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Re: driveway?

To: Scott Hall <scott.hall@comcast.net>, <shop-talk@autox.team.net>
Subject: Re: driveway?
From: Dave C <cavanadd@kendra.com>
Date: Tue, 23 Dec 2003 18:53:34 -0800
Are you talking about the concrete "fake brick" pavers?  I think the pavers 
should be plenty strong for a driveway. ( I wouldn't use the rectangular 
(about 9 x 16" or so, about 1" thick "patio pavers for a driveway, 
though.)  The secret is to get the bedding right.  First you will need to 
dig down to solid soil or maybe hardpan, depending on your soil 
conditions.   Next you will have to bring in enough damp, coarse sand to 
make a bed at least a couple of inches thick; three to five inches should 
do it, I would imagine.  Next you compact the sand as much as 
possible.  This is the most critical step, and the sand has to be damp to 
compact..  You can make or buy a  manual tamper, but a much better way, 
considering the size of a driveway, would be to rent a plate compactor or a 
jumping jack from a rental yard.  Trust me on this.  I tamped in a brick 
patio about 10 x 20 feet with a tamper made out of a 6 x 6 and it's HARD 
work.  Once you get the sand down, compacted and level (or sloped for 
drainage) then you lay the pavers in what ever pattern you select.  You 
need to keep about a 3/16" gap between each adjacent paver, and most of the 
commercial pavers have a rib cast into them for this purpose.  After they 
are laid, get some dry, relatively fine sand, and sweep it into the gaps 
between the bricks.  This kind of tedious, and the sand has to be 
absolutely dry, but it will lock the pavers in place.

Hope this helps,

Dave C

At 08:48 PM 12/23/2003 -0500, Scott Hall wrote:
>I'm thinking the base should be better prepared, or deeper, or something, 
>in order to stand up to the weight of a car vs. that of a person, and 
>maybe the pavers should be thicker, or made from stronger concrete.





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