Table of contents
- Preparation of the paving track
- Dig the entrance
- haul away excavation
- Order gravel and chippings
- Limit the entrance to the side
- Execute substructure - ballast bed
- compact soil
- Install gravel
- Bring in the split layer
- pave driveway
- Delivery of the paving stones
- 7 ideas
- Conclusion
There are many different paving stones. They differ in the material itself (concrete paving, clinker paving or natural stone paving), in colour, shape, size and height. In addition to appearance, price is often an important criterion. It is crucial for a driveway that the pavement is suitable for the stress. It must be drivable. If you want to save on drainage fees, you should think about water-permeable paving or at least large joints. There are good solutions. Properly paved driveways will incur stormwater charges.
Preparation of the paving track
As the name suggests, a driveway is driven over. It is therefore exposed to significantly greater loads than, for example, a garden path. It must be able to withstand these loads. Good preparation is therefore extremely important.
Dig the entrance
The entire area has to be excavated, about 40 cm deep. One calculates with a layer of gravel of 20 to 25 cm, a layer of chippings of about 5 cm and the actual pavement, which usually has a height of 8 cm. If you only have to dig out a small area, you can do this by hand and spade or with a spade. do shovel. For larger areas, a small excavator is recommended, which you can borrow for this purpose.
haul away excavation
With a larger or longer driveway, there is a lot of excavation. If this soil cannot be used elsewhere on the property, it must be removed. With a bit of luck you can sell them or give them away and save yourself these costs.
Order gravel and chippings
A price comparison is worthwhile when ordering. Above all, delivery costs must be taken into account. A grain size of 2 to 8 mm is used for the grit and a grain size of 10 to 45 mm for the gravel. The amount depends of course on the size of the area. If you cannot calculate the quantities yourself, you must specify the dimensions when ordering. Most building material companies or suppliers then calculate the cubic meters.
Notice
Since the crushed stone will be compacted and will collapse, it makes sense to add 3 cm more.
Limit the entrance to the side
So that the paved driveway cannot slide away to the sides, it must be edged. This is the only way to maintain stability. Curbs are used for edging or delimitation. These come in different heights and depths. As a rule, such a curb is 1 m long.
- Foundation for curbs
The height of the foundation always depends on how high the curbs used are.
- Pay attention to straight and even borders
Always use a plumb line and spirit level to ensure the top edges and alignment are even. With meter-long distances you can see every deviation.
Execute substructure - ballast bed
The substructure is important for the driveway. Only if this is done properly, there will be no trouble afterwards with deeper sinking areas and uneven surfaces.
compact soil
The excavated area must be well compacted. If it isn't by nature, you have to help it out. A vibrator is used for this, which in turn can be borrowed and used later.
Install gravel
The gravel cannot be brought in in one go, but is filled in in layers. After each layer it has to be shaken off, for which the vibrator is used again. Each layer must be compacted, because this is the only way for the subsoil to become really firm. It is ideal if the load of gravel can be unloaded straight from the truck into the prepared pit. Where that doesn't work, the excavator is used again.
Tip:
The better the gravel is shaken off layer by layer, the less likely it is that the pavement in the driveway will later sink under load.
In addition, if several truckloads of ballast have to be ordered, it is advisable not to order them all at once, but one after the other. This leaves enough time in between to sufficiently shake off the entire area.
After the ballast has been brought in and shaken into place, there must still be 11 centimeters left from the upper edge of the ballast to the planned upper edge of the paving. 5 centimeters are required for the grit and the paving stones are usually 8 cm high. Since the pavement sinks another 1 centimeter when the paving stones are shaken off, 11 centimeters are sufficient.
Bring in the split layer
The grit is now spread on the ballast bed. Fine grit is best used. However, if the driveway is to be water-permeable, rather coarse chippings should be used. The chippings are spread as evenly as possible on the gravel using a wheelbarrow and a shovel. The grit can be smoothed out with the rake. The layer should be 3 to 4 cm thick.
pave driveway
There are a few things to consider when actually paving. Not only does the pattern you have chosen have to be followed consistently and evenly, you also have to pay attention to a gradient. A guideline is stretched for this purpose on the two opposite sides. Two sticks are used on each side and the cord is stretched between them at the level of what will later be the upper edge of the paving.
