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Posted: Thu Feb 08, 2018 11:06 pm
by fiskerton
Hi guys
I have a patterned concrete drive and my wife three weeks ago ended up in hospital the drive covered in black ice
I am thinking of getting a builder in to cut out sections of the drive and infilling with colored flag stones
The type of flag stone is Marshalls railway raised flags
I was on the train station the other day and noticed the raised coloum type flag stones
I believe these are to aid the blind but in this case if i had this type of flag stone laid would that in conjunction with grit salt be better than the smooth patterned drive i have now
Cheers in antisipation
Dave
Posted: Fri Feb 09, 2018 9:19 am
by Tony McC
Do you mean offset blister? These are the flags used at platform edges on rail stations.....
....the ones with the little bumps, not thes grooved pieces.
I think what you are proposing would look bloody awful, and, contrary to what you think, it will not make a significant difference to slip resistance. You would be better off with a bump-less textured flag, summat like one of these....
...or even a decorative patio flag.
However, it's not even necessary to cut out and replace the troublesome PIC. YOu can use a quality sealant with an added traction grit that will give the surface a slip resistance close to or even the same as you'd get by switching to a flagstone, and all with the added benefits of being cheap, simple and visually unnoticeable.
Have a look at the Slippery Sealant FAQ
Posted: Fri Feb 09, 2018 1:37 pm
by fiskerton
Cheers for that
I will try the traction grit first
The problem starts when it freezes
My drive drops slightly rear to front and right to left
Ive told my wife to keep to the right were at least she has only
One slight slope to navigate
As she is diabetic and unsteady on her feet you can imagine the problem
I will just have to ensure the surface is gritted and if freezing put plenty of salt on it
Cheers
Posted: Wed Feb 14, 2018 10:26 am
by Tony McC
Be careful with salt on PIC - it can rot it in next to no time, especially when the sealkant has started to fail. I've seen jobs where you can make out the drip pattern from parked cars where salt from the road has been deposited onto the PIC surface and eaten its way into the concrete.
If you get a bag of grit sand or concreting sand from a local BM, that will give you additional grip. There are salt-free de-icers - I think Resiblock do one - and they are a much better choice for PIC or any form of coloured concrete, including block paving.
Posted: Thu Feb 15, 2018 5:54 pm
by KAMIKAZEE DIY
I bought some of the resiblock de-icer after tony mc recommended it to me.
Gets rid of frost quick and if you put enough down it clears snow. Obviously everyones situations different but I just put it down from door to gate where we walk and for frost it doesn't need too much so it's really not that expensive.
More cost effective than lifting part of your driveway.
Hope this helps.