The Paving Blog

This is an updated version of last year’s costing information based on just a few changes – much more favorable to a consumer – than the current latest thing in here. All in all, what matters most in costing are labor costs, materials costs and the price of ‘doing business with a business’ cost.

Whereas I had mentioned in years’ past, we had installed pavers from $9.00/square foot to upwards of $13.50 – all included. The current price of pavers in general is around 20% below all that now and a hungrier company might very well allow you to save some bucks by shaving 10% off. The market is definitely a buyer’s market right now.

Indeed, everything has decreased in price. From the rock and base material to the pavers themselves, small surpluses are seen at paver dealers and rock creators who endured so happily the housing boom – which has essentially gone away for now.

In general, I think you can get a nicely-done project for nearly $7.00 – $9.00/square foot if one shops hard enough. This, in the end, is about the same cost as Stamped Concrete.

This post is a very commercial one, so please forgive me in advance. I just really like this set up. I have installed so very many patios now, I have also become close to the best and coolest patio furniture. This is some durable and hyper comfortable sitting – and at an elegant little table. I recognize the pavers underneath, of course. I have rassled with those boys lots of times.

Santa Clara Dining Armchair – Canvas Brick – Frontgate, Canvas Brick,Patio Furniture

The picture above illustrates both side of any root barrier’s occasional necessity. Almost all trees tend to root laterally given that the water from rainfall and even the washing of surfaces tends to sit on top of the roots before percolating. Roots are like people. They take the quickest and easiest route to satisfaction, as it were. What we see in the top picture is the result. Nor is that result merely a result of it being a permeable interlocking brick paver set-up. The same events occur in other trees as well, as the picture below indicates.

‘Unintended Circumstances’ are a truism of construction in general. Planning ahead is a far more recent phenomenon, especially regarding landscaping. In the lower picture above, we see the effects of what root barriers can achieve. By orienting the roots downwards from the onset, we become far more assured of an adequate protection at the top. Better irrigation practices, such as pipes embedded to deep water the roots and adequately-timed drip irrigation can also be effective.

An expert on the root barrier issue who I often consult is Ofer El-Hashahar, late of England. His website features recycled plastic edging and barriers, complete with some interesting pictures and information. I recommend anyone to check him out, especially those in the UK, where he is based.

Root barriers are effective and actually somewhat vital if one is concerned with the long term effects of roots in a landscape or street scape. Easy enough to install, they induce easy principles and the trees and plants which grow inside them have little if any complaints. It’s win-win.

Since we were talking about a heavy duty paver splitter, this tile saw is worth a mention as well. It is actually made for cutting pavers too, and will take on marble and stone. Did I say heavy-duty already?

This unit comes with a robust motor. The 1800-watt/15-amp 2.5 HP UL-listed motor runs at 3450 RPM, giving it the ability to get through the hardest of paving materials. Cooled off by strong water pump, you can expect this diamond blade to last for a while, especially given proper lubrication.

The nice thing about this machine is that it manages to bring you top-notch performance, on a super stable table, yet with a reasonable size that can easily fit into your garage. It’s not even that pricey – at under $400 it’s a sound investment in any DIY pavers project.

You can now order this baby directly from Amazon and have it delivered right to your doorstep – click for more details

Slab paving is an interesting and fairly dicey idea.  Currently, there are an abundance of slabs available for paving. almost of of which follow the same rules and specifications that the smaller pavers follow.  High PSI (8500, often), highly compressed concrete, up to 9 foot square in size (3′ x 3′), these large items make a dazzlingly effective look. They actually go down faster from an installer’s perspective, covering more territory with fewer pieces.  They offer the same ability to replace when damaged or discolored and, while not altogether as flexible as the smaller pavers, are indeed far more flexible than monolithic pours such as asphalt or cement.

Another supreme benefit is the options of colors and style.  Owing to their size, large paving slabs offer some intriguing mixing possibilities.  The :checkerboard look is often chosen and it can be surprisingly effective if not entertaining. Naturally, bands of color are easily inserted, either by bordering a driveway or by intersecting it across.

