Driveway repair

paulc1978

Any advice would be appreciated, the driveway is made up of square cobbles and has sunk underneath my car also on the Tarmac pavement is dented too just before it meets the cobbles, is there anyway I can do a quick repair to make it all level without taking the whole driveway up
Many thanks

bobhawke

Can get some cold tarmac from builders merchants for a few quid to repair damaged pavement. As far as I know, strictly speaking you aren't allowed to touch it, even to improve it, because it is council property but I doubt anyone will complain about it.

The "quick fix" for the cobbles is to relay them, though you will get the same problem. If you take them up to relay them you are just as well putting in a proper subbase.

paulc1978

Hi ,
When you say sub base do u mean when I lift the cobbles up do I just pour in some sand and skim/level it and bash it in compacting it with my spade or do I need to do this with a specific material bearing in mind that it's important the cobbles can be removed in the future just in case I need to re level in the future just looking for cheap easy cost effective way of sorting this out albeit for a temporary period
Regards
Paul

ailuro2

If you do the job right you won't have to do it again for a long time.... depends on the size of the drive as to how much it would cost, the sub-base materials shouldn't be too dear, you've already got the cobbles.

square_bear

Do you know what caused the areas to sink?

Was it a heavy vehicle or could there be a problem with a collapsed drain?

paulc1978

thanks for the replies - the sinkage is definately due to a heavy vehicle. we were majourly ripped off when it was put down and the guy who did it just wouldnt come back, so we are having to sort it ourselves.
i just wondered if i would have to life the whole driveway and literally start again or if it was possible to lift the areas where the wheels of the van have caused the drive to sink. Any advise on how to do this and what stages we need to go through? any links to advice
thanks again

themacster

You could do any number of quick repairs, but they will probably not last and sinkings could well apppear again. The subbase is the layer below the bedding material of the cobbles or below the tarmac. It should be a properly compacted suitable granular material or hardcore, the thickness needed would depend on the loadings it needs to support and the type of ground. If you want to get technical you could do a CBR test but thats rather over the top for a domestic drive. 100mm would be a minimum you should have, but may need to be more if the soil is not so good.

Try patching up with tarmac and lifting the cobbles and adding extra bedding material (sand), making sure its well compacted and see how it goes. For a proper long term job you would need to rip it all up and do it / have it done properly. This site may help you http://www.pavingexpert.com/