New Driveway covering

Norris1

I want to lift the front garden (currently stoned) and am getting the kerb dropped so I can park on it.


What coverings can I use apart from block paving and pressed concrete, that are a reasonable price and durable? Those two are much the same in price, but one is a constant weeding problem and the other is too permanent i.e if pipes have to be changed. Tarmac is now wayyy too expensive.


Are there any other ideas out there that I haven't thought of?

forgotmyname

Get the plastic grids and fill with gravel or let the grass grow through it.

I dont think you can just tarmac or concrete a drive now. You need some way for the surface water to penetrate the ground.

Ianwzzz

A very cheap way is to use road chippings. Under £10 a ton. Nowhere near as nice as a block paved drive but looks ok and you can always top it up if you need to.

andrewf75

something permeable, gravel over a membrane or the plastic grids.

teddysmum

Gravel is not a good idea if you are likely to have passing little dears who think that throwing stones is fun.


When our old tarmac needed redoing, the landscaper said that tarmac and block paving was about the same price, so we went for the latter, as it looks much nicer. He said that weeds are no problem if you treat with a certain weedkiller (forgot which chemical it was but it's the one which inhibits seed growth).


Our block paving is over two years old ,still looks good and only has a few weeds, easily pulled out, which have grown near where it meets the lawn ( presumably has more soil beneath at this point).

force_ten

you need to look at the new laws that have been brought in to prevent surface water run off adding to the problem of flooding

gone are the days when you can just rip up your front garden and put down anything you like, if you want to put concrete you will need to provide some sort of SUDS (sustainable urban drainage system) where you would have to provide a soak away for any run off water, you cant just drain run off water into existing drains and to fit an non permeable surface larger than 6 sq meters will now require planning permission

I have just ordered 50 sq meters of Driveline Priora permeable block paving, this is laid on a 100 mm of 20 mm washed gravel and 50mm of 6 mm washed gravel as a laying course creating its own SUDS so no planing permission required

just be very careful what you do as you don't want to fall foul of the new planning laws

Procrastinator333

Driveways are one of those things. You get what you pay for. Do it on the cheap and it will look cheap. Any option done properly is going to cost about the same as ultimately, any covering needs to be dug out to a similar depth with similar aggregate etc.

Do it cheap and it is this base layer they will skimp on. Which won't end well. Might look good for 6 months, but then it will sink or crack etc.

In terms of water run off. Ours was done about 2 years ago. This was done with a drain along the lowest point which fed to a soakaway which was put in under the drive. Easy enough, but obviously it adds to the cost.

Clueless101

force_ten wrote: »

you need to look at the new laws that have been brought in to prevent surface water run off adding to the problem of flooding

gone are the days when you can just rip up your front garden and put down anything you like, if you want to put concrete you will need to provide some sort of SUDS (sustainable urban drainage system) where you would have to provide a soak away for any run off water, you cant just drain run off water into existing drains and to fit an non permeable surface larger than 6 sq meters will now require planning permission

I have just ordered 50 sq meters of Driveline Priora permeable block paving, this is laid on a 100 mm of 20 mm washed gravel and 50mm of 6 mm washed gravel as a laying course creating its own SUDS so no planing permission required

just be very careful what you do as you don't want to fall foul of the new planning laws

I second this OP might want to read the post I made about a neighbours paving: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4980944