as it should be. If you take a look at the Edge Courses page, you'll see a diagram of the unacceptable construction which I suspect is the root cause of your problems.

There's only one real cure - take up the edge course and re-lay it on a poper concrete bed and haunch. This would not only ensure the drive doesn't deteriorate any further, but it gives the opportunity to tidy up the haunching and make it more presentable. Info on how it should be laid is given on the page mentioned above.

I firmly believe that the haunching should be covered with topsoil - this can help 'accommodate' the level diff between paving an lawn. It can be planted up or it can even be turfed/seeded, if you have the sort of mower that would be able to cope with the gradient. As there's only 150mm between paving and lawn, you should be able to 'lose' this in a 300mm wide strip of soil.

Alternatively, you could construct a lawn edging or mowing strip against the lawn, say 300-450mm from the edge of the drive, and then fill in with a deco gravel.

The areas of settlement may be caused by an overly deep bed, or they may be a consequence of the wandering edge course, but it's relatively easy to lift and re-lay. If the settlement is down to a poorly constructed bedding layer or sub-base, then the only real fix is to lift the lot and start again, but that's a mammoth task, especially if it's only one or two "elephant's footprints" of settlement that can be foxed by a quick re-lay.

For now, I'd get the edge courses fixed as a priority, as they will enable the drive to get worse and worse if left unfixed, whereas the low spots can be fixed as soon as you get a couple of hours to spare.

Thanks Tony,

The picture on the edging page is exactly what's happening to my drive. Still toying with the idea of using kerb blocks next to the soldier course (both properly bedded in of course) for the transition down to lawn level as the current haunching looks pretty ugly despite being done by a "professional". I've noticed Marshall and Charcon do 200mm deep kerb blocks which would allow me to bury them into the lawn to a depth of 50mm to help stability in addition to the concrete bedding. I could then follow your advice and put in a deco gravel mowing strip between the kerb and lawn. What do you think ?

Thanks again.

Or you could do summat like....



...which uses a 200mm wide block at the foot of the kerb unit to form a mowing strip, so you don't have to faff around trying to get the mower right up to the edge of the kerb.

The only caveat I have is that a 150mm step down to the lawn, with no check, is just begging for the car wheels to go over the edge! :(

Thanks Tony,

That's exactly what I had in mind, and incorporating the mowing strip next to the kerb is a great idea.

Just got to give the missus some parking lessons now !!!!

Cheers