Driveway Pavers

[Cord]

High end pavers and polymeric sand are good for small projects. For most of us operating on a budget cheap pavers, cheap retaining wall block and engineered fill works extremely well. I bought the retaining wall block for this job for $3.50 each delivered up near the top of a mountain. These are concrete with the color all the way through and 62 lbs. each 16x12x6 lwh. Engineered fill is $20/ton delivered. I ordered 2200 block and `12 tons of fill to start. If I had chosen a block that was expensive and used polymeric sand the customer would not have signed up.

The railroad ties along the 180 feet of driveway have been removed and are being replaced with the retaining wall block. Should be finishing this job in the next week or so.

If any one wants to learn how to do this I will teach you for only $25 per day. Just meet me next week and bring gloves.

What are you using for geo-grid?

 

[HillStreet]

Hi Everyone,

Just about finished the house, one more week or so and we will move in.

I am pretty much still in construction mode, and thinking about the driveway this summer. It is 250 feet by 12 feet with a turnaround. I am thinking about using pavers ---probably the grey concrete color but who knows. I know that I can do this D-I-Y but nonetheless have a guy coming over to quote.

I have done patios and walks with great results, may just need to bone up on driveways. Anyway, please share what you know about this kind of work. Driveway slopes down toward the road, a good consistent grade. Gravel is good base for this new driveway, and it held up good over the winter. Thanks.

I am researching and learning a lot about what I thought I knew about pavers. A contractor came over yesterday to look at the job. He says we need to remove grade so he can put in 8 inches or so of 3/4 inch stone, followed by a layer of fabric that allows water to pass through it, followed by 1 or 2 inches of sand. All compacted, of course.

That adds a lot of cost to the job. On the other hand, asphalt prices should remain low all year because petroleum prices are down. We'll see what develops during the pricing of this project.

 

[flusher]

Hi Everyone,

Just about finished the house, one more week or so and we will move in.

I am pretty much still in construction mode, and thinking about the driveway this summer. It is 250 feet by 12 feet with a turnaround. I am thinking about using pavers ---probably the grey concrete color but who knows. I know that I can do this D-I-Y but nonetheless have a guy coming over to quote.

I have done patios and walks with great results, may just need to bone up on driveways. Anyway, please share what you know about this kind of work. Driveway slopes down toward the road, a good consistent grade. Gravel is good base for this new driveway, and it held up good over the winter. Thanks.

So you like a grey colored driveway. Here's mine.



It's a 20 ft wide x 330 ft long gravel driveway. Ground excavated 6 inches. Three 2" thick lifts of crusher run. Each lift watered and compacted with a vibratory roller.

Cost: $4000 in May 2005. Maintenance expense during the 10 years I owned that ranch: zero

Pavers are the last thing I'd use for a driveway in Maine. Pavers heaving due to freeze/thaw cycles during the winter. Expensive to install and likely a big, costly maintenance headache.

Good luck

 

[Ed of all trades]

Thanks for the thread but I think I will stay away from pavers as well. I see problems with edges poking up even after years if we had a really wet spring and a late freeze and snow. just looks like something I might have to fix and I am not looking for things to fix, I want something to fix once and forget. Ed

 

[jenkinsph]

What are you using for geo-grid?

This work is in southern New Mexico with limited rainfall, not using a fabric.

 

[jenkinsph]

I am researching and learning a lot about what I thought I knew about pavers. A contractor came over yesterday to look at the job. He says we need to remove grade so he can put in 8 inches or so of 3/4 inch stone, followed by a layer of fabric that allows water to pass through it, followed by 1 or 2 inches of sand. All compacted, of course.

That adds a lot of cost to the job. On the other hand, asphalt prices should remain low all year because petroleum prices are down. We'll see what develops during the pricing of this project.

Whether you can use pavers on not depends on your locale and I can see where frost heave could be a problem. Installing asphalt that lasts will have it's own requirements, most pavers will remove the gravel and build up a base of 6 inches or more. All finished driveways that are built to last require a solid base with good compaction. Not knowing the specifics on your present driveway it is unclear whether your existing base needs to be reworked or not. Sounds like the contractor you spoke with is starting over from scratch. That may or may not be needed.

 

[EddieWalker]

We have an area of town where they still use bricks for the roads. I forgot how horrible they are to drive on until I went through that part of town yesterday. I guess there are better ways to build roads, but it's a never ending expense for the city to maintain and repair them, only to have roads that make a lot of noise with a rough ride. Bricks are not pavers, but the concept is the same.

