Tarmac or block paved drive

vl2588

You need Planning Permission if it is 4m2 or larger IIRC. You need to prove you can drain away the runoff you are causing (as water won't be able to seep in any more).

Using permeable paving is a good idea to avoid flooding issues in the future but make sure you maintain it or it won't work! It can look very nice too.

gabyjane

We have block paving and really like it. I remember my dad getting our driveway tarmaced years ago and it not lasting long. Gravel i drove onto tonight as went to a friends for a cuppa and hated it..awful to get onto and felt like i really had to try to guide the car!

bobhawke

vl2588 wrote: »

You need Planning Permission if it is 4m2 or larger IIRC. You need to prove you can drain away the runoff you are causing (as water won't be able to seep in any more).

Using permeable paving is a good idea to avoid flooding issues in the future but make sure you maintain it or it won't work! It can look very nice too.

Need planning permission if it is over 5m2 and impermeable material that doesn't allow the water to run to a permeable area.

ormus

block paving? footballers wives houses.

gravel drive? olde worlde/old money proper posh.

just my opinion.

wallbash

block paving? footballers wives houses.

Please send me a W.A.G .

CliffWalker_2

Hello All,
I'm in a similar position here.
Currently have tarmac on concrete (done by a M**phy's mob a few years ago on the cheap).
It looked fine for a few months but then edges crumbled, spilt oil and petrol made holes in the soft tarmac, sunlight has faded it to a dirty grey, etc, etc.
Added to this is the fact that I have motorbikes and the stands also make holes in tarmac...urgh.
Quite like block paving but a few driveways around us have moss growing through the gaps and furrows developing where the cars are parked.
Don't like the idea of dips and hollows in the drive and certainly don't want to have to get down on my hands and knees with a trowel to clean all the gaps every so often (on a 10m long drive...)
A drive should be no-maintenance surely?
Also like the look of imprinted concrete (especially where spills are concerned) but don't like the idea of a slippery surface (motorbike, slippy surface and a sloping drive...hmm, no thanks.
But there isn't anything else, is there?

gabyjane

ormus wrote: »

block paving? footballers wives houses.

gravel drive? olde worlde/old money proper posh.

just my opinion.

Wish i looked like footballers wife:rotfl:

bobhawke

If block paving is done right you should only need to go over it once a year to pull any small weeds from in between the cracks. If you get it done make sure they put absolute minimum 100mm-150mm as a subbase, make sure they know this before you get the work done and when they are doing the work get out there with your tape measure to confirm the depth. Once all the ground has been dug out have a look and see if the ground is soft, full of deep rooted weeds or very clayey, if it is then make them lay a geo-textile fabric to stop your hardcore from sinking. When they compact the hardcore make sure they go over it a lot of times, it depends on the size of their plate / roller, a minimum of 8 passes should cover all bases though. If they do all this then the driveway shouldn't sink and it should require minimal maintenance.

wallbash

Agree with bobhawke , I have an in/out drive with a garage each side of house
i.e , a LOT of pavered area . Been down for at least 15 years , no sinking .

Takes me a just over an hour to pull the weeds out once a year. Then I do spray with weed killer. .

just_looking_2

I deliberated back and forth with tarmac or blocks last yr. Each person who quoted quoted me for tarmac and for blocks, there was probably a 5% difference in price (tarmac cheaper) but each of them said that tarmac wouldn't last as long, gave me the example of getting spills etc on the tarmac, and having to have these 'cut' out and replaced. Also talked about the issues of the sun etc.

I went for block in the end, and have been very happy with the result. Most of the fellas that quoted me told me that if you have weeds in your blocks its because you are lazy and can't be bothered to weed once or twice a year. Also told me the lazy way to weed is to blast with a pressure washer and resand. You can prevent moss by spraying a moss killer. Also invest in a layer of 'touram' (sp) to help stop weeds growing upwards. Most of your weeding will be as a result of seeds from trees, dropped by birds etc.

This was all reinforced with me when the neighbours had a drainage problem that crossed two of their drives. One's was blocked, the other tarmacced. Tarmac side had the bit they destroyed replaced- is now a darker stripe of tarmac running through the middle of their drive. Block side has had the blocks popped back in and you can barely tell the difference!