New driveway on a tight budget

RubyShoes

I am needing to improve my driveway for some kerb appeal. I'm on a tight budget. Please see the photos... does anyone have any suggestions and figures I could work with? What kind of new driveway might fit under 1k (preferably far less!)? Anything we could do ourselves? There are 3 adults at home, so we could do some DIY. Yes it has been pressure washed, but it still looks awful! All the cement has gone in between slabs, and it is weed city unless I weed it pretty much every day from March- nov/dec. I want to sell my house as soon as I am able to get to the next rung up the ladder. That could be in 6 months, or a few years! So I don't want to spend loads when we may not be here for long. Equally, it needs to look good to sell. It lets down the rest of the house!

tacpot12

I think the cheapest way would be to lift, re-lay and re-point the existing slabs. I would look to put some sort of feature down the centre of the drive, possibly a limestone gravel, so that you need less slabs and have better drainage. The slabs should be laid with a slight fall towards the gravel. Doing this will mean you need less slabs, so you have enough to replace the missing slab at the start of the drive. 

This website will tell you all you need to know about how to do it: Homepage (pavingexpert.com)

Make sure you learn how to lift the slabs in such a way that you don't injure yourself, e,g, by pulling a muscle in your back or dropping them on your foot. Equipment such as a sack truck to move the slabs has many uses around the home if you have somewhere to store it after use. 

Doozergirl

I think you either improve the base with hardcore etc and relay the current slabs or you leave it as it is.  It's not perfect, but it's tidy and definitely better than a cheap fix.   

Norman_Castle

I'd replace the sunken, broken slabs next to the pavement and leave the rest. It looks ok. Lifting and relaying slabs is hard physical work and unless done properly could look worse than it is now.

TELLIT01

Looking at the photo's it doesn't seem to be any worse than the neighbour's drive, from the part which is visible.  You can keep it weed free, or at least low weed by regular spraying.  Do it every couple of weeks and they will be kept under control.  5 minutes work on a drive that size.

rob7475

They don't look too bad. You're not going to improve it without spending a good chunk of cash. I'd get some moss killer on them and maybe a jet wash to brighten them up a bit.

Bendy_House

You have three adults at home? Are they 'competent'?! Could they re-lay some new slabs? And get them level...?!

If so, I like Tacpot's idea of new slabs, but with a (contrasting) gravel strip up t'middle, and probably with narrow gravel strips at each side too - could be quite a feature, and well under £1k's worth of materials.

A wholly-gravel drive - again cheap and easy - is probably out of the question as it's quite slopy.

As you drive around your 'hood, what do other folk have?

timbotambo

Good jet wash will make it look much better. Don't do any cheap fixes. Gravel etc is a pain as it ends up on the pavement and road. 

FreeBear

Norman_Castle said: I'd replace the sunken, broken slabs next to the pavement and leave the rest. It looks ok. Lifting and relaying slabs is hard physical work and unless done properly could look worse than it is now.

I'd also just replace the broken slab.

To lift all the slabs, prepare a good base, and relay (either slabs or block) is a lot of work for very little gain.

Belenus

RubyShoes said:

I am needing to improve my driveway for some kerb appeal. I'm on a tight budget. ... So I don't want to spend loads when we may not be here for long............. Equally, it needs to look good to sell. It lets down the rest of the house!

I think you are worrying too much. That driveway is nothing like as bad as you appear to think. The pillars and wall beside it look good and so does the garden from what little is visible. The house itself also looks fine.

Prospective purchasers will be concentrating on the house as they walk up that drive and are unlikely to pay much attention to it.

Keep it clean with occasional pressure washing, treat the weeds with Roundup or a similar product and maybe replace the broken slab.

Rosa_Damascena

With 3 competent adults the path of least resistance is maintaining a weeding rota. Whoever the next owner is can fix it to their own tastes because you won't get a ROI on any outlay.