Scooby Soon!

I am watching a drive being block paved not to far away from me and im not sure they are doing it right?

They had drive with some gravel on it, over the past few days they have got rid of the gravel which has left a driveway of mud with holes and bumps all over it. The "Driveway experts" turned up on Friday and put a block paved edge all the way round the driveway on cement but no sign of hardcore?

Then last night I see that some one has randomly put bricks in to a few potholes that were (and still are) full of rainwater? the driveways looking worse than a plowed field. I cant see that there is going to be any room for hardcore as the top of the blocks is only a couple of inches off the drive are they just going to lay the blocks on the mud

Is this a new way of doing things?

dpb

Have they got

" Boys from the blackstuff "

Tattooed across their tranny

mart360

erm in a nutshell NO!!

If I recall when we did my mates, we had the mud/earth, and then about 5 tonnes (it was a ferking big drive) of sand & shingle were laid down & vibrated. then the blocks were laid on them. the whole lot was vibrated again to bed the blocks, then special sand was spread over the top, and vibrated again to lock the blocks


i could be wrong though


Mart

maps

iTrader: (3)

lol by the summer that drive will be like the himalayas

even if the ground is hard i'd still put 6" of type one down

but the right way is to dig a good foot off, then rubble, then type one, then 2" of grit, then blocks

mark

DYK

YOU have to put down a type one base,and then compact it into the ground with a whacker plate.then put down a layer of concreting sand,rake it over the area and then whacker plate it down,then you have to screed the final layer.before you start laying the paving..ohh and you have to have a water run.so when it rains the water runs away to a drain or away from the property..keep an eye on what they do..

NO NO NO

nik52wrx

As above.
If you don't it will sink all over the place once a car goes on it.
The most important part of laying block paving is getting the sub base right.
Nik.

Ian

iTrader: (10)

think you should have a word with your nabours, just to let them know

skoobidude

Scooby Soon, put an anonymous note through their door explaining your concerns.

Nick

Wish

iTrader: (2)

Are they just having the edges done, then apply new gravel ?

Scooby Soon!

They have got about 5 pallets of bricks just to the right of those cars on there drive so it looks like its all going to be paved, the guys who are doing it arent driving a transit they have got an F reg pajero.......

DYK

if your concerned that they are getting a bodge job done,then just keep a close watch.the guys that are doing it,havent really started any kind of work on it yet by the looks of the pic.if they dont put any hardcore - type one base down first,followed by concreting sand (not building sand)then i would say something for sure.but anyone with a bit of common sense will realise you dont lay paving straight onto a bumpy muddy drive.

dpb

Well who needs a drop-side if youve got a pajero

Plenty room for hardcore

SCOsazOBY

A Scooby Net twitcher

Seriously though if youre that concerned go and warn them, it will be an unpleasant site if they ever get flooded

apples24

iTrader: (1)

i think i would pop over for a chat too hate to see anyone get robbed like that. poor ppl might of strapped themselfs up for years on a bankloan to pay for that.

gazza-uk

^^ as he said

Fuzz

Come on... have you had a word yet ???

PaulC72

As said above I feel sorry or them as, being in construction myself it always annoyes me when shoddy builders don't do it right, maybe you should follow them back to their caravan and send the police along.

nik52wrx

Rogue traders springs to mind

MikeCardiff

iTrader: (2)

Looks iffy from the pic so far - if they just chuck the blocks down onto a sand bed, it will look lovely for a few months, then the weeds will start to come through, and there will be a nice 'W' shape dent where the cars wheels go ( my neighbours drive is just like this ).

If you dont see them turn up with a whacker plate then they definitely arent doing it properly as whatever base is laid has to be compacted properly to stop it sinking in the future. They should also lay a membrane down to stop the weeds coming up if they are really doing a decent job.

ScoobyWeb

Who's to say they are not going to turn up tomorrow with a mini digger and scrape 4 inches off and then type 1 it.

Just a thought.

RUDDY

looks like theres enough room for hardcore to me!

PaulC72

Not if they have laid 65mm blocks their isnt.

150mm Compacted Hardcore

50mm Sand

1200guage geotextile membrane {or equiv}

Blocks @ 65mm thick

Based on the picture they will be 135mm higher than the shown blocks before laying the others which don't work.

I doubt they will come and scrape off the rest as they wouldn't have laid the other blocks first as scraping is not an 'exact' science.

I feel for them.

ScoobyWeb

No it's not your quite right, but they can scrape off to within a foot of the border and then dig the rest by hand.
The point I am making is everyone is making assumptions based on a photo of how it's been left over the weekend. They may come back tomorrow and make a sterling job, they may however make a b*ll*cks.

MikeCardiff

iTrader: (2)

Tenner says they are a bunch of pikey robbers though who will sprinkle a couple of bags of sand around and whack the bricks in and be done though

Hoppy

My lad does this kind of thing and takes pride in his work. He digs out to a min of 12in - I think he said the British Standards min is 10in. And he's had to fix, ie completely rebuild, some dreadful jobs. Looks like this one could be on his list some time very soon.

Richard.

andy97

iTrader: (1)

Im having my drive done at the moment, some 60 tonne of inch clean hard core, then rollered followed by a layer a sharp sand which was wacker plated to bed it down. Lastly the blocks were laid with all edges concreted in position. The gaps filled with kiln dried sand

wrx-kris

It depends what they paid for... They might of gone for a 'cheaper' setup.

PaulC72 is near enough right though.....

Ms Gooner 1

My folks had their driveway tar-maced a while back. I was unaware they were having it done until it was in the process. Apparently (these are my dad's words - not mine) "some irish lads turned up on the doorstep asking if were thinking of having the work done (which they were)." Apparently the "irish" guys told my dad they were part of a large corporation which usually gets the contracts for the TESCO car parks etc. My dad was quite dismissive when I explained that they were probably pikeys - he said "no Vikki, they were Irish" - but they had THAT much work doing TESCO car parks they were door canvassing in Frinton!
Anyway, initially the drive did look quite nice - however, the cracks are starting to show, the little stones are coming up and its not looking at all good!!!!
I was quite angry because my folks had paid for something that they obviously didn't get - by a bunch of cowboys - or pikeys! And of course - when you try to contact them - their number is incorrect

MikeCardiff

iTrader: (2)

One of the oldest scams in the book ( in pikey accent ) "we're doing a big job around the corner, and just happen to have enough tarmac left over to do your drive at a bargain price".

Mate of mine worked doing drives with pikeys for the summer when he was a student, you wouldnt believe some of the stuff they did ! Most drives had maybe a half inch at most of tarmac straight onto the mud. Looks lovely when done but splits after a month and sinks all over the place.

POC

You get what you pay for, pay penuts, get monkys!

Shant comment on the above job until the lads get back to work, on first impressions it does not bode well

Would be wary of approaching the 'customer' though, the guys doing the work for them might be friends etc?