The Brew Cabin

Posted: **Tue Sep 22, 2015 6:29 pm**

Hi all,

I moved into this house about 2 years ago and I noted then that there was a problem with the edges of the mono blocked driveway. The driveway sits on the boundary with the neighbour and the neighbour's garden is 200mm lower than the surface of the driveway.

The image above depicts the makeup of the the drive as best I can make out. The haunching comprised a weak mortar that was placed at a steep angle to the outside of the edging block. With the action of the weather, the mortar has degraded and edge blocks are now falling into the neighbour's garden.

What I am looking for is a solution that won't require me having to do a lot of work in the neighbour's garden and hopefully won't require me to re-lay the whole driveway. My proposed solution looks like this:

In effect it is a reinforced concrete retaining wall that is tied back into the driveway.

Apart from that defect, the driveway is in good condition and has been there for many years. So you can see why I only want to fix what is broken.

I'd welcome any input people can offer.

Dave

Posted: **Tue Sep 22, 2015 9:39 pm**

why not use precast flat top concrete edging along the boundary what are available in various heights, these are bedded and hunched in concrete to the height you require and act as an edge restraint for the block paving

Posted: **Tue Sep 22, 2015 10:27 pm**

mickg wrote:why not use precast flat top concrete edging

I take it that you mean I could replace the existing edging blocks with precast edging. In which case, to cover the 200mm drop and still give enough sitting proud to be noticeable it you drove into it, I'd need a 250mm tall unit. Can you get them this tall? I've typically only come across sizes up to 205mm.

The downside of this method is that the edging over the sections with the drop will be different to the rest of the driveway and paths. Perhaps minor, but still.

Dave

Posted: **Tue Sep 22, 2015 10:59 pm**

I looked about a bit more and came up with this detail:

Is this what you were getting at?

Posted: **Tue Sep 22, 2015 11:13 pm**

if you concrete the edge like your second image this would also look different but with the precast flat top edging it will be more cost effective

for situation where you need to gain more height we have cut flags in half, so for example you could use a 900mm x 600mm or 600mm x 600mm flag cut in half and have the cut edge into the ground which will give you 900mm x 300mm or 600mm x 300mm

Posted: **Wed Sep 23, 2015 7:09 am**

I remember a similar situation on here a few years ago and the boss came up with a good idea of a length of galvanised or stainless steel angle iron. Don' t know if that will solve your problem but worthva look in the archives.

Posted: **Wed Sep 23, 2015 10:23 am**

seanandruby wrote:I remember a similar situation on here a few years ago and the boss came up with a good idea of a length of galvanised or stainless steel angle iron. Don' t know if that will solve your problem but worthva look in the archives.

Thanks for pointing that one out. It's a good idea where you have very little room beyond the kerb or edge block. The downside is the cost of the steelwork and the fact it won't conform to the curve of the driveway. Over a short, straight section, it's a smart solution.

Edit: The original topic is here - No edge for paviors, Retaining the blocks

Dave

Posted: **Wed Sep 23, 2015 6:46 pm**

Mick suggested exactly the same as I would.

If you have 200mm showing above ground you should Bury 100mm and bed them on 100mm of concrete with a 100mm haunch left below ground level.

Posted: **Wed Sep 23, 2015 7:35 pm**

exactly Simon....!

Posted: **Wed Sep 23, 2015 10:49 pm**

its a bread and butter detail for edging paving
and to my mind is a proper job
haunching when done correctly has its place
I.E. with hand made or old looking stuff
LLL

The Brew Cabin

Edge detail for level difference - 200mm drop from paving level