Brickweave Driveway

[ukanonymous]

I have a tarmac driveway covered in small pebbles. There are a few pot holes in the driveway. I want to brick weave it with my other half (do it alone). Here are my questions please:

1. What can we cut the tarmac with to make a drain trench.
2. Can we just fill in the pot holes with hardcore / concrete , put a thin layer of sand down and brick weave over the top?? If that is possible how thick the sand please?
3. We have a concrete section at the top of the drive what is the best way to brick weave over that?


Thanky poos! As we are not in the UK its hard to get people to do it one company quoted us 40k and one 50k just for a 20m driveway?!

[The Builder]

1. A 9" (225mm) angle grinder (disc cutter) with a diamond-tipped disk.

2. Since they're only potholes, I would just fill them with concrete. Fill up to the level of the surrounding tarmac.
Now for the annoying bit... brick pavers (as with concrete slabs) are laid on 2" (50mm) of compacted sand. (It's going to raise the finished level of the drive quite a lot.)
Spread the sand to the 50mm thickness, then run over it with a "plate compactor" (easily rented from a hire centre.)
As it compresses, fill in with more sand until level again. Compact it again until happy ;o)

3. Same as above (assuming that the concrete is flush with the tarmac bit.)

Lay the pavers directly onto the compacted sand. When done, run the plate compactor over the whole area to finish.

Another way is to use concrete instead of sand. That way, you can knock up a small amount of concrete and do a small area at a time, setting the pavers in the concrete as you go.
The trouble with that is that you have to be pretty sure about your levels and your "falls" (slopes). Why they use the sand method is because you can vary the thickness over the whole thing to get the base right BEFORE you do any paving.

[teacake44]

All the above for sure, when all the bricks are down ready for the final compactor, spread kiln dried sand all over, and has you compact/vibrate the sand will find its way down the joints of the bricks and lock them tight in place, helps them from moving.

[teacake44]

The above (must) be done on a very dry day, a sunny day is ideal!

[ukanonymous]

Teacake thank you a lot thats great information! We were going to use small like brick things which are about 5 inch by 6 inches. Can you do those with concrete too? Obviously you wont need sand then? Concrete sounds a better option as we are diy noobs and will take us weeks. If we do it with concrete I guess we dont need a compactor thing? Also the concrete will just be hardcore and cement right? When the brick things are down do we have to fill the gaps with sand or anything? I just got more info from you than 2 months of trying to speak to local people lol

[The Builder]

You'll need a lot of concrete, UK............... and a mixer.
No compacting needed though.

You could probably get away with 40mm of concrete.
Say about a 4:2:1 mix.
4 x 20mm chippings, 2 x ordinary sharp sand, 1 x cement.

Then grout with kiln-dried sand when it's all gone off.
Yes, 5" x 6" pavers are fine.

Also, if you did go for the sand bedding option, then I agree with everything TC has said. Good luck to you ;o)

[ukanonymous]

Thanks ok we will have a think. So what I understaand is Concrete is more work but at least we can do it bit by bit (however leveling it will be hard) . Sand has to be done in all one go right? Or is there any way to do section by section?

[The Builder]

For DIY, you really would have to do the sand option all in one go. It depends on the area, but I think you would have trouble levelling the bed if it were fragmented.

Be careful when paving. Use a long straight-edge to prevent humps and troughs.
Get yourself set up, and get the feel of it with a small area to start with.

:o)

[teacake44]

I would really advise you go with sand option, as your base, on top of the base you already have, no disrespect to you but as builder said about getting your level with concrete is not that easy, If you've not had previous experience, and you doing it in little bits, you may end up with lots of different levels. The sand base, along with a compactor plate is a lot more forgiving for someone who has not done this before, if the level is to bad you can just re- rake it up again and restart level with compactor plate, with concrete once its goes off you stuck with it. You can still do a smaller area with the sand base, albeit not ideal, but it don't take long to shovel sand down and spread it then compact it down level; and if weather turns bad/ wet, you can just restart when weather improves.

[teacake44]

My bad builder, you hadn't got back to him when I looked, hope we've not confused him. :0)

[The Builder]

The silly thing is, that if TC and I could see the job for ourselves, it would be much easier to decide which way to go.

Don't be afraid of the sand bed option. It's quite straightforward, and plate compacting is dead easy.

What TC is getting at is that, if you go for a concrete bed, you could end up with mounds and dips all over the place. I thought I had to give you the concrete alternative, but I know what to look out for. It's easy for me to say.
For you, do consider the sand option first.

[The Builder]

No, not at all TC. I hate to be dogmatic about these things. There are always alternatives as you know.

I think, between us, we both know the best way for UK.

[teacake44]

Yes, preparation is the key to most, take the lot up, and skip it :0)