john hamilton wrote:
These paved front driveway tiles came with the house when I bought it. Some
of the tiles are cracking and some spliting due to frost damage, (in London,
U.K.).

See photo on Tinypic website:

http://tinypic.com/r/ae1y6b/5


Underneath the tiles is very solid and sound and I have no reason to disturb
it. I would like to do something to improve the appearence, preferably
without incurring any big expense or digging up these glazed tiles.

Laying a coating of cement on top would be difficult for me and I think
would not look so good. I'm looking for a fairly easy method within the
capabilities of a layman if possible. Thanks for any suggestions.


Looks like typical spalling to me. Likely from salt-laden water getting
below the fired (not glazed) surface and freezing. Let me guess, there
is usually a puddle right there in winter? Prying out the damaged bricks
and replacing them, if you can find matching ones, is the only real spot
repair. Or like another poster said, use a different color, like granite
maybe. If you can pry out one brick to use as a sample, the brickyard
folks would be happy to show you the styles available in that size. I
suspect these are full-depth brick on a crushed stone base, otherwise
the low spot would not have formed. A brick drive like this should
really be sand-bedded, not set in mortar or grout, so the water can
drain through. A well-laid brick street can last a century with few
problems. Old street pavers, even after being buried under tarmac for
fifty years, are still snapped up for people who want them for back patios.

--
aem sends...