Relaying sections of a sandstone driveway - Fixing a degrading driveway 7 years old

[dcadogan]

I had an Indian Sandstone drive way put in 7 years ago. After about 5 years it started to degrade on 4 spots (where the car wheels sit). I stopped driving on it and was going to fix it, but just wanted to check if the process below is OK or even worth it.

The original construction was to dig out the garden and concrete and lay 6-8 inch (150mm-200mm) hardcore base. The Mint color Indian Sandstone (different sizes, 25mm thick) were laid on a cement/sand mortar and pointed with a similar mix. The driveway held one Ford Galaxy and some slabs started to move (come loose but not break) with this car after about 4/5 years, it the got worse when we got the Ford Tourneo so I stopped driving on it and park on the road.

I was going to lift the flags, clean and relay on a 1/3 cement/sharp sand mix.
Em not sure if I should add the SRB into this mix or create the slurry (Bond Bridge) and paint it on the back of the slabs.
Once set I was going to use VDW 800 (if I can find it in Ireland) for the joints.
Later i will seal (never sealed).

Is this OK and will it work, or is the original construction/idea not good enough to be a driveway for a 2100kg Kerb weight Car/Van.

Any feedback would be welcome.

[lemoncurd1702]

Personally I'm not a huge fan of slab/flag paving on a driveway but have seen it done with success in some cases.

I think your problem is probably the lack of use of a bonding slurry and if you are absolutely sure that the mortar bed is intact then you may get away with re-setting the slabs on a mix of SBR and cement (creamy consistency) with no sand. It's important to make sure there are no gritty grains in the mix or on the original bed, hoover it out if necessary. Make sure the slabs are relayed the same way as they came out to match the existing bed.

[higgness]

Try Natural Stone Yard in Dublin for Rompox suitable for a driveway, don't think you will get VDW here.