Driveway recommendations

[jeremy]

Hi all,

I am looking at having a driveway put in soon. However I'm trying to decided what to go for. It is approx 150sqm including a turning bay. I'm trying to decide between paving or concrete. (or anything else someone can suggest).

I like the look of pavers, however they seem to be more expensive than concrete.

Some questions:

I've been told it is best to lay the pavers on 50mm re-enforced concrete. This would prevent slippage etc. Is this true?
Is there any way of preventing weeds etc between the pavers? I don't really like that look.
If I get stencilled concrete, there seems to be a large variety of colours and styles. Do any wear better than others? Some of the red based colours appear to get quite dirty.
What is the cost/year of maintaining stencilled concrete?
I've heard of exposed aggregrate for concrete. Is this better/worse than stencilled? Any examples?
Any other suggestions for a reasonably priced driveway material? Do people have good bad experiences with any of these that they'd be willing to share. I'd like to get it right since I'll be living with the decision for quite a while!!

Thanks,
Jeremy.

[Markw]

We just had 104 square metres of "stamped" concrete laid and it looks great.

Stamped conrete is where a rubber mat is hand (foot) pressed into the drying concrete to leave an impression. We chose a sandstone pattern which is continuous with no distrinct lines between patterns. The down side is they saw cut lines into the concrete to mange the way the concrete cracks. But this I intend to fill with a flexible gap filler coloured close to the surface finish.

The stamped concrete also has a two tone colouration by applying a coloured release agent which offsets the deeper impression in a darker colour.

Disadvantages - more work by Concretor = higher costs to install - ours was about $90/m sq
Local council might not let you have this surface for your driveway layback (part over footpath) as the surface is not flat like stencilled concrete. We ended up with just plain grey for the layback - Stuff council why should I spend money on their asset.

We really like the finished product and is well worth the extra paid.

[bennylaird]

Had some disappoint friends who had huge cracks open up on their stamp concrete. Get the contractor to provide references of their work and go visit the people to see if they are happy. Pay a bit more rather than get a shoddy job.

[Ashore]

About 6 years ago I had the whole yard stencilled concreted
Reasons for this were The size of the area, cost , no weeds between the pavers, the fact that the spray coating that is sprayed on can be of diffrent colours , is hader than the concrete , has a grit finish , does not become slippery when wet espically if there is any oil on it. and can be broken up with as many patterns as you want ( a mate has a quarter size tennis court in his)
The down side is it does get dirty and you will need to waterblast once or twice a year if you want it smeg ( however this can be a good thing , it justifies you having that water blaster you have wanted for a while)
And needs a fresh coating of concrete sealer every 3-4 years , this makes it easier to clean . 20 litres does my yard about $130 I think was the cost
If you or kids etc fall over on this it is very abrasive and removes skin easily.

I have seen some stamped concrete where the surface comes out very smooth and can get slippery as do some pebble drives, the pebble finish , espically if white pebbles are used show up any oil drops.

As for the colours wearing the colour is a pigment added to the material sprayed on the concrete about 1-2mm thick and as yet have seen no wearing away of this material

If you find out how to stop weeds growing between pavers without spraying I think you could make a fortune

Just a couple of things I forgot lay a pvc pipe under the drive from one side to the other incase you ever want to put in a watering system or run lights , if you are going to put a drain accross the drive using plastic culvit type buy it now at the best price rather than at the last minute from bunnies at possible a dear price.

Hope this is of some help

http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/attachment.php?attachmentid=18837&stc=1&d=1139206632

Rgds
Russell