Rough Cost per square meter for Tarmac / Black Paving or concrete Paving?

[The mallard]

Probably been said before,but preperation,sub base and compaction are the most important things to ask about, the final topping is just the decorative finish.

 

[A210AMG]

Third quote in.

Tarmac with red chippings and edging / drainage channel and two manholes with two gate edges £4950 inc vat.

All indian stone with drainage / edging £5750 inc vat

Mixture of both / indian stone where our caravan sits £5250 inc vat


Too be completely honest I'm not sure what to do if in fact anything. The more I've been looking at block paving the more I'm not happy with the way they either look or wear.

Then I'm thinking would the money add more value to put it towards a conservetory, ok I know more money to add but then its another room and I still have a drive

I think not being sure I will do nothing for now.

 

[A210AMG]

Jonnyboy,

You seem to know whats what, this is the only picture I have currently of the front of the house which shows the drive.

Where the ML parks is a drive out with gates now and where the A class is there is also a set of gates so its own entry / exit.

to the left of the ML is a car port where it normaly goes.

better view of carport here

In total I have 111 sq meters of drive.

Currently Tarmac with a gravel area where Caravan is.

My question,

Could I dump a lot of gravel / slate on top of what I have and spread it round?

I didn't originally want to do this as means the kids cannot ride the bikes etc on the front but it would appear to be a fix.

?

 

[jonnyboy]

Take me some better pics if you can and I'll come back to you with ideas.
Gravel spread over tarmac will last about 5 mins, you will be forever raking it where it skitters off the hard surface as you drive on it. It self-binds when laid on itself if you get my drift.

 

[A210AMG]

Will do, I thought about it 'driving off' on the tyres and thought I could have say a 3 brick width cover under each gate raised up almost like a mini speed bump to stop the gravel moving.

Wife also likes slate? Is that any better? The larger 'chunks' sort of 50 pence size pieces.


Will try to get better pictures, thanks

 

[developer]

A late entry to this and I've not read all the other posts, however, and it's a few years old but some of the below may be useful so here goes:

I had a 180m2 in/out drive done in 2007.

Hardcore, base, topcoat, new manhole, minor wall rebuild, minor alteration to drainage.

£4950 all in.

I did spot a comment about topping being topping - there are choices, in terms of the coarseness of the top coat tarmac and smoother finishes are available.

 

[jonnyboy]

I did spot a comment about topping being topping - there are choices, in terms of the coarseness of the top coat tarmac and smoother finishes are available.

Thats very true, although it reminds me to mention that there has to be some buyer beware. I've seen several instances of driveways breaking up (tarmac) where turns or manoeuvres are performed. From what I am told by a tarmaccer, it's because its a known "trick" for contractors to nab some motorway-grade tarmac at a cheaper price which of course is designed for straight running at speed/sweeping curves, not tight turns.

 

[eugekav]

What moves when paving moves?

The way i see it is as was said the topping is as only as good as the base ,underneath for anything heaver than pedestrian traffic the base should be at least six inches thick of concrete on top of six inches of hardcore that is layed on Terrain fabric tucked into a trench all around and backfilled. This will stop the hardcore from pushing into clay/soil so avoiding voids underneath the concrete so providing a solid base you can increase the thickness of the concrete to accomadate heavy trafic or in extreme circumstances, the idea is a solid base to put the topping of your choise.Reinforcing rods can also strenthen the concrete slab in certain circumstances. I hope this helps.

 

[jonnyboy]

CBP is designed to be laid over a flexible sub-base, sand, not a solid one.

I tink you mean Terram, not Terrain.

 

[A210AMG]

I 'think' the price I'm getting is correct given three quotes now and they are all around £6000. I just think its an awful lot for a 4 days work?

I would however like the drive to look a little nicer...Slate or gravel with raised edging at each gate seemed to me like a cheap option...?

Are these any better to work out whats what, difficult with the cars / van on the drive..