There is however a caveat.  Owing to their large size, the need for a perfectly graded and drained subsurface is even ore vital than for the smaller editions of pavers.  The reason is in their size.  Tires from cars and truck are dispersed by weight far easier than on these larger units.  A tire can place an imbalanced amount of weight on just one corner of one of these and, with an inadequate or deteriorating base, can cause rocking. And with rocking, comes an increasing compression underneath, yielding eventual breakage or worse, an uneven driveway.

As in all driveway constructions, pay strict attention to the subsurface.  Drainage issues also figure largely here, especially where water can flow beneath a large slab and conduct the material underneath elsewhere.  This will cause the problems listed above.

Enough of drainage, my friends. But still on the topic of driveways, this post is in response to several emails I receievd on the matter of DIY Driveways.

Doing a driveway yourself can be an amazingly rewarding enterprise. I have seen the proud constructors of such behemoths smiling away after chasing down what I originally had assumed to be just ludicrous ideas.  Once again, I face the knowledge that no one “knows it all”, and perhaps least of all, me. My one caution to every single constructor of one;s own driveway is always the same: prepare the subsurface right. If you notice a trend here, there is obviously some solid reasoning behind it, mixed with experience.  Done correctly underneath, a person can actually enjoy the next process, knowing fully that this will be the “business end” of the art supplied for the finish.

In that light, I have seen driveways composed completely out of rock either bought or scavenged from nature.  These have resulted in some fabulously beautiful projects, and I do mean just breath-taking.  The amount of time and energy a home owner can lavish on a project makes what I do pale by comparison.  Where my work is contracted and therefore time-related, yours can be a labor of love.  Listen, that is huge.

Those driveways I just referred to had cement applied between the rocks to stabilize the them. They all were rotated to supply a flatter surface and then cemented into place.  String was often used to maintain the perfect height, pulled taut and adhered to religiously as a topmost grade and level.  The placement of drains and slopes returning water to the drains was just as often very artfully done.  Whether washed river rock or “found” split rock, all these constructions were among the best I have ever run across.  Granted, they represent a highly personal aesthetic and many people would not want anything like it.  But to me, and knowing those who did the work and knowing the labor involved, I could not have been more dazzled nor more happy seeing such a fine result.

Yeah, I know, it’s August. Most places are dry this time of year, and yet it’s the best time, IMO, to address drainage issues. So let’s talk about drains for driveways today.

Draining water from the surfaces we construct, whether driveways or patios and walkways is among the very most essential considerations in all of the architecture involved.  Nothing outside of incredibly low temperatures can wreak the havoc that water can.  Standing water is one of the most corrosive elements of all seeking the micro fractures in concrete from where it enlarges holes and cracks with its small acidic content, to say nothing of its simple abrasiveness.

We see it often, puddles forming at imperfectly-installed levels of cement surfaces.  We see it in pavers and asphalt constructions, where the initial grade was insufficient to conduct the water elsewhere and the blindness of the laying mechanisms ignored what is always supposed to be a professionally-achieved perfect primary grade..

Then there are the installations already up against an impossible sloping situation.  A roadway higher than the garage, for example.  What does one do?

Well, modern property law demands that every neighbor be responsible for his own water and conduct it to an appropriately-supplied point.  When there is a point supplied which can collect positive drainage, then, while it might be hard to accomplish, it becomes possible to reach full adequate drainage.  The most remarkable aid to this process, to my mind, is the concept and the newer manufactured “Channel Drain” system.

Channel drains are collecting drains, about 6 inches deep in size, 4-6 inches wide, which even provide a sloped interior and which are covered with a road-worthy cover which allows water to enter.  The water is then conducted down the channel to a collection point where piping and further drainage remedies can conduct the water away. The channel drain goes in a line all the way across a driveway. Most homes who have such a slope, descending TO the house, install channel drains not only across the roadway but also at the very base entry of the garage itself.  This catches what does not make it past the prior drain system and also conducts it away, often in connecting to the same pipe used by the other drain.

Channel drains can handle an enormous volume of water as well, conducting it efficiently and rapidly away. They represent a clean and efficient way of attractively dealing with the problems of runoff.