Change from Imprinted Concrete to Cobblelock Driveway

M

Maire

Guest
Hi,
This being my first post, I hope it's in the right place.

About 10 years ago we changed our driveway from tarmac to imprinted concrete. Now we would like to change to cobblelock and I'm wondering:
a) is it feasible?
b) is it a huge, dirty job?
c) is it prohibitively expensive?
Our driveway fits about 5 cars.

I have read other threads about the pros and cons of various types of driveways but none of them really covers our problem because, among other things, I think the job would entail skimming off a layer of concrete to make room for the cobbles and sand. Hope that makes sense.

Thanks in advance for any advice.
 
I would guess you would have to lift the whole thing and start from scratch.

Also remember cobblelock has lots of joints, for weeds.....

There are probably lots of cobblelock owners wanting to change to imprinted concrete :)
 
Ouch! Starting from scratch sounds expensive.

Neighbour's cobblelock looks better than our concrete. I should explain that when we got the concrete imprint I insisted on the imprints being quite deep - much too deep - so we get moss in the grooves and cleaning it is a nuisance. It is also uncomfortable to walk on. Also, some of the raised parts are starting to crack and others are chipped from shovelling last year's snow. We had someone paint over it in the summer, but it wasn't a success because the dye ran into and settled in the grooves. Must stress here that this is entirely my fault for insisting on the deep imprint. Neighbour's driveway is much easier maintained, looks nicer and has better stood the test of time.

Would lifting the concrete be a huge job? Would it have to be dug back down to soil level?
 
Well, I'm not an expert, but it sounds like it just a case of breaking it up (by machine) and carting it away. I guess some case could be made for retaining it as a base but you might have drainage issues, and the new driveway would be much higher.

There is no point in doing these big jobs by halves.
 
Fraggle: Thanks for the advice. Agree with you about doing the job properly. Half measures never work out. At least if there is a machine that can break up and remove the concrete we should be able to get the job done provided the cost isn't astronomical. I suppose the best way to find out the cost is to check with various contractors.

Wipetheslate: That's an excellent website. Thanks for the link.
 
I think you are absolutely mad and from reading posts over the years I think a few others here would agree with me.

We have cobblelock for a long time now and it is high maintenance from the cleaning and weeds point of view. It looked great for a few years and then went downhill.

I have stood on a few occasions with the high pressure cleaner for a good few hours (we have it front and back) and regretted getting it. It is a messy job requiring the wellies, raincoat etc. because the dirt shoots back. This job will be a lot dearer when the water metering comes into effect. To replace the silica sand is costly also.

So take my advice and don't get it.
 
I have a gravel driveway for the past 18 years and I still love it. Practically nil maintenance. A rake over maybe once a year where the cars disturb it. A few weak weeds that a simple pull will get rid of.
 
I would get a nice gravel drive, except i don't want shoes bringing grit into the house, wooden floors etc.

The solution to all my problems is weedkiller, but I refuse to use weedkiller.

I have a cobblelock drive and I too power wash it every year or two. I never thought about the water charges on that.... I also have block paving on the patio which I had to power wash. Last summer, I lifted the entire patio brick by brick and cleared out weed roots!

The only think I can think of now, that I would be happy with, is large flag paving, preferably granite, but that is expensive. At least with large flag paving you reduce the amount of joints considerably. I'm not sure how suitable it is for driveways though.
 
Possibly a stupid question but is it possible to fill the impressions up a bit so they are not so deep? I would eventually like to have an impressed concrete driveway, gravel at the moment which is great except I'm on a slope.
 
fraggle said:
I would get a nice gravel drive, except i don't want shoes bringing grit into the house, wooden floors etc.
Click to expand...

Believe me when I say that we never have this problem. We do have a porch with a mat on it but having said that there is never any loose gravel in the porch.
 
We have cobblelock down for over ten years and it is high maintenance. I spray it at least twice a year for weeds and this Spring I reckon I'll have to spray with Mossgo in addition because I've never seen so much moss on it. Paving can look very well if kept weed and moss free but just be prepared for the work involved in keeping it that way. Maybe if you have a small area spraying is not such a big deal but it takes me three hours each time I need to spray so for large areas I wouldn't recommend cobblelock and we were sorry we put it down.
 
There was a thread here moons ago where by the finish was gravel but the gravel was embedded in a glue compound of sorts? perhaps an option..
S.
 
Many thanks for all your suggestions. I'm really undecided about what to do. The only thing I'm sure of is that we can't leave the driveway as it is. Not gardeners, we decided to turn our front garden into a space for cars (kept a corner for a tiny, neglected flower patch). We wanted cobblelock but couldn't get a contractor to do the job because they had bigger fish to fry during the building boom. A few people we knew had the imprinted concrete and were happy with it so we got it too. Theirs still looks good and requires minimal maintenance whereas ours looks bad and is a nightmare to maintain. I have tried using a leaf blower to move the grit that gathers in the grooves and have used a power hose to wash it but it never looks any better and, as Sue Ellen said, it's a messy job.

I could be wrong, but don't think that filling in the grooves would work because over time I imagine the filling would loosen.

Gravel is out because the surface must be suitable for a wheelchair.

I like the look of cobblelock mainly because of the variations in colour. Our concrete is just plain black. Even the tarmac looked better.

Maybe something on the lines of what Suzie suggested could be the solution. I saw something on the pavingexpert website that mentioned stone embedded in concrete. That would give us the option of having colour and patterns, although I'm not sure whether it would be suitable for cars and I don't know how cost effective it would be.

Again, a million thanks to you all for your help.
 
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