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Posted: Tue May 01, 2007 12:38 am
by atryer-yourgodlovesem
First Ever post guys so sorry in advance for the ignorance and stupidity. Found this site following a Google search weeks ago and am still reading the info there is so much. Well done Tony, you should be proud - its amazing, and I'm sure Tony Snr was very proud...
Anyway the nitty gritty.
In my wisdom I have allowed the wife to talk me into doing the drive with Stonemarket Arctic Granite which I believe only comes 25mm thick. To enable use of this particular product I intend to excavate the current hardstanding (just gravel and a bit of block paving over the old garden) around 285mm and replace it with 150mm of compacted crusher-run, 100mm C20 concrete and when the concrete has set lay the granite flags on a 10mm solid sand/cement bed.
Is this a reasonable spec and if so should the flags be laid on a wet bed or semi-dry.
Im not too far from the sea and so the underlying ground is sand - is 150mm hardcore good enough.
The overall drive area is 30m2 so I have 9 ton of crusher-run, 2 skips, a mini-digger and a slipped disc on order for this Saturday. Do I need good weather or my bumps feelin?
Any advice would be greatfully received.
Many many thanks
Posted: Tue May 01, 2007 7:14 pm
by Rich H
The foundation sounds good enough to hold a couple of fully laden wagons, but the paving? Hmm. Even Stonemarket don't recommend it for driveways! It's expensive stuff to replace when it cracks, alright.
Instead of 2 skips, why not get a grab loader? Quicker, easier and cheaper. Use the digger to take out one half of the area and pile it on the other side. When that's clear, scoop it all back and the dig out the other side. All dug out and all the loader needs to do is grab it all out.
Posted: Tue May 01, 2007 8:58 pm
by atryer-yourgodlovesem
I'm a bit worried about the strength of the flags which is why I'm laying on 100mm of concrete. Will this stop the cracking or not?.....
Also is 150mm of hardcore too much and if so how much less can I get away with.
Posted: Tue May 01, 2007 11:30 pm
by lutonlagerlout
you would be better laying the flags /tiles straight onto the concrete at 100mm thick ,but to be brutally honest i dont think these slabs are suitable for driveways
cheers LLL 
Posted: Wed May 02, 2007 12:35 am
by atryer-yourgodlovesem
Thanks for the help so far. If the Arctic Granite is not suitable does anyone know of an alternative that gives the same sharp contemporary look.
By the way when u say lay direct on the concrete do you mean on wet concrete as it is being laid because I'm seeing major probs there - the readymix guys round here dont wanna hang around.
If I make the desision to risk using the granite I intend to put some mini uplighters in (around 25mm diameter holes) so any tips drilling the granite or will a normal carbide tip do the job.
Cheers
Posted: Wed May 02, 2007 9:17 pm
by lutonlagerlout
if you want a contempory looking drive how about resin bonded gravel or PIC?
LLL
Posted: Thu May 03, 2007 12:23 am
by atryer-yourgodlovesem
D day is gettin close and you're not helping.....
Can someone please confirm if 150mm of hardcore is enough or too much.....
Does 100mm of concrete with the flags laid on a bed of sand/cement have a REASONABLE chance of sucess (I'm willing to take the chance that the ODD flag might crack but I'd like sporting odds).
BTW all the PIC patterns I've seen are nothing like the granite look and what is resin bonded gravel.
Cheers
Posted: Thu May 03, 2007 2:26 am
by Suggers
25mm to hold a car ? - noway - it's a tile.... no matter what's underneath - the guys here are only trying to help.....
no time for PIC meself - fraught with problems - you did say drive, right?
Resin bonded gravel - have you looked at the site?
Posted: Thu May 03, 2007 7:54 pm
by Tony McC
150mm of sub-base will be fine, especially as you're on a sandy sub-grade.
However, I can only echo the concerns of everyone else regarding the choice of surfacing material. At 25mm thick, it's almost guaranteed to crack, regrdkless of what you lat it on. You CAN get 40-60mm thick granite blocks and flags, which would be more suitable, but, naturally, they cost a bit more because you're buying more granite.
Posted: Thu May 03, 2007 10:34 pm
by atryer-yourgodlovesem
Thanks for the confirmation of the 150mm sub-base.
Does anyone know where I could source the thicker granite and if I could find them at say 50mm thick would I still have to lay the 100mm of concrete.
Cheers
Posted: Thu May 03, 2007 10:40 pm
by lutonlagerlout
tryer slabs are not really designed to take car loading,why do you think you never see slabs or flags on roads?
you can risk all the money you want. But what you do risk, is losing it all, and starting from scratch again but 3-4 grand down.
driveways are better either as a monolithic slab i.e. concrete or tarmac,or with small sectional stuff in i.e. block paves,cobbles,shingle
the reason for this is the weight of cars and the fact that with power steering people can exert tremendous point loads onto slabs
good luck
god loves a trier
LLL
Posted: Fri May 04, 2007 8:34 am
by Tony McC
Thicker granite is available from the likes of CED, Marshalls commercial, Tobermore, Charcon and many of the more commercial/specification type suppliers rather than purveyors of patio paving.