Lean to bit where my car normally is


This idea isn't bad, or indeed what you may suggest? ideally a way of making it look better for not much spend

 

[jonnyboy]

Good luck moving that caravan on gravel!
You cannot quantify the price based on four days labour, how many people are in the crew? Could vary between 8 and sixteen man days couldn't it? Although on a job that size I would have said a 3 man crew was ideal. 12 man days at say £150/day = £1800 plus V, 120m2 of CBP at say £12/metre = £1800. 8" dig out = 22.2m3 which will bulk up to a minimum of 28 cubic metres so three 8 wheel grabs £660. 16.65m3 of type 1 base say 30 tons at £28/ton £840. 42m of footing concrete for edgings say two and a half tons at £50/ton (cost of ballast and cement) = £125, then 2" of sharp sand for bedding of blocks = 55.m3 = say seven tons at £30/ton = £210. So, £5435 excluding VAT and EXCLUDING any drainage, plant/machinery costs, and excluding profit.

I used block paving as an example, and of course I've done this as a back-of-a-fag-packet calculation. For one thing it depends on the dig out, what it's like. Depends on the local costs of muck away and aggregates. You'll get cheaper CBP but I used some decent 60mm deep ones (better than 50 mmm ones IMHO) s an example. The labour rates are at what would be charged "over the counter" round where I am, the reality is there is little profit on the labour as your foreman is worth about £200/day if he's good, middle guy about £150 and the labourer about a oner. I don't see it as a 2 man crew job in a week if you know what I mean.

Still think it's expensive?

 

[A210AMG]

^ thanks Jonny,

Yes I actually do think its expensive, I'm not saying that's not the going rate as obviously it must be. However for replacing what I have with Tarmac again and paying £5500 for it does seem very expensive? One concrete block paving quote was £8500.

I've seen two house just been done in our road and one opposite with Block paving, they had a mini digger and ripped up the old path in a day (3 people) in 4 days the jobs was done. Apart from the first day I only saw 2 people at any time, at one point just the guy laying the blocks...it went down rapid. I appreciate 4 days is not 4 days for one guy, its probably 10 man days etc.

I'm just going to have to get my head round that's the cost simple....

The caravan moves over anything it has a motor mover so up inclines, wet grass, gravel (as its sat on) no problem so that's not an issue for the drive.

I think for now I'm a) supprised by price and b) don't know what I would choose anyway...

So do nothing is the best option for now...

Thanks Jonny though for your help.

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

A210AMG you're not alone.

We have a nice but aging asphalt driveway at home, and I'll get labour and materials quite literally as cheap as they can be when the time comes to replace, but I'm still not convinced it's worth the cost for just looking a little bit nicer.

 

[A210AMG]

Hello


I still have done nothing as too be honest not happy with the prices..

Slight update though as Mrs A210 likes the gravel look, and I thought would this work with a raised area such as this at each gate exit?

My question then, what would I need to do with current tarmac, rip it all up? then what.....

Or could I spread gravel ontop and use the raised brick parts at each exit to help contain the gravel when driving in and out?

Thanks

 

[renault12ts]

We have gravel over concrete on a portion of our drive. It works. In fact tarmac and concrete prevent the gravel being "pushed" down.

We used concrete kerbs on the flat at the gateway to hold in the gravel. It works.

 

[Deleted member 6183]

We have gravel over concrete on a portion of our drive. It works. In fact tarmac and concrete prevent the gravel being "pushed" down.

We used concrete kerbs on the flat at the gateway to hold in the gravel. It works.

Very interesting.

Driveway is our big job next year (just blown this year's budget on wood floors and a woodburner)

Currently have a large concrete driveway and I did think of just lobbing a few tons of gravel over it but was persuaded that the gravel will roll about like marbles under car tyres and grind to dust in no time.

Not in your experience?

 

[Dieselman]

We have a nice but aging asphalt driveway at home, and I'll get labour and materials quite literally as cheap as they can be when the time comes to replace,

Always wondered about you having a caravan...

 

[A210AMG]

^ Quality

Interesting that gravel should be ok as long as I raise the edges where the gates are.

Its also a good security measure as I've had it in previous houses and you can hear people in it

I may look into this route as I thought maybe the tarmac would have to be ripped up anyway (more cost)

Thanks

 

[Dieselman]

I may look into this route as I thought maybe the tarmac would have to be ripped up anyway (more cost)

DIY or wait until someone is having theirs done and pay the digger driver to rip it up.
We broke about 40 SqM up with a breaker and it was tough as it was laid thick...came home and a demolition crew were just down the road...£25 later the other 50SqM were up.

 

[Clivefa]

We have block paving laid by the previous house owner who owned a block paving company. The winter here in Chelmsford did not affect it.
Gravel looks and sounds (thus is a security feature) great, but spreads beyond boundary. I also own a motorbike and gravel is the worst surface then.