concrete drive

bugsntinas

In the near future i want to put a concrete drive down so here are y questions.
Firstly money is tight so it's gonna have to be done in sections.
What would be the thickness require for just car use?
At the above thickness how much would a metre of concrete cover?
Sorry if they sound stupid questions but i'm useless at calculations:D

sonofsteptoe

Firstly,The ground preperation under the concrete is as important as the depth of concrete. A min of 300mm clause 804 well compacted would be recomended (no point putting good conc on muck). Secondly You say its cars only, What about a oil delivery truck etc. (It only takes one truck to crack a driveway and then you have to look at a crack or repair patch- both ugly).
All that taken into account I would put in 150mm of 30 n 20 with 75 slump for
workability. Certainly consider using steel mesh A 292 or similar if you will have trucks coming in. Finally at a depth of 150mm 1m3 will cover an area of approx 6.5m2. Up here its approx 65 to 70 euro per m3.

sincere113

sonofsteptoe wrote: »

....Up here its approx 65 to 70 euro per m3.

What area are you in do you mind me asking?

bugsntinas

Thanks for the advice.no trucks will be on it as they park on the road.there is an existing drive of some kind of crushed stone around 2 inches or so in size been down for years and well packed(tried dicking a bit up a couple of years ago and well packed in).was thinking of wire mesh also.you say it should cover 6.5m what's that in feet as i'm old school with measurements:o?

sonofsteptoe

That would be the price based on a min of approx 4m3 delivered in the greater Dublin, Meath, Kildare area. You could end up paying 100euro per m3...ish to have 1 or 2 m3 delivered.

6.5m2 = 80 square feet approx!! or an area of 9ft x 9ft

are you serious

Sorry to hijack the thread op, but I have a question along the same lines and I didnt want to start a new thread considering this topic was here.

Basically lads I'm looking to do myself a dog run out the back garden, approx 2m wide 8m length...

Which would I be better/cheaper doing, buy and mix sand/cement myself (i've no bother doing that) or buy the readymix stuff...

paddy147

I had 2 options myself,a concrete driveway or a block paved driveway.

I opted for Kilsaran 60mm block pavers.

Reason being,that,conctete will go dull in a few years and will crack from the weather,in years to come.

If,ever in the event of a mains water pipe leak or a gas leak,then block pavers can be lifted up and the sharp sand/804 hardcoere easily removed,where the leak is.

Where as concrete will have to be consawed out/drilled and dug up.Messy messy work.

Then a new patch of concrete will have to be laid,and this will look shyte against the existing faded concrete.You will also have the new lines/edges of the new concrete patch to live with too.


Block pavers can be put back exactly as they were,in the 1st place,and you would never know the difference.

Just my 2 cents on the matter.

sonofsteptoe

garkane wrote: »

Sorry to hijack the thread op, but I have a question along the same lines and I didnt want to start a new thread considering this topic was here.

Basically lads I'm looking to do myself a dog run out the back garden, approx 2m wide 8m length...

Which would I be better/cheaper doing, buy and mix sand/cement myself (i've no bother doing that) or buy the readymix stuff...

garkane, a definite diy if you're anyway handy. Materials- 4 lenghts of 4x2, 1 tonne 804, 1 tonne gravel and 10 bags cement.

Marke out area, Remove topsoil, spread out 804 and compact, place 4x2
to level (ideally falling towards a soil AJ so you can wash the area down). Leave about 3" of the 4x2 exposed. Use pins or blocks to hold in place.
Get a mixer and a friend. At 3:1 gravel:cement make a wet mix and barrow it into place. Screed off to the top of 4x2 and tamp it well. Finally "borrow" the sweeping brush from her indoors and draw it over the concrete lightly to give it a finish.( Make sure you wash it before you give it back). Leave a couple of days, remove timber( if you clean these off you can cut them up for use burning in your stove. Dress up the edges with some topsoil and sprinkle a bit of grass seed.

Finally fence the area off with panels or something similar and enjoy a mud free dog run for approx 200euro (not including fencing)

Patio slabs an option either