Concrete Driveway from a mold. (long)

[AlanB]

We do a fair number of patio's, walks and drives. We use lots of different materials, flag stones, natural stone, man made etc.

For my back work area / drive, it will get pave stones as Super Duper has shown you. We lay on a base of crusher run about 8" thick, then about an 1" of "gravel sand" (very finely ground gravel) then set the pavers.

What builder described would work excellent as well.

The only other thing I could add that I have not seen mentioned is that we now use Pave lock sand, which is the sand that locks the bricks, that has a glue or binder in it, when it is wet down, after sweeping / vibrating into the cracks, it locks in place. Very nice to work with.

We have done several, especially natural flagstone, patios set in wet mortar, it really helps level and fully support the base, but as builder mentioned, you want to be absolutely certain you get it all off before it dries.

There is no way in heck I would want to make those bricks myself, and have had a concrete mixer with supplies in front of it operating in my backyard regularly for the past 8 months or so. Even with it as easy as I can make it, it still adds up too a bunch of work, and often after a job over a Yard, I just wonder why I did not pay the extra $100 and have the crete delivered.

Good luck.

 

[Builder]

A buck + a peice? Really? Over here, it costs almost as much to mold my own as compared to buying. I did the math and it wasn't cheaper, if any so it was a no brainer simply to buy them. I CAN tell you that regardless of the cost, the simplicity in installing them and the fact that there were no time constraints due to a cement workability window made all the difference to me. This was my first attempt and I like to work alone; needless to say, I am happy to report that it was much easier than I expected. This job has convinced me that this is the way to go. In fact, unless I require a slab for garage floor or interior of the home, I will be going this path from now on. My next project will be much larger, probably around 20 times larger but I am confident that it is doable, even for 1 person. A huge 200' long x 12' wide driveway simply isn't possible in concrete for 1 person. Interlocking pavers is.

HD usually only carries material from 1 or 2 suppliers. I would check around at the masonary supply stores and inquire as to prices from local suppliers. For vehicular traffic (and tractor), molding your own 2" thick pavers simply won't compare in strength to the manufactured ones. In fact, basalite claims that interlocking pavers have 3 times the strength of poured concrete. BTW, a final note regarding pricing: I have found that the larger stones (pavers) costs about the same as the smaller ones. I mention this because the number of stones needed for each sq ft differs depending upon the style/pattern desired. In fact, 1/2 stones costs the same as full stones. Therefore, if cost is an issue, I recommend going with large stones/patterns as it is generally more cost effective. Apparently, the manufacturing cost does not drop commensurately to the weight/size of the paver produced.

Bigger stones cover a larger area faster and require less joints to work with, but I do agree the factory kiln baked stones are produced in "ideal" enviroment so they come out strong & consistent.

I would also suggest looking at a local big brick/paver yard and not Home Depot for prices. If you buy enough, they'll beat HD's prices and you're likely to get a better product like EP Henry, etc.

The most stunning driveway we ever did was a 300 footer in cobblestone and cobblestone bond edging. Huge turnaround, too. Still looks great 20 years after we did it and it gets truck traffic on it, too.

 

[forgeblast]

Rock solid had a great show on building a paver driveway. They also used an two part grouting system. Looked like it went on very easy.

I have worked for a landscaper some summers and learned how to do paverstone patios, walk ways etc. I have done our walkway, patio, my MIL's walkway, and will be doing one last one this summer (I Hope)
we would get rid of all the soil depending on traffic and frost line. Then we would back fill and power tamp 2/b modified (crusher run etc), to our slope and depth. (build a cheater stick, measure your block and 1'' of sand cut a piece of wood to that size and it really helps. To do my patio i would also figure in the slope to keep the water from my house.).
Then using 1'' black pipe we would screed in our coarse builders sand.
Next we would add our blocks, if we had a curve we would lay the stones out first then using a hose scribe a sharpie line on the stone to know where to cut.
we would secure the side by using a 1 portland to 3 sand mix. This would go all around the sides. once dry we would back fill right up to the pavers.
we would also compact when dry and sweep in sand.

Things to plan for.
1. put in conduit in case you may ever run sprinkler or lighting.
its cheap to do now.
2. watch where the rain is going now if there is pooling add drainage while your excavating.
3. remember to use the proper ice melt.
4. it will probably rain as soon as you mix your last section of portland, have tarps ready.

later
forgeblast.

 

[joes_427_vette]

I completed a patio in pavers. It seems in the heavy frost country the move up and down and the faces of some just flake off. I don't care for the color fade or the maintenance.
I'm doing the drive in cement. At a hundred bucks a yard it isn't cheap but it will be there for the next twenty five years. It keeps the granite rocks and clay out of the house also. Good luck with your project.