The Brew Cabin

Posted: **Thu Aug 07, 2008 11:44 pm**

Hi
i am new to this site and like a little D.I.Y and have just finished my conservatory and now need to tackle my front garden i have been looking and reading alot on here i have a block paved front garden and need to sort it out so i can park 2 cars on it.

As you can see in the picture that some on the origonal drive has sank and also some of the blocks are stained with oil or grease.

I also have a flower bed in the centre of the garden which will need to be removed and also the curved step will be made smaller and also in to a straight step.

With the picture of the manhole cover i have bought a recessed one to put in but i also have no stop cock in the front garden that works the water board have one right out side my property on the pave ment so what is my bets option for sorting this as i am fully aware that my house should have a fully servicably stop cock.... any advice on this would be great please..

what i have decided to do is take the lot of the blocks up and look under it and restart again this paving has been down for about 15 years so i have no problem in attemting this job, i will be starting this saturday and i am looking for any advice that any guys or girls can give me on how to takle it.

i should also add that the wall in the front garden is also going to be removed sowe can get 2 cars on the front as we and our wonderfull kids now have 5 cars in this house hold and would like to try and keep the peace with our local area neighbours.

Also i should add that the blocks that are down i wish to reuse them and they are 75 mm thick i also have other spare blocks but they are 50mm thick can i use them to fill the gaps around the edge or the step for instance??

many thanks in advance for your help and advice in any of the above

kind regards simon

Posted: **Fri Aug 08, 2008 6:44 am**

Water supply stop cock in the footpath is no problem - that is normal! You'll also have a stop cock where the main rises/enters your house.

Is the proposed area big enough for another car without any oversail onto the footpath?

Posted: **Fri Aug 08, 2008 3:49 pm**

many thanks for your help in this so are you saying to do away with the stop cock on the drive and fit one just inside the house?
the only problem with that is i dont have a main one in the house as far as i known.

also yes the mrs fiesta should go no problems i did get an old mondeo behind the wall at some stage but you did have to get out of the hatchback as the wall was in the way..

many thanks simon

Posted: **Fri Aug 08, 2008 4:43 pm**

Don't see why you need another stop cock. The one in the boundary box enables you or the water company to isolate the supply if need be, and there'll be another one as Dave says in the rising main, most commonly under the kitchen sink or maybe in a downstairs WC. Agreed you don't need to have one in the drive as well.

I think you'd be best off taking up all the blocks. If the sub-base is in good shape all the better. Skip the sand and edging concrete/muck, etc. Blocks cost about 20p ea. so if you have to buy more brindles it won't break the bank. Stick to one thickness though, or you'll create more problems for yourself than you solve.

Posted: **Fri Aug 08, 2008 6:39 pm**

5 cars in the household??? Sheesh, I'm glad you're not my neighbour!!

You must have a stop cock in your property - as Rich says, there will be one near to the downstairs sink/toilet. Have a look, but I bet it'll be seized solid.........thats why I put mine in my utility room Kahzi, I give the valve a turn when I'm having a sit-down! :p (weirdo)

Posted: **Fri Aug 08, 2008 8:41 pm**

Ha ha yer sorry to say 5 cars i going back to uni in stoke soon so then 4... thank god!!

many thanks for all the fab advice i started to take the blocks up tonight and i have 2 diffrent thicknesses but i do have 1400 of the 50 mm ones down the end of my back garden so the big question is can i use the 50mm ones for all over will they be ok for a drive?

I think what i will do then is take the lot up and then find the mains water into the house and then fit a new stop cock inside.

many thanks again all of you for your great advice

kind regards simon

Posted: **Sat Aug 09, 2008 12:06 am**

50mm are fine for the whole drive. you have 28m2 down the garden, new ones about Â£9-11 per m2 Just follow the laying guide on the main site.
ps forget about the water its not an issue

Posted: **Mon Aug 11, 2008 8:05 am**

Fantastic advice all many thanks for that, i started to clear it on saturday morning and done 3 loads to the tip...

The rain stopped me at around 3pm and to be honest i was glad as my back was aching some what..
so i done more on sunday and even had to get some help in from the dog...

He done quite alot and saved my back, we only done 2 trips to the tip today as the tip now have no more room for any more hardcore..

But we wasted no time and reloaded the trailer ready for load number 6 on monday at around 11am when they have another skip in ... i hope...

the photo above is at the end of day 2 (SUNDAY 4PM) and my back is getting worse... but i feel like we are winning now and this is only a 30sqm job my heart goes out to some others on here doing much bigger jobs.. i know how you feel now.
many thanks again and if you have any further advice then please share it with me

regards simon

Posted: **Mon Aug 11, 2008 9:12 pm**

Simon 1400 blocks should be fine Ive just done my path and used 2 pallets with some to spare approx 900 blocks yours looks a similar size to mine if not a wee bit smaller

Good Luck !!

Posted: **Tue Aug 12, 2008 8:47 pm**

ange jones wrote:Simon 1400 blocks should be fine Ive just done my path and used 2 pallets with some to spare approx 900 blocks yours looks a similar size to mine if not a wee bit smaller

Good Luck !!

Ange thanks for that,
ive got a prob with a water pipe mains one at the mo so just trying to sort that and then i hope to get on with the paving.

thanks for uploading some pics of your project they look fab well done ange you must be well happy.

regards simon

Posted: **Mon Nov 02, 2009 7:58 pm**

Sorry old post but ive finally found time and now know how to do the pictures..

this was the front garden before i started

and now the during pictures..

more to follow... cheers

Posted: **Mon Nov 02, 2009 8:01 pm**

water stop cock in drive was in a big mess... so had to sort it aswell

drain was also no good so put a new gully in

nice pair of legs...

getting some extra help... it all helps

... only a few more to follow

Posted: **Mon Nov 02, 2009 8:03 pm**

laying them up to my neighbours wall....

This is the only picture i have of it completly finished... and notice 3 weeks after i had finished my neighbour decided to do his ... so we got a skip and got cracking...

any coments please let me know and once again thanks to you all for your FREE and helpfull advice
cheers simon

Posted: **Mon Nov 02, 2009 8:14 pm**

for the stop cock, turn off the existing and cut in a new gate valve, should be 22mm copper wherever you like before it feeds the kitchen sink or wherever your fist mains water service is

Posted: **Mon Nov 02, 2009 8:19 pm**

Resize the photies to 600 pixels width - as per Tony's info - otherwise they're a pain & nobody bothers.... also they take too long to load.
Regards.

The Brew Cabin

Block paving drive project - Pictures and advice please