Driveway repairs?

[THE_Liam]

The drive down the side of my house is in a bad way. It has a concrete base, and at some point in the past had tarmac laid over that, which seems to have dried out completely to the point where it's covered in loose aggregate and patches of the concrete below are showing through. There's also a few soft spots caused by oil/fuel contamination. Been meaning to sort it for the 4 years I've lived here but never got round to it, but now I'm planning a garage it needs sorting. The one lad I've had out to quote has said it needs jack hammering down to the dirt level and fully replacing at the cost of £2200 which I just can't afford, but I do see his point and it is pretty bad, so I have 2 questions really...

1. How much could I do it for DIY? It's about 30 metres long by 4 metres wide, so what would you budget for jack hammer rental, shuttering, concrete, hardcore and anything else I need? I've laid concrete before pretty successfully but never over such a large area.

2. Is there any way of repairing/skimming over what's already there?

Cheers

[Grant]

I don't know what prices are like up where you are but for down here would be as follows;

1- 15 cubic meters of 20mm ballast (based on a 150mm lay to wearing course to cover 120m sq. at £42.50 a meter delivered -£850

2- Cement to go with the above; based on 6 bags a cubic meter - £382.5

3- Re-bar to go into concrete to avoid expansion and cracking - 4 sheets @£27.5 a sheet £110

4- Wood for shuttering - £~£80

£1422
Plus and tools hire you may need, waste clearance, e.g. skips or grab hire.
.

Are you sure it is 120m sq? That is an awfully large area to concrete.

[THE_Liam]

Yep, it's a full length driveway running from the street to my back fence, and it's a pretty big back garden. It's an absolute shit tip, has been since I've lived here, knee deep in brambles and weeds with gravel underneath, my lass had lived here by herself for a long time and wasn't any good at gardening, and it got so bad it was just ignored while we sorted out the inside, but now that's done it's time for new decking, a nice lawn, built in BBQ, garage and new shed, gonna be a huge project though...

Well at those prices you've given me £2200 doesn't sound that bad, that's including a 24x12 hardstanding at the end as well, might just have to suck it up and pay for it.

[Grant]

Fair enough then.

Just make sure, if you do get somebody to do it, you specify that you want expansions joints and wire in it. Otherwise it will crack up and be a mess in a few years. Even sooner if you are on soft ground.

If you dig it out, and want to provide me with a copious (and I mean copious :p ) amount of coffee and bacon, we can get it concreted in a weekend.


That said, it would probably be just as cost effective for you to pay to have it done after tool hire and waste disposal etc.. Offer's there though x

[puglove]

Yeeaahh bit ott grant, @ 150mm deep i think Rebar is needed not for the weight of cars a low speed , ( with a good)

Plus with your calculations you have missed the price of scalps to base up with plus the rental of a good size wacker plate

[THE_Liam]

Ha, thanks mate. My plan was to use the remnants of the drive as hardcore to level the hardstanding for the garage, so I doubt there'd be any waste disposal at all, if anything I'd have to bring in hardcore I reckon! I'd provide more than coffee and bacon, I'd include a warm bed, curry and shitloads of ale!

I might still try save the original surface. Biggest concern is the huge soft spot where the shitty Lucas pump on the DT was leaking when I got it

[puglove]

& i make that 18m cubed grant

[Dum-Dum]

Id measure up what depth the concrete currently is and if the concrete is good then scrape the tarmac off. Also I wouldn't be buying sand and cement, Just get ready mix poured in off the truck.

[puglove]

You would really need to brake the hardcore up small, to get a decent base , large bits of hard core tends to move and leave voids meaning very premature failure of the concrete, i see this alot

Concreting is like 30% of my job btw im not just guessing lol

[Danny2009]

Bacon ale and curry, I'm there!

£2200 does sound a good price but if you can do it yourself under £1500 I know what I would be doing

I know f*ck all about concrete apart from you pour it and it sets hard

But I'm willing to come over and lend a hand

[puglove]

Right i just txt my dad (manger at a concrete plant) @ £72 per meter delivered for 18m = £1296 on concrete alone so £2200 is a fecking good deal to be fair

[THE_Liam]

Id measure up what depth the concrete currently is and if the concrete is good then scrape the tarmac off. Also I wouldn't be buying sand and cement, Just get ready mix poured in off the truck.

Any tips on scraping off the crete? I have a feeling it's in usable condition under the tar...

You would really need to brake the hardcore up small, to get a decent base , large bits of hard core tends to move and leave voids meaning very premature failure of the concrete, i see this alot

Concreting is like 30% of my job btw im not just guessing lol

Nice one mate. I'm pretty good at hitting shit with hammers

Bacon ale and curry, I'm there!

