My rubbish drive, ideas please

[roys]

5 hours ago, Steve Bullman said:

If you’re not on a particular budget look at a resin bound driveway. Not entirely sure but I believe it would just go straight down on top of that with little prep work needed. Come in any colour you like 

 

Resin Bound Surfaces Professionally Applied | Specialist Lining Services

SPECIALISTLININGSERVICES.CO.UK

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Resin Bound Surfaces provide a modern surface for traditional tarmac. Suitable for pavements, swiiming pool surrounds, patios, driveways and car parks

 

Interesting, never thought about that, will need to see if any does that in the back of beyond.

[roys]

1 hour ago, doobin said:

 

Groundworker here.

 

You can't successfully add a thin layer of anything granular such as planings onto concrete. It can't be compacted to bite into the solid concrete substrate (as opposed to loose rock or soil) and will remain loose, unless you were to put a mega thick layer on.

 

 

You can't resurface concrete. Ok, you technically can, but it's not cost effective, and a thin layer won't work without a large amount of additives to make the new layer stick and not fracture (similar to laying floor screed, but subject to weathering and 3.5t plus!) You can't plane that, it'll just come up in lumps so you may as well pull it up and start again with a decent sub base. Tarmac would work though.

 

No reputable resin company would lay on that. Sub base is key for resin drives, if you resin that there will be cracks all over in under a week.

Usually to do with the quality of the planings (how much road dust is mixed in) and whether a sufficient layer was added to allow them to bind. Weather and compaction method also make a big difference.

 

OP- Your gravel grid idea is quick and easy, you could do it yourself. It may well suffice given the retaining edge that I can see in the photo, although you'd need to frame it with other edges. No point putting anything other than gravel in the grids as the grids hold it all and it can't bind through the grids can it?

 

If it was me I'd get a reputable firm to skim it with 50mm of tarmac, assuming there is room for that as regards DPC and other edges. Fairly cheap and will give the best result without ripping up and startipng again. Again, a reputable firm, not door knockers.

Good comprehensive answer, thank you, couple of things for me to consider there.

[Muddy42]

Whatever you do I'd power brush, scrape and power wash that.  Its quite hard to see what's going on at the moment.

 

What about weed proof membrane and larger gravel (2cm or so)?  I have had this in front of the house for years.  It been great, I topped it up with half a load last year.  The ground seems to naturally drain.  The larger gravel doesn't move around as much as the smaller stuff.  Yes I have to do a bit of spot weeding, picking up sticks and raking in the edges, but its not really a hassle. Yes delivery drivers can't use their pathetic little pallet stackers but having a loader, that doesn't really bother me.

[Steven P]

as above in this instance, it is a small drive and not a yard so I think the occasional truck, perhaps delivering a new freezer every 10 years shouldn't factor in - in this case - however it is interesting to read in the general discussion for future reference (I get a load of logs tipped a couple of times a year and every 5 the most recent to die car gets taken away on a flat bed)

[roys]

The drive is however access to my yard, so I do have the occasional 3T excavator and the occasional builders wagon running over it, it is raining just now so I will load up another pic just shortly.

Agree re power washing though.

[doobin]

3 hours ago, Muddy42 said:

Whatever you do I'd power brush, scrape and power wash that.  Its quite hard to see what's going on at the moment.

 

What about weed proof membrane and larger gravel (2cm or so)?  I have had this in front of the house for years.  It been great, I topped it up with half a load last year.  The ground seems to naturally drain.  The larger gravel doesn't move around as much as the smaller stuff.  Yes I have to do a bit of spot weeding, picking up sticks and raking in the edges, but its not really a hassle. Yes delivery drivers can't use their pathetic little pallet stackers but having a loader, that doesn't really bother me.

If you try to lay 2cm of gravel on top of concrete it'll be skittish as hell and spit everywhere.

[roys]

Another view of the drive, thanks everyone for input so far.

[peds]

I'd agree with tarmac to be honest, not a massive space and I think you'd see the benefits of it. Anything loose while the concrete is still there would piss you off, you'd have to take it up first. Which could give you loads of fill to claim some new space, maybe pop a new shed down somewhere. 

 

Or smash it in place, cover with a 50/50 mix of poor quality topsoil and loose shale-like gravel, and sow with scrubby herbs and alpines. Phlox, aubretia, wild strawberry, creeping time, that kind of thing. Dot bigger boulders around it for interest.

Edited September 30 by peds

[Rushes]

Looks like a downward slope to the house. if you are somewhere it rains hard I would worry less about the pooling water and more about how you get the water away.

 

When you have got the water gone before it hits your drive you can worry about the surface. I can't stress how much I would concentrate on getting the water away first. Worry about the surface after.

 

I live in one of the driest counties in the UK and this was a problem I had to solve.

 

[roys]

Sorry I should have said, I took the pic standing yard side, looking towards my entrance gate which is on a down slope, at my gate there is a track with a ditch at the side, a pipe joins each of the ditch across my entrance gate.

i have also not included the downward  slope in my 15x3m size earlier. The downward slope bit is different as it is not rubbish concrete it is compacted stoney soil, because of the slope it doesn’t puddle, it is probably another 15m long.

I suppose it would make sense to do it all in one job at 30m length. My only worry about that would be causing a torrent of water coming down the slope if I had 30m of tarmac down.

Edited September 30 by roys