Patterned imprinted concrete driveways
- Thread starter zod
- Start date
Ask for reference jobs that are older than 2 years old. Give you an idea of how the drive will appear after a couple of seasons of weathering and wear.
The colour dye is worked into the top layer of the concrete prior to applying the pattern. Depending on the quantity of dye applied you could have a thin wearing layer that will wash out in a matter of months rather than years.
The surface also needs to be sealed correctly. Ask about how this will be done.
Also as it is concrete you will need expansion cuts to prevent cracking during seasonal temperature ranges. You will see these cracks in older driveways. Ask where these will be placed.
Concrete is not classed as a flexible paving material (brick and tarmac etc are) and as such it will not move when loads are applied (point loads like skip lorries etc) so particular attention is needed with the depth and compaction of you base layers of hardcore. Ask how much hardcore will be placed.
The colour dye is worked into the top layer of the concrete prior to applying the pattern. Depending on the quantity of dye applied you could have a thin wearing layer that will wash out in a matter of months rather than years.
The surface also needs to be sealed correctly. Ask about how this will be done.
Also as it is concrete you will need expansion cuts to prevent cracking during seasonal temperature ranges. You will see these cracks in older driveways. Ask where these will be placed.
Concrete is not classed as a flexible paving material (brick and tarmac etc are) and as such it will not move when loads are applied (point loads like skip lorries etc) so particular attention is needed with the depth and compaction of you base layers of hardcore. Ask how much hardcore will be placed.
Hi Zod,
We got ours done a year or so ago by a guy and it was an awful job. Ended up getting it Tarmac'd afterwards to cover it up.
We got a quote from Procrete originally, along with a few others. We really regretted not going with them. We even got them back afterwards to look at it and to see if they could fix it for us. From our dealings with a lot of companies over a few months, they were definitely the most professional we met with.
I've no affiliation with the company.
We got ours done a year or so ago by a guy and it was an awful job. Ended up getting it Tarmac'd afterwards to cover it up.
We got a quote from Procrete originally, along with a few others. We really regretted not going with them. We even got them back afterwards to look at it and to see if they could fix it for us. From our dealings with a lot of companies over a few months, they were definitely the most professional we met with.
I've no affiliation with the company.
This type of drive will be impermeabile and will not allow rainwater to soak away through the surface to the gravel and soil below.
One of the provisions in John Gormley's Department's revisions to the Planning Regulations was that the laying of any such impermeable surface would require planing permission.
Whether or not this has been implemented, or what you think of the Greens, the principal is sound and you should be using a permeable surface which will allow surface water drain away and reduce overloading of the local drainage system.
There are many products out there. Type permeable paving into a search engine.
One of the provisions in John Gormley's Department's revisions to the Planning Regulations was that the laying of any such impermeable surface would require planing permission.
Whether or not this has been implemented, or what you think of the Greens, the principal is sound and you should be using a permeable surface which will allow surface water drain away and reduce overloading of the local drainage system.
There are many products out there. Type permeable paving into a search engine.
I've had recent dealings with (name deleted), we got a large area laid with London Cobble effect. We were extremely disappointed with the results, most of the "cobbles" in one very large area looked as if they were crumbling away - it looked to me as if the concrete was possibly a little dry when the mats were applied.
We were told by (name deleted)(afterwards!) that this sometimes happened, and that it was "bad luck" that it happened to us! I don't think so!
As he was not able to guarantee that removing & relaying would produce anything better, we said we weren't happy, and it was agreed that he would take it away. To cut a (very) long story short, however, we've had to pay for the removal, as otherwise they "wouldn't be responsible" for any damage to underground pipes or the house during the removal process. Blatent threat.
We were told by (name deleted)(afterwards!) that this sometimes happened, and that it was "bad luck" that it happened to us! I don't think so!
As he was not able to guarantee that removing & relaying would produce anything better, we said we weren't happy, and it was agreed that he would take it away. To cut a (very) long story short, however, we've had to pay for the removal, as otherwise they "wouldn't be responsible" for any damage to underground pipes or the house during the removal process. Blatent threat.
galwegian44
Registered User
- Messages
- 333
Zod, I have to agree with most of the responses here as I had this done about 5 years ago and the finish is pretty poor. My preference now is to take it all up and replace, it certainly wasn't worth the money.
If you do decide to go ahead with it then make sure you go with a reputable company and check out their previous jobs, preferably not ones recommended by the company itself.
Good luck.
If you do decide to go ahead with it then make sure you go with a reputable company and check out their previous jobs, preferably not ones recommended by the company itself.
Good luck.
Getting a quote from procrete next week and probably one from allcrete also..
Not knowing a thing about this subject is there anything I should ask to be included in the quote or anything I should ask ?
thanks