# Redoing my driveway



## swimmer_spe (May 6, 2017)

I am building a garage. It is 5 feet beyond the end of my driveway. One corner of my driveway has a 8x12 shed that once the garage is built, will come down.

My driveway is about 65'x24'. It is currently asphalt and is cracked all over.

I was thinking of doing paving stones instead of asphalt. Anyone ever do it?


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## oldognewtrick (May 7, 2017)

What type of footer are you building in? A structure is only as stable as the foundation its built on....


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## Snoonyb (May 7, 2017)

Aesthetically, it will give the appearance, over time, as though you intended to continue to the street, but never got around to it.

On the other hand, were you to increase it to 20'X24, it would lend itself to an architectural element, as a parking pad.

Structurally, the transition point between the two mediums will be the weak point and may eventually demand a stretcher.


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## swimmer_spe (May 7, 2017)

Snoonyb said:


> Aesthetically, it will give the appearance, over time, as though you intended to continue to the street, but never got around to it.
> 
> On the other hand, were you to increase it to 20'X24, it would lend itself to an architectural element, as a parking pad.
> 
> Structurally, the transition point between the two mediums will be the weak point and may eventually demand a stretcher.



I will be doing the whole driveway. We get snow here, so that gap will catch on the snowblower. Also, the lower part is in bad shape.


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## slownsteady (May 7, 2017)

I've done smaller projects; a patio and and an entryway...with pavers. I enjoyed working with them, but it is hard work and slow. Apart from removing the old surface, you will have to be sure to lay a good, hard-packed subsurface. If you cheat on that part, the pavers will look bad in just a short time.


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## swimmer_spe (May 8, 2017)

slownsteady said:


> I've done smaller projects; a patio and and an entryway...with pavers. I enjoyed working with them, but it is hard work and slow. Apart from removing the old surface, you will have to be sure to lay a good, hard-packed subsurface. If you cheat on that part, the pavers will look bad in just a short time.



How deep down did you dig?


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## Sparky617 (May 8, 2017)

For something that big, I'd go with stamped concrete instead of pavers.  Pavers are good DIY, but that is a lot of pavers.  With stamped and stained concrete you can get just about any look you want.


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## havasu (May 8, 2017)

I was told with pavers, you need to go at least 6" lower than the pavers, then fill/pack with crusher base.


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## swimmer_spe (May 8, 2017)

Sparky617 said:


> For something that big, I'd go with stamped concrete instead of pavers.  Pavers are good DIY, but that is a lot of pavers.  With stamped and stained concrete you can get just about any look you want.



My driveway is not square or rectangular. Also, my driveway has a bit of a slope that would make large stones more work to make them level.


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## Sparky617 (May 8, 2017)

swimmer_spe said:


> My driveway is not square or rectangular. Also, my driveway has a bit of a slope that would make large stones more work to make them level.



Stamped concrete is poured in place and a decorative pattern is stamped into it.

Here is a video on the subject.  [ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcjmleiyJU8"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcjmleiyJU8[/ame]


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## swimmer_spe (May 8, 2017)

Sparky617 said:


> Stamped concrete is poured in place and a decorative pattern is stamped into it.
> 
> Here is a video on the subject.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcjmleiyJU8



ahhhh.

I may look into that.


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## slownsteady (May 9, 2017)

Stamped concrete is not a DIY project (in my opinion). I'm not sure that is your objective, but just in case it is, you should be aware. 
For pavers, You would need to dig down about 8 inches. Then lay down 6-7 inches of crushed stone and compact that. Then add another 1 to 2 inches of paver sand or concrete dust; compact and create a smooth and level surface to lay the pavers on. You also need to consider an edging treatment to keep the pavers from spreading. This can be special plastic strips like lawn edging that get staked down. I've also seen concrete poured to just below the the surface along the edge of the driveway to keep the pavers in. I find that less attractive and harder to hide.
You can find demo videos on youtube


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## nealtw (May 9, 2017)

Stamped looks really nice when it is sealed and nice and shiny. Nice and shiny cost some 200 or 300 every 2 or 3 years.


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## Sparky617 (May 10, 2017)

slownsteady said:


> Stamped concrete is not a DIY project (in my opinion). I'm not sure that is your objective, but just in case it is, you should be aware.
> For pavers, You would need to dig down about 8 inches. Then lay down 6-7 inches of crushed stone and compact that. Then add another 1 to 2 inches of paver sand or concrete dust; compact and create a smooth and level surface to lay the pavers on. You also need to consider an edging treatment to keep the pavers from spreading. This can be special plastic strips like lawn edging that get staked down. I've also seen concrete poured to just below the the surface along the edge of the driveway to keep the pavers in. I find that less attractive and harder to hide.
> You can find demo videos on youtube



I'd agree stamped concrete isn't a DIY project.  Even just a poured driveway of that size isn't a great DIY project.  If you find out you're over your head when the concrete truck pulls up to the site you're stuck and need to see the project through or you have a very large mess on your hands. Working that amount of concrete is a multi-man job and not for the faint of heart.

I've laid several concrete paver patios, nowhere near the size of his driveway project.  The advantage of a paver project is you can start and stop along the way as your energy level dictates.  Without a lot of help, that driveway would occupy a lot of weekends to complete.


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## nealtw (May 10, 2017)

Truth be known that any driveway would last longer if people prepared the base like they do for pavers.
The road crews used to do asphalt but got done out of the market by cheap guys that cheated on the amount they put down.
Stamping adds a lot to the cost. I would form it myself and make sure it is 4 1/2" thick and have it placed by others but get quotes and look at jobs the guy did three years ago.


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## Mastercarpenty (May 13, 2017)

Stamped concrete is a specialty and somewhat near an art to do well. I've seen 2 porches jack hammered out and redone over poor stamping and heard of several more so I wouldn't recommend DIY'ing unless you're well prepared for large heartaches.

Phil


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