DIY driveway, DIY patio. How to lay paving and fit fencing.

DIY driveway

If using this page to compare how a potential contractor is carrying out their work you should know that everyone does this kind of work differently. Good contractors will often have different techniques which they have perfected over many years doing this type of work. There are different ways of doing this work so this is not a best-way-to-do-it guide, it is a guide based on information learned from workers at Manchester Fencing and Driveways who have operated in south Manchester since 1969. Their methods vary from employee to employee and each employee's methods have changed over the years, we suspect this is the same with most companies. Online some sites will give specifications to follow for your DIY driveway, patio or fence, but it is advisable to use these as a guide and not a rule. 

Block paving: the key with block paving is to get the foundation compacted enough, a heavy duty roller or wacker plate should be used for the crushed stone foundation (approx. 5 inches deep+). The layer of grit sand above the stone should be as thin as possible and screeded very tightly, its best to go over it with a wacker plate b4 final layer is laid and screeded. If the foundation is sufficiently compacted there will be no dips especially where tyre tracks are. Standard diveline blocks should be laid in a herringbone pattern- looks best with angle 45 degrees to house, but its also worth considering a 90degree pattern when it can save on cutting labour around edges (good on small square drives- but shows lines on long drives).

Paving: on patios its good to have a shallow crushed stone foundation, but not necessary for standard pressed paving as they are equivalent to approx. 6 inch thickness of in-situ concrete. Standard paving can be laid on a base of concrete mix (semi dry). If laying India stone or other random sized paving it is advisable to lay flags on spot beds of wet concrete (blobs in middle and around edges), this allows greater freedom to lay flags flat as stone paving comes in different thicknesses. The best way to grout flags is to brush a strong wet cement mix over them and clean it off surface with brush and hose with nossel on the end. Grouting this way gives a very neat look, eliviates stains on joins, and allows for smaller joints. It must be a wet mix and it must be strong- there is no point trying this technique if its your first time as you will get it wrong. If you are doing your own paving it is much more likely you will get it right if you use a semi dry mix placed in joints with trowel, if you get stains brick acid will clean them off when the grout is dry.

Imprinted Concrete: absolutely not possible for DIYers, without professional guidance it will go wrong. The only maintenance this surface needs is a new top coat to bring out colour/protect concrete, when this is needed will vary depending on your surface and area (weather), but expect to need to go over it every 10-15 years.

Fencing: Looks simple doesn't it. But fencing is one of the most difficult jobs in the world physically, it can also be very stressful too as the sheer physical demands clash with common awkward problems. Removing a small hawthorn hedge is often a gruelling nightmare as the roots seem to spread everywhere and making digging tough, encountering underground pipes is also common as fence posts need to be deeper than surfacing excavation. Carrying a 5ft high fence panel in the wind and rain is no easy task, and concrete posts and base panels aren't much easier. If you aren't used to manual work fencing will be a 2 man job, unless you have the luxury of digging in soft soil and are using wooden posts in nice weather. The key to fencing is to get everything perfectly straight- a spirit level is essential, as is a good digging spade. Posts should be set in concrete- semi-wet is best, which should surround the post by 6 inches (150mm) on all sides including underneath. DIY drivewayclick here for our driveway and patio cleaning page