Repair / Recondition Block Paving Drive

pmartin86

Evening All

I bought a new house late last summer that has a large block-paved drive. It appears to be about 20 years old but is still in fairly good condition. The issue I've got is the house was unoccupied for at least 3 years prior to our purchase, and there was a significant amount of grass/weeds and some mares tail growing through the gaps. I've spent the last of the summer applying various weed killers and scraping out the gaps and its now getting to a "serviceable" state. I've started to get out there with the pressure washer today and moved out a signficant chuink of accumulated grime and "dead" weeds, but now need to think about "finishing" it - There are now some sizable gaps between the bricks, and one small area (about a meter qured) has some loose bricks that move slightly under foot / wheel.

1. How would I repair the loose area, I assume I would need to lift out and re-bed? What with?

2. What do I use to fill the joints in? I assume due to the "size" i would need something that's brushed in dry and allowed to settle/set?

For additional info, I wont be able / willing to replace it for at least 5 years, and ideally, not at all - The area is significant and I've got considerable renovations to complete to the interior over the coming years which will take priority.

TIA
Paul

FreeBear

Lifting out individual blocks and then trying to bed them down to match the height of adjacent blocks is a piggin' mare of a job. It can be done with a bit of patience and a large rubber mallet..

For the joints, you need a bag of kilned dried sand and a stiff broom. Pick a warm day having given time for the area to dry out after any rain. Spread the sand out and brush it in to the joints between the blocks. You may need to do this a couple of times to get the joints full.

pmartin86

Thanks for that, the sand seems to be what I'm looking for and would APPEAR to match what's already left in some places - Any "easy" way to figure out how much I'll need? Or should I just buy a bag and see how far it goes and work it out from there (Fortunately I'm within about 10 minutes drive of several builder merchants!)

As for the re-bedding, yes...I'm fully expecting it to upset me greatly...but the whole area is quite large in comparison (easily fit 6-7 cars) so I feel a repair would be worth the time. Do I need to put anything specific down as the sub base? or just sand and pack the joints?

TELLIT01

Is the driveway uneven or is the concern purely with the blocks being loose?  Sand alone may be enough to take up any looseness between blocks.

pmartin86

It's "slightly" uneven, but that's mostly due to it sinking where cars have used it (I get the impression it was laid in 2003, so its not "young" anymore) I'm accepting of the unevenness that does exist, purely because its going to be more work and cost than I'm willing to put in to replace it, for what seems like a minor inconvenience.

My main concern is basically to stop it degrading any further and "neaten it up" - I'm quite DIY savvy in general, but I've never done anything with brickwork or block paving, so just trying to get a good idea of what's best.

I've attached some pictures if it helps clarify the issue, one from the "front" of the drive and 2 more showing the "loose" area. the loose area in question is also on a slight slope towards the front / camera while the (unseen) parking area to the left it fairly "flat". 

I should also point out I've not got around top pressure washing and scraping this area yet, kids permitting that's this weekends job! 



Thanks again

Paul

molerat

Doesn't look like there is much of a gap between the blocks, mine have lumps on the ends to force a gap. Does it look like the whole lot has slid down the slope ?  Not a fan of the random size blocks, might look pretty when new but looks a bit rough as it ages.

pmartin86

No, their quite tightly butted together, very little gaps.

There is a small section that looks like its slid a little, but there's no further it can go so I'm happy to just "even it out" a little and leave it as-is. 

Not a huge fan of them myself if I'm honest, but don't dislike them, especially not enough the change them. The back garden however (more of the same, previous owners likes block paving and no green it seems) is a different story, I'm chomping at the bit to get those dug out and some grass / veg patches / flowers / trees etc in! 

victor2

We have a block paved drive, not as big as that, but takes two cars with ease. Every year (it's due now!) I jet wash it and brush kiln dried sand into the gaps. Takes about 1 bag to do the entire drive. Don't bother with the "anti-weed" sand. It's twice the price, and in my experience, does absolutely nothing. The weeds start appearing after a few weeks, as they always do.

Keep thinking about sealing it, but it is expensive to do, and I can live with an annual jet-wash.

pmartin86

Thanks for your insight - I was hoping it would be as "simple" as an annual jet wash and some fresh sand, and looks like it is, or can be at least!

Longer term I'd like to reclaim some of the space for "greenery" - but probably at least 5 years away from that If I'm honest. We are a 2-car household, and there's ample on-street parking too if needed - I suspect the previous owners of the house just wanted the "easiest" option and didn't want grass / trees / plants to look after - each to their own I suppose, but not for me, give me plants!

FreeBear

pmartin86 said: Any "easy" way to figure out how much I'll need? Or should I just buy a bag and see how far it goes and work it out from there (Fortunately I'm within about 10 minutes drive of several builder merchants!)

One 25Kg bag of sand should be enough to treat 15-30m² according to various web sites claiming to be experts on the matter. I used about 18-19Kg on a freshly laid driveway of ~30m².

If you are lifting & relaying blocks, sharp sand is usually used as a bedding layer - No need to mix cement or any other binder in with the sand.

pmartin86

Great - Does the sand "keep" if left indoors? If so I'll probably just grab 2 bags as it's relatively cheap.

I'll grab a bag of sharp sand too and see what I can do - thanks for your advice so far, all very helpful.