Several times the city has tried to have them removed so they could pave those roads, but the people who live in those old homes like the brick roads, so they protest and make a big deal about keeping them. It's a big vacuum on city resources that could go towards other things, but that's government for you.

 

[DT86]

We have an area of town where they still use bricks for the roads. I forgot how horrible they are to drive on until I went through that part of town yesterday. I guess there are better ways to build roads, but it's a never ending expense for the city to maintain and repair them, only to have roads that make a lot of noise with a rough ride. Bricks are not pavers, but the concept is the same.

Several times the city has tried to have them removed so they could pave those roads, but the people who live in those old homes like the brick roads, so they protest and make a big deal about keeping them. It's a big vacuum on city resources that could go towards other things, but that's government for you.

That's funny. One town here put brick cross walks in the historic / touristy area, to match the brick sidewalks. They were noisy to drive over and the locals cried until they were replaced, after a short while, with concrete. Stained (and possibly stamped?) concrete, to mimic the brick sidewalks.

 

[kevin37b]

This work is in southern New Mexico with limited rainfall, not using a fabric.

Beautiful place . Is that Ruidoso ?

 

[Jay4200]

I have done patios and walks with great results, may just need to bone up on driveways. Anyway, please share what you know about this kind of work. Driveway slopes down toward the road, a good consistent grade. Gravel is good base for this new driveway, and it held up good over the winter. Thanks.

Don't forget you can't salt pavers or you'll likely wreck them. Keep that in mind.

 

[jenkinsph]

Beautiful place . Is that Ruidoso ?

Yes, I do ranch work in the Hondo Valley and construction in Alto and Ruidoso.

 

[Scut 4 Big Bucks]

You want to lay pavers for 250' and 12' wide. Hmmm.

I work in road construction here in WI. I had a job 6 years ago in Watertown, WI that was being reconstructed. Underneath 2" of asphalt, the entire road was brick pavers. I was able to hire a truck driver to bring me a quad axle load of these pavers for $100. I used them for my patio in the back yard. The patio is odd shaped, but about 30' out and 20' wide. I can tell you that after I laid the last paver, I was completely done with them. Once your base is prepped and ready for pavers, they do go in fairly quick, but it sure gets old after while. Looks great, but there is maintenance also. When the frost sets in come winter, the patio heaves here and there. Come spring time, it settles back down to "level". You're talking about a monster job to lay 250' of pavers. I would just drive on the gravel for at least 2 years, and let the base settle. After that, concrete or asphalt. Very costly, but it does add significant eye appeal to the house.

Only pic I could find of the patio was this one, with the Jacuzzi tub all finished up.

 

[jenkinsph]

Only pic I could find of the patio was this one, with the Jacuzzi tub all finished up.

View attachment 461083

Looks good. Are those St. Joe bricks?

 

[Scut 4 Big Bucks]

Looks good. Are those St. Joe bricks?

Mainly Purington, and some BARR.

 

[darrenbaker]

By now you've probably finished the driveway for a long time now. But anyway, going back here just to share this info to you: The Plus of Stamped Concrete Overlays - Sundek of Nashville

 

[HillStreet]

Thanks Darren. I decided to pave the driveway, concrete is just not used up here in Maine. Price is $11,000. Had a guy quote pavers---$40,000 for driveway plus two small walkways. That ain't gonna happen.

 

[Renze]

Why 12 feet wide? Ten would be my maximum width. Have you measured how far apart your tires are?

A paver drive way should preferrably be more than 1.5 the width of the vehicles. If too narrow, you will allways drive the same two tracks, that will settle more. We make them 4 meter (13.5 feet) to make sure the road will be driven at random and settle equal.

The most important thing is going to be the base. I do not believe it's possible to compact the rock you will use for our base with a plate compactor.

For home roads we use yellow sand dug up from underneath the field as a base, the top foot of topsoil goes back into the quarry and gets reseeded. For public roads, or the road at the new production hall at work , they strip the topsoil, put crushed rock under neath and then two or three inch of sand to make a level bed in. A full lift needs a vibratory roller to compact, a walk behind plate compactor can only pack 6 inch lifts at a time.

If crushed rock is readily available in your area, it is by far the best base. Where i live, there is no natural rock available and only crushed demolition debris is available, at a price.

Without the compactor, a year of traffic and weathering will set a crushed rock base pretty good too.

 

[Renze]

Don't forget you can't salt pavers or you'll likely wreck them. Keep that in mind.

They salt the road at my parents house too. Paved in 1991, no damage, just some setting in a place where heavy traffic was forced to one side of the road because of overhanging trees, which was paved on a wet base layer.