Best driveway for working on cars?

[lewis s]

Just looking for some advice really, as i will be moving into my first house soon and have some questions about driveways. It has a pretty standard sized single driveway, but is currently gravel which is no good for what i want it for (working on cars).

What would be the best looking and most practical type driveway to look at getting, and what sort of costs would be involved with getting it laid?

[bucksmanuk]

Well gravel’s out – as you know…
Tarmac is fine unless you jack your car up and the little wheels sink into the stuff….. That did annoy my mum… oil stains relatively well hidden but - Gunk washes it away…
Bricks look nice, and if one breaks, you can lift it and replace it; same with badly oil stained ones.
Flags are fine if they are the thick ones, not the 40mm ones they sell for garden use at B&Q. they crack.
Concrete is fine as long as its thick enough, decent concrete is fine at 4 inches in my experience, but if it’s a heavy vehicle, small ish axle stand, and not on a board, the 6 inches is the way to go. Thicker the better really. Go on £150/cu m for the stuff and at least the same cost again to pay someone to build the base.

[m4ckg]

Having a car like yours I'd say go for the printed concrete like I've got, most of the fluids that DO come out of theses cars can usually be cleaned easily with hot water and some detergent, something you can't do with block paving and the like

[dickymint]

Can't see a problem with gravel as long as the sub-base is firm. Especially if you are concerned about oil spillage. Just use some timber under your jack/ramps. Works fine for me except if you need to push your car.

PS. My uncle has a sort of Honey-comb plastic (i think) mesh that allows grass to grow through that works well and looks good.

Bit like this stuff..........

http://www.boddingtons-ltd.com/civil/bodpave-pavin...

Edited by dickymint on Monday 1st August 13:09

[Muncher]

Pattern imprinted concrete is very good for this, any spills just wipe off it easily.

[Steffan]

dickymint said:

Can't see a problem with gravel as long as the sub-base is firm. Especially if you are concerned about oil spillage. Just use some timber under your jack/ramps. Works fine for me except if you need to push your car.

PS. My uncle has a sort of Honey-comb plastic (i think) mesh that allows grass to grow through that works well and looks good.

Known as Grasscrete there is also a concrete honeycomb version.

Very useful if you park there occasionally as overspill parking etc. Dead loss if you regularly park over it as the grass dies off and you have earth between the concrete bits. Weeds may flourish but grass will not if covered permanently.

I have seen heathers etc used but not really a surface for rolling about on.

[lewis s]

Thanks for the help everyone

The pattern imprinted concrete looks quite nice, but possibly could be a pain for jacks unless the patterns are not too deep?

Here is a photo of the drive in question (the white house). The next door neighbour also seems to have the same type of drive so i am guessing that we would just need to put a divider between the two?

How much roughly would i be looking at to get that size drivway paved, tarmac'd or concreted (and how much more for patterns)?

[PainTrain]

Have you spoke to your new neighbor about you plans? Perhaps he might be tempted to get his done at the same time as you if it was in the pipeline?

[lewis s]

I have not met them yet, should be getting completion dates by the end of the week. I just have a list of jobs that i want to get done when i do move in but as a first time buyer i am still quite ignorant to what things cost with regards to house stuff.

[JB!]

Personally, smooth flat concrete, nice and thick would be my driveway of choice.

[Pied Piper]

Get rid of the gravel, unless you want to be forever searching for the screw/nut/bolt/whatever you dropped, I used to spend hours doing this and it's no fun.

[dickymint]

JB! said:

Personally, smooth flat concrete, nice and thick would be my driveway of choice.

You will need planning permission for that......


http://www.drivewayexpert.co.uk/planning-permissio...

[eliot]

Pied Piper said:

Get rid of the gravel, unless you want to be forever searching for the screw/nut/bolt/whatever you dropped, I used to spend hours doing this and it's no fun.

This x 1000.

[lewis s]

That is one of the main reasons for looking at alternatives, i just don't know how much a new driveway will cost (tarmac / concrete or paved)

[mgtony]

Looking at the picture, the gravel doesn't look too deep, it might just be a thin layer spread over something solid. Otherwise a charcoal coloured block paver would go well with a white house, you could probably do that yourself.

[m3jappa]

If you do go for block paving then you can seal it with a resin sealer which will enable oil and crap to be washed off it. I wouldn't expect 100% protection though, same with imprinted concrete.

I will say though that theres never going to be a surface for working on cars which remains looking good and is nice to work on.

[lewis s]

Thanks for that and mgtony i agree that charcoal block paving would probably look quite nice. Will have to do some research i think

[lewis s]

Had a look online and people seem to be quoting around £55 m2 for block paving, so using a bit of guestimation on the cars dimensions in the photo works out at around £1500 to get done. Does this sound about what i should expect if i went this route?

[JR]

m3jappa said:

If you do go for block paving then you can seal it with a resin sealer which will enable oil and crap to be washed off it.

Yes, this would work well and look good in this situation. Put a path edging along the border to prevent creep and fall away from the house (the final quarter may need a reverse fall. SUDS boxs underneath and FWIW I'd take the flags up as well.

[anonymous-user]

My drive was monoblocked when I moved in, GREAT for working on cars - the wheels of the trolley jack sit between the grooves between the blocks which gives a bit of extra stability, and if a few blocks get oily/dirty you just take them out, turn them over and pop them back in!