Not zed related but the first driveway i've built so i'm pretty proud :)

 

Well it's taken me since feb to get this far but I finally laid the last full brick on Sunday after working over 20 hours alone this weekend laying the 1500 blocks.

 

When we moved in it looked this which was really lovely but ultimately unless you drove a mini you just couldn't get the cars down the side of the house and it wasn't wide enough to swing them in straight and still get in the kitchen door so decided to build a new driveway.

 

 

Busy excavations. I took 20 days off work to dig it out myself with help from my bro and the other half for a couple of weekends to dig out the 45 square meters of soil out the ground and it was back breaking work having to remove all the deep set roots out the front on the left.

 

I've been on it pretty much every night since then smashing up the bricks to level it off and help get rid of the soil. Luckily a guy from the down the road took the lot for nothing with his trailer to do his garden.

 

Bricks and hardcore arrived so finished laying the base over the course of the week and laid the final brick on Sunday night. I've still got to lay the edging bricks before i put the cars on tonight but should finally be able to park on it fingers crossed now it's had a couple of days to settle.

 

We've still got enough to do down the side where the zed sits so that's something to do after i've sorted out the shed and mower and start pulling V8 apart to sell on ebay.

 

It looks great though - not bad for a monkey with a basic knowledge of driveways and saved me a couple of grand off the prices quoted to do it. All in all it came to just under £1750 for the lot including all the cutting discs and tarmac for the edging stones

Edited June 7, 201114 yr by bantambunny

Edited June 7, 201114 yr by bantambunny

Edited June 7, 201114 yr by bantambunny

Right, hopefully in order now :rofl:

Edited June 7, 201114 yr by bantambunny

Looks good there young man, if you're not too busy I need 200m2 laying when you have a spare weekend, but a damn good job for a desk jockey.

Fantastic job buddy, very well done.

Looks good there young man, if you're not too busy I need 200m2 laying when you have a spare weekend, but a damn good job for a desk jockey.

 

Haha, you must be joking me - after 40m2 i'm very loathed to do the final 20 down the side :rofl: lol

 

Fantastic job buddy, very well done.

 

Cheers buddy, my back's in spasms and my arms are burnt red raw but worth every second :)

Really Excellent job !! :cool:

 

I have a driveway to build at mine of similar size, I would love to have it looking like that but I think Im going to wimp out and Tarmac/concrete it. :blushing::surrender:

that woman looks alot different with her clothes on. :-)

brilliant mate , looks alot better and knowing you did it yourself is a great feeling , tough jobs these are !! well done :rockon:

Looks fantastic mate! You've really made a nice job of it.

 

Mine is all cracked concrete slabs... but soooo much to do on the inside first!

Mine was 2 levels of concrete - totally different concrete as well lol

 

Really Excellent job !! :cool:

 

I have a driveway to build at mine of similar size, I would love to have it looking like that but I think Im going to wimp out and Tarmac/concrete it. :blushing::surrender:

 

Cheers buddy, two things i'd recommend if i were doing it again. 1. Never underestimate just how much hardcore you need to fill a hole, all in all i used 4 bags worth on top of the crushed bricks etc and 4 bags of sand. The sand goes further over a smooth surface so worth taking the time to do it. Secondly get your edges as straight as possible - 3 degrees out isn't much on one end but by the time you get to the other end it's a pain in the arse especially using the herringbone design.

 

Once you're in full flow you can lay a block every 4 seconds and tap it down!

 

The levelling is the worst part to get right, made much worse on mine by the compound curve i designed and sculpted to smooth out the entrance while keeping the right hand side level to go to the side drive but it's so smooth a curve you wouldn't notice just to look at it.

 

that woman looks alot different with her clothes on. :-)

 

Haha, the other half was showing off as always - I banned her from wearing the hot pants she wore washing my car after 2 people nearly crashed the month before :rofl: lol

 

brilliant mate , looks alot better and knowing you did it yourself is a great feeling , tough jobs these are !! well done :rockon:

 

Cheers buddy, can't wait to give it a go tonight when i get back :hyper:

looks great mate, really not looking forward to doing mine its nearly 20 meters long

The long thin ones are much easier than the wide sweepingones. Getting the level was the worst bit.

 

Best thing i can suggest is make up a screed like i did. I set it on the height from the kerbstone then dragged it bit by bit to give a smooth, flat surface that didn't have any divets in it then just compacted it with a whacker plate and it one last time with some loose sand to help the blocks bed in. Don't know what i would have done without it!

 

Make it out of 2 pieces then you can adjust the length by taking the screws out and rescrewing it the right length.

 

I think the kerb stones were 3 feet long and about £1.20 each

 

If all else goes down the pan mate or you fancy some extra money....

 

 

Do you like daaags?

 

Good price on your driveway sir!

Bloody great job Nick!-hope you got Planning for that.........:whistling::wink:

If all else goes down the pan mate or you fancy some extra money....

 

 

Do you like daaags?

 

Good price on your driveway sir!

 

Hahahaha, i think the neighbours must reckon i'm a pikey or something the amount of dodgy second hand furniture in the garden right now :rofl:

Bloody great job Nick!-hope you got Planning for that.........:whistling::wink:

 

Cheers buddy, hmm now that's a good question but from what i understand in planning regs you don't need to apply for permission IF you use permeable bricks and use the correct drainage OR you leave an open land drainage area around the drive which i did.

 

We left 50cm borders all round with gaps inbetween the kerbstones to allow drainage into the borders.

 

I've kept photos of the building working from day one so if the council kick up a fuss i'll just pull them out and hopefully they won't moan :)

 

Just a few more blocks to cut tonight and toss some sand in the gaps and i'll be finished :hyper:

...and i quote:

 

If a new driveway or parking area is constructed using permeable surfaces such as permeable block paving, porous asphalt or gravel or if the water is able to soak into the ground via soil borders or a soakaway you will not require planning permission

...and i quote:

 

Nice one-remember the hassle I had with the Garage!!:surrender:

I didn't even realise you needed planning permission to do something on your own land, unless it was a permanent structure and higher than 5ft or something, god I must be remembering really old planning laws or something, lol

Nice one-remember the hassle I had with the Garage!!:surrender:

 

lol, to be fair it was almost as tall as your house with a professional lift in it :rofl:

I didn't even realise you needed planning permission to do something on your own land, unless it was a permanent structure and higher than 5ft or something, god I must be remembering really old planning laws or something, lol

 

It's to do with people replacing land with non drainable surfaces so all the extra water goes into their drainage systems and not into your ground.

 

That's why we were very careful about it and put a slight slope of the driveway toward the house and put the gaps in the kerbs to allow drainage into the flower beds.

 

If they ever come round to complain i can show them the photos and the text off their website :)

 

I'm building a garage next year when i've got the money with a proper workshop area so got to learn to brick lay now..... :D