A gradient of 1.5 to 2 percent over the entire length of the driveway is sufficient.
Delivery of the paving stones
The stones are usually delivered. If you want to save yourself a lot of work, have it unloaded as close as possible to the area to be paved. In this way, you can save yourself ways. It is good to have the stones delivered on pallets, because then you can move them pallet by pallet with the excavator if you need them a few meters away. Individual stones all have to be carried there or driven with a wheelbarrow.
- When actually paving, the stones are simply placed on the prepared bed and then tapped down with a rubber mallet. They are laid out according to a laying pattern. You have to figure this out before you buy the stones.
- It is very important to keep the distance between the individual stones very evenly. The distance should be neither too small nor too large. The stones must not have too much leeway so that they can later shift or even tip over.
- Edge areas, which are initially without stones due to the pattern laying, remain open for the time being. These places will all be closed one after the other at the end. For this, paving stones have to be cut and it is better to do this in one step.
- Stone paving of normal thickness is best cut with the stone cracker. The device is quiet and hardly any dust develops. With thick patches, a wet cutter usually has to be used, which is very noisy. It's also a dirty thing.
- Finally, the cut stones are used.
- Then the whole area is vibrated again. It is important that the vibrating plate must be equipped with a plastic plate so that no stones break or break corners.
- Then sand is spread over the entire surface. This is distributed in the joints with a broom. If you like, you can use the water hose to help the compaction, but the next rain will do the trick too. If the sand has settled through the water, it usually has to be applied one or more times and swept into the joints until they are completely sealed.
Tip:
It is better not to use normal sand but to use crushed sand. This is very crumbly, which has the advantage that ants don't build nests in it, which they otherwise like to do.
7 ideas
- Longer, straight driveways work well if only the two lanes are paved and small-grain gravel is used between them and on the outside. River pebbles are also very nice. They have the advantage that you can walk on them barefoot. Even a lawn area is possible instead. Make the actual driveway solid with 3 to 4 paving stones, the middle and the sides flexible. In this way, snow can also be removed from the lane in winter.
- You can proceed in a similar way if you want to pave the entire area. Just take two different paving stones. Make the lane different than the center and the sides. With oblong paving stones, the lane can practically be designed in a vertical direction, while the other three areas are laid out in a horizontal direction.
- Old town pavement looks very nice. Because the individual stones all have a slightly different color, the driveway does not look as sterile and uniform. Even a very simple laying pattern is enough to make the driveway attractive.
- If you value a bit of variety, you should use more than just one color of paving stones. You shouldn't go into big color differences, but rather choose everything tone on tone. Light grey, dark gray and anthracite would be a good combination. This species goes well with houses with a dark roof and dark windows. The light gray stones are mainly used, because the entrance shouldn't be too dark. In between, a dark gray or anthracite stone set. You can also design the pattern randomly, i.e. use the colors irregularly.
- This design can also be made with paving stones in red. There are different shades of red. A beige or cream-colored tone would be favorable as a stronger contrast.
- It becomes more complicated to use stones of different sizes. This variant is too complicated for beginners, but anyone who has already paved can give it a try. The pattern has to be designed on paper beforehand or you can use one from the World Wide Web. Maybe you can pick one up in the neighborhood. Newly built neighborhoods with single-family homes are always a good place to get ideas. Take a little walk there and keep your eyes open. You will definitely find an interesting laying pattern.
- Interesting and mostly quite simple laying patterns at: http://www.ehl.de/betonpflaster-heim-garten/verlegebeispiele-rechteck-und-quadratsteine_24.php or http://www.kann.de/files/downloads/verlegemuster_pflaster_581_017e70.pdf
Conclusion
Paving the driveway yourself is not the easiest thing to do. It is not for nothing that experts charge a lot of money for this. If you want to save on this and have the confidence to do it, you can try it alone. Straight ramps are certainly the easiest to manage, but winding ramps can also be solved. Precise work and good soil preparation are important. It's good if you have one or two helpers and even better if someone knows how to pave. Something like this helps immensely.
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