Driveway Options

[gto65goat]

Building a 24' X 24' garage.

Other then a cement, gravel, or blacktop driveway leading from the garage to my carport (approximately 30' away)...I was wondering if any of the members have used designer blocks (usually red in color) to construct their drive way?

The reason I'm thinking of this...is because I'd like to have a different "look" other then cement...since the garage will be in the back of my yard, and the plans call for nice plants and schrubs along the driveway.

I would appreciate ANY info you might be able to provide.

Thank you,
John

 

[Gregdoo]

I don't have the pavers you're talking about, but am considering them in the future. They are a bit expensive and it takes good preparation to ensure that they remain level over time. A nice advantage is that if you ever needed to put something under your driveway such as irrigation lines, drainage, electrical or gas, it is easy to do.

You might also want to consider stamped concrete, which seems to come in many patterns, including the paver look you are considering.

 

[Special55]

I don't have the pavers you're talking about, but am considering them in the future. They are a bit expensive and it takes good preparation to ensure that they remain level over time. A nice advantage is that if you ever needed to put something under your driveway such as irrigation lines, drainage, electrical or gas, it is easy to do.

You might also want to consider stamped concrete, which seems to come in many patterns, including the paver look you are considering.

I did the colored/stamped concrete in a random square slate pattern. The nice thing about the stamped concrete is you get the strength and no worries of individual bricks heaving due to winter frosts. I don;t have a photo handy but the installer did an excellent job and when he did the relief cuts he followed the pattern so it just appears like grout lines.

Make sure you do your homework and get multiple bids. Also check references and go see some of the work of those you are considering. It seems like stamped concrete is a popular choice right now and there are as many hacks as there are quality installers.

Hope that helps,
Rich

 

[red vette mike]

Building a 24' X 24' garage.

Other then a cement, gravel, or blacktop driveway leading from the garage to my carport (approximately 30' away)...I was wondering if any of the members have used designer blocks (usually red in color) to construct their drive way?

The reason I'm thinking of this...is because I'd like to have a different "look" other then cement...since the garage will be in the back of my yard, and the plans call for nice plants and schrubs along the driveway.

I would appreciate ANY info you might be able to provide.

Thank you,
John

John: I had a good bit of driveway to put in getting from the front of my lot toward the rear (I have 3+ acres). I used some crushed limestone that I bought from a Martin Marietta Plant close to me. I bought some decorative stone from a stone center to form the border of this drive. The decorative stone is about 5"x5" (or perhaps 6"x6") and comes in various lenghts. It is a true cut stone. It gives a really good look. It creates no dust. I killed the existing grass with Roundup and then poured the rock on top of the ground. The stuff is tough as I built a garage this summer and I had many concrete trucks and a 65000 lb concrete pumper use the drive for access.
This is not exactly what you are after but it worked well for me. Good luck.
Mike

 

[bens]

RedVetMike,
Do you have any pictures?

 

[gto65goat]

John: I had a good bit of driveway to put in getting from the front of my lot toward the rear (I have 3+ acres). I used some crushed limestone that I bought from a Martin Marietta Plant close to me. I bought some decorative stone from a stone center to form the border of this drive. The decorative stone is about 5"x5" (or perhaps 6"x6") and comes in various lenghts. It is a true cut stone. It gives a really good look. It creates no dust. I killed the existing grass with Roundup and then poured the rock on top of the ground. The stuff is tough as I built a garage this summer and I had many concrete trucks and a 65000 lb concrete pumper use the drive for access.
This is not exactly what you are after but it worked well for me. Good luck.
Mike

Mike,

Now that sounds like a good option too.

Thanks for the reply.

John

 

[red vette mike]

RedVetMike,
Do you have any pictures?

Bens: I have lots of pictures but am to computer impaired to get them on the computer. I hopefully am going to have my computer savvy friend get a bunch of pictures onto this site, hopefully next week. I'll post some back to this thread then.
Mike

 

[autoist]

I like my large gravel parking area in fron of the garage but didn't like how the gravel migrated into the street when we turned in or left....so, I had the first 6' done in full brick pavers.....I'll take a photo tomorrow.

 

[red vette mike]

I like my large gravel parking area in fron of the garage but didn't like how the gravel migrated into the street when we turned in or left....so, I had the first 6' done in full brick pavers.....I'll take a photo tomorrow.

Tony is correct. I have had that problem also. The brick paver idea would help the rock migration problem.

 

[Andamo]

Years ago a co-worker had a Omni-Stone driveway and walkway put in. They dug down pretty far and filled it up so far with slag from the steel mill. I think they then put sand in and tamped that down. I forget the rest of the process. Then the pavers were put down and sand was put over the pavers and tamped. For quite a few years it looked nice and was level. But because of the freeze/thaw cycles in this area ( Pittsburgh ) it started to heave in places and then you could see it was starting to "hump up" in the middle from the weight of the cars going up and down the driveway. Just something to be aware of, that's all.

 

[gto65goat]

Years ago a co-worker had a Omni-Stone driveway and walkway put in. They dug down pretty far and filled it up so far with slag from the steel mill. I think they then put sand in and tamped that down. I forget the rest of the process. Then the pavers were put down and sand was put over the pavers and tamped. For quite a few years it looked nice and was level. But because of the freeze/thaw cycles in this area ( Pittsburgh ) it started to heave in places and then you could see it was starting to "hump up" in the middle from the weight of the cars going up and down the driveway. Just something to be aware of, that's all.

Andamo,

I appreciate your reply.
I'm learning more and more evrey day, and obviously its replies like this that will help me when I go to make my decisions later on in the process.

John

 

[autoist]

Its rained all day so I didn't get any photos.

 

[autoist]

Here's the photo I promised:

 

[gto65goat]

Here's the photo I promised:

Tony,

Thanks for the picture. That is very close to what I have in mind.
Do you have any idea as to what the cost of the very front of the driveway might have been? It looks real good.

John

 

[nova65ss]

Around here pavers go for anywhere between 11-14 sq ft. A small patio with a walkway was going to run me nearly 5 grand. Brick may be a little less but still expensive. They do look good though.

Jimmy

 

[autoist]

Mine was around 2 grand - 2 man crew worked 3 days on it....I've got a curved drive in front of house & they're going to do both ends of it also.