anyone got an imprinted concrete driveway?

Cherrytree

I deliver for a living covering over a 1000 houses a week...imprinted concrete drives are a nightmare for grip...even in proper walking boots if its wet you'll slip very easily.

Tucker

Wouldn't touch the printed concrete.....

Next door but one had it done and it keeps fading and needs resealing. Boy is it slippy!!

They cut lines in it to allow for expansion to stop it cracking, but it looks bobbins if you ask me. It's one of those things that will look dated.... remember the noughties and concrete drives? A bit like woodchip wall paper?? Fastforward 10 years and these boards will be full of people asking how to remove a dated concrete faded driveway that's like an ice rink.

I'd stick to good quality, tarmac on a solid bed of hard core. The reddish colour looks ok too. Like jeans, it never goes out of fashion!

Vibrant

Block paving can be a pain for maintenance, with weeds. Although it's good for me as part of my job is keeping drives neat, so more money for me:)
More seriously, poorly laid block paving is very bad, sinking within months. The best block paving drive I know of locally, is about 8 years old and just starting to look a bit tired.
All of it is prone to weeds and moss, if not swept regulary.

There are only a couple of imprinted concrete drives that I visit, one is quite slippy, but the other is fine. Both look very good (depends on your taste, I like them) and appear to be wearing well, although the oldest is no more than five years old. They do need a lot less upkeep than block paving.

Personally I would go for ordinary concrete, looks okay (if a bit boring), nice and grippy, reasonably cheap and very durable, mine is forty years old and fine apart from the odd crack. You wont be able to say that about any of the other materials in forty years time.

wreck_fisher

Done correctly a PIC will last for many years, compacted hardcore and 100mm of concrete will not sink, when sealed an anti-slip should be incorporated in the sealer. Depending on the amount of use, if re-sealed every few years it will always look like new.

Block paviors are only laid on sand and will eventually sump out, they are only coloured on the surface and not right through so will fade and look very tatty after a few years. They also attract lichens etc.

As an alternative:
Have a look at gridforce, which is a recycled plastic grid it can be laid by yourself and can be filled with gravel or with earth and seeded. They are used on domestic driveways, carparks etc

decorative-concrete

Are you talking about the stamped concrete?
If the is the exact thing that you are referring, I think you must visit corygrantconcrete.com.au

julianashcroft

There are a few drives near me that have had the imprinted and coloured concrete done. Most look pretty good and still look good after being down for quite a few years.

As pointed out there is always the problem if you have to dig a hole in your imprinted drive that you would never match the surface up again, but how many people have to do this, probably not too many.

Every surface has it's good points and bad points. Concrete can crack if it isn't laid right and doesn't have expansion joints. Pavers look good, but the preparation is crucial to get right and they aren't weed free and ants can be a problem, undermining them too. Tarmac can be lifted by plant roots and can be damaged by frost and fuel spills.