£2200 does sound a good price but if you can do it yourself under £1500 I know what I would be doing

I know f*ck all about concrete apart from you pour it and it sets hard

But I'm willing to come over and lend a hand

Thanks mate

Right i just txt my dad (manger at a concrete plant) @ £72 per meter delivered for 18m = £1296 on concrete alone so £2200 is a fecking good deal to be fair

I didn't think it sounded bad actually. I reckon I'll go with that if I can't scrape the tar off.

[karl1989]

Wasn't a gypsy was he Liam lol

[Dum-Dum]

For scraping the tar off just just cover it in WVO daily for a week and you'll probably just be able to scoop it up.

[Seb_Ryan]

For scraping the tar off just just cover it in WVO daily for a week and you'll probably just be able to scoop it up.

I can't see him wasting veg oil! He's a northerner haha

[THE_Liam]

Wasn't a gypsy was he Liam lol

No he's a mate of my dads, I know to stay away from those thieving f*ckers

For scraping the tar off just just cover it in WVO daily for a week and you'll probably just be able to scoop it up.

Would that work? I know diesel will work, theres a big soft patch where the DT was leaking diesel on it before I did the Bosch swap and found a huge crack in the back of the pump...

For scraping the tar off just just cover it in WVO daily for a week and you'll probably just be able to scoop it up.

I can't see him wasting veg oil! He's a northerner haha

I'll have an unlimited supply free soon

[Grant]

Yeeaahh bit ott grant, @ 150mm deep i think Rebar is needed not for the weight of cars a low speed , ( with a good)

Plus with your calculations you have missed the price of scalps to base up with plus the rental of a good size wacker plate

Dude, you been drinking? That makes very little sense


I see little/no point in putting type1 underneath 6 inches of concrete. What are you aiming to achieve with that?

The rebar would be for bridging the expansion joints, to allow the right amount of movement in the concrete when it settles, without cracking.

You may work with concrete, but I have letters after my name in this shit (hard to believe I know :p )

[THE_Liam]

Ok, so here's what I've got. I know it's awful but it was the last priority, central heating, new bathroom, new kitchen, patio doors and redecoration all had to come first!

Algae on the surface, and you can see how dry and brittle it is.




Soft spot from diesel contamination. That's a footprint!





Sunken drain cover.



Broken patches showing decent looking concrete underneath.





The existing fence that a car cant get past, this will be stripped and reconfigured.

[THE_Liam]

Down the back.

Looks pretty solid.



Garden has crept over the tarmac but where I've scraped it back its sokid and smooth.





What do we reckon, can it be saved?

[Martin306]

Just lift the tarmac, looks like there's sod all wrong with the conrete

[THE_Liam]

Just lift the tarmac, looks like there's sod all wrong with the conrete

What's the best way to do that? I thought that, where the concrete shows through it's really solid and crack-free, I can't understand why it's had shitty pikey-grade tarmac shoved on top!

[Grant]

Probably because a gippo has done exactly that. Tarmacced the drive by putting a skin over the top, that your driveway is testament to the fact, is shit and doesn't work.

[THE_Liam]

Probably because a gippo has done exactly that. Tarmacced the drive by putting a skin over the top, that your driveway is testament to the fact, is shit and doesn't work.

I just can't understand why, the concrete seems fine. It's just a waste.

[Martin306]

I'm no tarmac expert but that cheap stuff can be very hard to lift. The local council used to use that on back paths near me.

[Dum-Dum]

Liam veg lifts tarmac just as well as diesel. The road outside my old house started coming up with the veg that was leaking/spilled on it.

[Grant]

Probably because a gippo has done exactly that. Tarmacced the drive by putting a skin over the top, that your driveway is testament to the fact, is shit and doesn't work.

I just can't understand why, the concrete seems fine. It's just a waste.

Down here, a lot of the 'doorstep traders' are very pushy. You never know, the previous owner/tenant could have been bullied into having it done.

They will then just put the smalls amount of tarmac over the greatest area to charge hideous prices.

[THE_Liam]

Probably because a gippo has done exactly that. Tarmacced the drive by putting a skin over the top, that your driveway is testament to the fact, is shit and doesn't work.

I just can't understand why, the concrete seems fine. It's just a waste.

Down here, a lot of the 'doorstep traders' are very pushy. You never know, the previous owner/tenant could have been bullied into having it done.

They will then just put the smalls amount of tarmac over the greatest area to charge hideous prices.

Yeah we get that here as well. I had one trying to tell me I could be sued if someone tripped on my driveway, and if I didn't let him resurface it he'd arrange for someone to fall on it and contact a solicitor. I ended up chasing him down the street, don't threaten me on my own property you lady garden.

[306carter]

My old man had his concrete drive skimmed over with resin and stones. Looks like pebbledash but hard wearing.

If I where you I'd get some 3x2 flags from reclamation yard and pave it. Or broken flags for crazy paving.

[Danny2009]

Paving slabs are shite broke countless jacking up on them