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Best drive . . . . surface?

Technical issues not related to a DLOC car marque, eg tyres, ethanol, other car makes, etc. and legal, political and insurance
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John-B
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Re: Best drive . . . . surface?

Post by John-B »

Definitely avoid chippings/gravel. Recently I had to use a car jack, the low sort with four small wheels, and I found that as it raised the car it needed to move slightly but the wheels wouldn't move on the gravel, so the wheels on the other side of the car were pulled across the gravel.

I'm still looking for several small items that I dropped!

JT7196
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Re: Best drive . . . . surface?

Post by JT7196 »

Hi, well here's s picture of my Drive ,which I and a builder mate of mine laid a few years ago, and as I said , as lovely as it l@@k's , it is a constant battle to keep it Oil free, not from my MG ❤❤ of course but from the occasional drip from my "Beloved" ..........................Lanchester of course! !
I'm personally not too worried, But, of course SWMBO definitely has other ideas! ;)


Cheers A'l
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Phillmore
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Re: Best drive . . . . surface?

Post by Phillmore »

I hope you got a refund for the upside down drive Al? :D
Andy

1954 Conquest Mk1, 1956 Conquest Mk2, 1957 Conquest Century Mk2, 1955 Austin A90 Westminster

Falcon
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Re: Best drive . . . . surface?

Post by Falcon »

He does go to Australia a lot so maybe it is his set up in Aus

Ian :D

JT7196
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Re: Best drive . . . . surface?

Post by JT7196 »

O'y! you O'ribble lot , there's owt wrong with my Drive. It's very pretty, especially when it's wet, (with water that is of course! ) and yes, your all quite right, I am down here in the land of the Sun☀️☀️☀️☀️, but we have had some heavy rain earlier this week , which was a darned nuisance as I was out down the local Bowls Club playing , still at least we Brits don't mine a bit of the "WetStuff !! ) ...........................he lied!!


Cheers Big Bad A'l 👋👋👋👋👋😊😊😊

Sydsmith
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Re: Best drive . . . . surface?

Post by Sydsmith »

Hi Andy, 15 years ago I laid 10,000 pavers and have learned a lot about them since they were laid. It took me several months of nights and Sundays to do the whole lot and I hired a block cutting bench to cut the blocks at the edges and round drains etc.

Weeds are a real pain, I use a strimmer to top them off and cut the stubborn ones out with a old Stanley knife, but my near neighbour has a completely weed free drive using the same pavers, more about that later.

Second problem has been sinkage which produces puddles and in heavy rain a small lake.

Oil can be a problem but the sun and rain soon gets rid of small drips and an application of oil remover gets rid of a big spill.

The builder who put down the neighbours drive went to a great deal of trouble to make the base for his drive, loads of hardcore rolled down with a big Bowmag vibro roller, then he laid a weed barrier followed by three inches of sand leveled and rolled, then four inches of sand and cement dry mix as the final base for the pavers, that was laid leveled and wacked down as they worked the pavers forward, not sure what the mix was but quite strong. When they had a fair area down the pavers were liberally covered with a special dry sand (expensive stuff) well brushed into the gaps before sand and pavers were whacked into place.

I used 4 inch thick pavers and have never had problem using a jack on them, but my lack of attention to the base and lack of cement in the setting mix has resulted in low spots with puddles and algea.

I do use a weed killer and the sun does burn off the light weeds, but several times a year I have no option but to get down on my knees and take out the stubborn weeds the strimmer will not touch.

Though they are a lot of work they are so much better than the tarmac drive I had before.

There are local bylaws now regarding drive ways, worth buzzing up your local planning site, but they do like pavers over tarmac or concrete.

JT7196
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Re: Best drive . . . . surface?

Post by JT7196 »

Hi, yes my builder mate and I laid my Drive, we used something like 15 packs of 4" pavers, laid on 6" of hardcore Scalpings, and approx 3 - 4" of coarse sand cement, and have had very little problem with " sinkage" etc and that was probably 10 yrs ago .
But, I would still recommend Tarmac if you are plannning to leave your cars on it for long periods,but whatever you do, ensure that you do not scrimp on the drive's under-pinnings, if you do, you will regret it for a very long time .
As for asking permission??? Some questions are best not asked!! 😉😉😉😉

The "Sand" you require is commonly know as " Kiln Dried Sand" and is actually not too expensive😊😊

Cheers from "Down Under" A'l 😊😊🌞🌞🌞🌞👋👋👋👋

faeton
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Re: Best drive . . . . surface?

Post by faeton »

I have moved four times in the last 10 years , Including 2 houses I have built . Like everything a good drive is down to good preparation , My present drive [on which I spend a lot of time working on cars ] is square type pavors , There is a sizeable gap which is flilled with fine kiln dried sand , two problems the sand ends up getting walked in doors , also forever scraping out weed and moss , Some local authorities as Colin said require planning . You either have to have a soakaway . or other option impervious paviors with a large gap to allow drainage , a lot more expensive and I would suspect a larger gap for weeds , On one house I prepared the ground and put circles and shapes and edged in paviours .I then had a reputable company Tarmac it [beware of Pikeys] this broke up the effect of looking like a road .I very often go past this house and it seems to have stood the test of time . If ever I lay another drive I think this is the way I would go . Another option is the resin coated pressed concrete , Looks nice but very expensive. Dave

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SteveW62
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Re: Best drive . . . . surface?

Post by SteveW62 »

Phillmore wrote: Wed Mar 15, 2017 8:05 pm ..... problem with chippings ...... and of course that dropped washer .....will be lost forever!
Been there, done that ......

Get a decent magnet ( I use one from an old loudspeaker ) .... obviously will only work for dropped ferrous parts, but it saved me hours of looking.

Phillmore
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Re: Best drive . . . . surface?

Post by Phillmore »

So for those of you who have a tarmac drive, do oil leaks actually dissolve the surface or just stain it? I ask the question as an owner of several incontinent classics!
Andy

1954 Conquest Mk1, 1956 Conquest Mk2, 1957 Conquest Century Mk2, 1955 Austin A90 Westminster

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