New driveway

beefster

I am looking to get my driveway relayed. Block paving over the current concrete was the preffered way but it seems the concrete has to come out and the costs were huge.
I recollect seeing an ad in the paper for a covering which had the block paved effect pressed into it? I have not seen it recently and am struggling to find any info as I dont know the product name!

Has anyone seen either the ad or the product?
Has anyone had it installed??

Any help would be very welcome.
Thanks for looking.

RoCas

Hi Beefster,

I'm afraid I can't help on this at all but wonder whether it might be worth you posting on the "In my home (includes DIY) MoneySaving" board as well.

Pink.

Hi beefster,

If you want your thread moved to the In My Home board, send me a pm and I'll move it over for you.

Pink

Helen_from_yorkshire

beefster - when you say the cost of block paving would be huge, what amount are you thinking of and have you had a quote? Several homes in our area have this coloured imprinted concrete which I think you are referring to but I don't think it's a patch on the real thing.

Have you tried this website

http://www.whatprice.co.uk/household/

not used the site much myself but it may give you an idea of the cost of whichever paving option you choose.

Strepsy

My brother may have what you're referring to. I don't know what it's called but it's a black/grey substance with like a large cobbled effect printed into it. It looks quite smart but it is kind of shiny so it certainly doesn't look 'real'. I will text him in a bit when I'm sure he's up and ask him what it's called.

Volcano

Sounds like you are referring to Pattern Imprinted Concrete.

Don't know if it's ok to lay it over your old driveway but here's some photos to give you an idea of what effects can be acheived:

http://www.classic-driveways.co.uk/portfolio.htm

carl310166

What happens if it cracks,or you get an oil stain on it?

I was put off by these questions,plus i didn't think it was much cheaper than block paving,but i can't remember the exact price.

I would read this http://www.pavingexpert.com/home.htm then decide.

We have had 2 drives block paved in the last 8 months,and so far,we are happy with them,but others may disagree?

robowen

We had ours done in our old house. It was fabulous when finished.
Up north they call it creteprint...I think :think:
Creteprint

We had a builder friend do ours, he wasnt an approved contractor to creteprint. They would only supply him with the straight edges mats, so going round corners was a bit of a problem for him. He did the best he could, but the finish wasnt as perfect as would be with a proper agent of creteprint. You didnt notice after a while.
Overall the job was brilliant.
He was also a contractor to a local airport and had tons of runway concrete to dispose of occasionally, which is why we waited a week or two not knowing for definite if he was coming or not. The concrete has fibres in it and should not crack. Large areas should be seperated with an expansion gap anyway.
Stains are not a problem on darker colours. The concrete is treated with a waterproofer / varnish preserver every 5 years or so. Jet wash gets rid of any marks.

Definitely have it done again. But I would advise having your utilities updated first, ie water pipes etc. Digging it up to put an NTL cable or a new water pipe is a real bu@@er :doh:

rob

Strepsy

Oh good, someone with proper information. My brother couldn't remember what it was called but he runs his own garage from home so has a ton of cars going in and out and you can't see any stains. He's very happy with it.

I think you can see from the pictures on that first link about the shinyness. Hope you get sorted!

workhouse

My son has recently had Creteprint on his drive. It is not very good, he has had to call them back several times. It is very shiny and very SLIPPERY when wet. Also it has started to crack. He wishes he had never had it done, and had spent a little more and had block paving.
So be warned.

workhouse

Update on my previous post.

CRETEPRINT WARNING!!

:mad:

The Creteprint drive was so slippery that my son has had the whole thing dug up and replaced with block paving. Every time it rained my son and his wife and any visitors (eg postman) slipped over on the horrible stuff. Please don't have creteprint installed if you are worried about slipping over. We always went onto the grass rather than on the path. Please be warned - this has cost my son a lot of money but he is now no longer worried about visitors slipping over. He turned off his lights at Haloween in case any children came up the path and hurt themselves!!

The block paving was only slightly more expensive than the Creteprint.