I've decided to have the grotty old crazy paving round my hovel sorted,
mainly because a building society has reminded me I've got far to much
money for me own good (and all I've got to do now is get it ooff of them -
stay away fronm Alliance and Leicester).

I've got maybe 150-200 sq metres.

I would like to know what's best.

I fancy block paving, but maybe flags would be ok.

I don't want to have to work on weeding etc, any more.

There's pressed concrete, but I don't want it to look cheap and nasty.

Any suggestions and experiences, please? Any ballpark notions as to cost -
I haven't a clue.

Just a flyer; anyone know reliable firms in the
Brentwood/Basildon/Chelmsford area?

I'd be grateful for any help

mike

mike ring wrote:

Any suggestions and experiences, please? Any ballpark notions as to cost -
I haven't a clue.

Have you looked at http://www.pavingexpert.com ?

David

mike ring wrote:

I've decided to have the grotty old crazy paving round my hovel sorted,
mainly because a building society has reminded me I've got far to much
money for me own good (and all I've got to do now is get it ooff of them -
stay away fronm Alliance and Leicester).

I've got maybe 150-200 sq metres.

I would like to know what's best.

I fancy block paving, but maybe flags would be ok.

I don't want to have to work on weeding etc, any more.

There's pressed concrete, but I don't want it to look cheap and nasty.

Any suggestions and experiences, please? Any ballpark notions as to cost -
I haven't a clue.

Just a flyer; anyone know reliable firms in the
Brentwood/Basildon/Chelmsford area?

I'd be grateful for any help


Laying anything - block, stone, concrete - is similar in price. I've
just laid about 65 sq meters of indian sandtstone and we love it. Not
totally flat - riven stones - but there you go.

To do the job properly takes labour - excavatuion, decent sub surface,
lay on sand and cement bed etc. So you might as well go for a decent finish.

Expect to pay about 50 a squere all in, and see www.pavingexpert.com for
more details.



mike

"The Natural Philosopher" wrote in message
...
mike ring wrote:

I've decided to have the grotty old crazy paving round my hovel sorted,
mainly because a building society has reminded me I've got far to much
money for me own good (and all I've got to do now is get it ooff of
them -
stay away fronm Alliance and Leicester).

I've got maybe 150-200 sq metres.

I would like to know what's best.

I fancy block paving, but maybe flags would be ok.

I don't want to have to work on weeding etc, any more.

There's pressed concrete, but I don't want it to look cheap and nasty.

Any suggestions and experiences, please? Any ballpark notions as to
cost -
I haven't a clue.

Just a flyer; anyone know reliable firms in the
Brentwood/Basildon/Chelmsford area?

I'd be grateful for any help


Laying anything - block, stone, concrete - is similar in price. I've
just laid about 65 sq meters of indian sandtstone and we love it. Not
totally flat - riven stones - but there you go.

To do the job properly takes labour - excavatuion, decent sub surface,
lay on sand and cement bed etc. So you might as well go for a decent
finish.

Expect to pay about 50 a squere all in, and see www.pavingexpert.com for
more details.



mike

I'd personally shy away from concrete, even the coloured bricks/fake stone
variety, because
I hate fake stuff, and concrete in its natural form is not good-looking. Try
clay paviors if
you want the brick-type paving, and see what fancy patterns you could
arrange them in.
IMO it's best to get a material that varies in texture/colour slightly so
you get a texture effect:
there's nothing worse than every single brick being exactly the same colour
and shape. Mix
up a few batches if necessary. Just some thoughts,

Andy.

"andrewpreece" wrote in
:


I'd personally shy away from concrete, even the coloured bricks/fake
stone variety, because
I hate fake stuff, and concrete in its natural form is not
good-looking. Try clay paviors if
you want the brick-type paving, and see what fancy patterns you could
arrange them in.
IMO it's best to get a material that varies in texture/colour slightly
so you get a texture effect:
there's nothing worse than every single brick being exactly the same
colour and shape. Mix
up a few batches if necessary. Just some thoughts,

Thanks for the responses.

One of my main concerns is weeds; they get everywhere and are a real PITA,
I want to eliminate them if I can, so I'm worried about the sand filling. I
get plenty of weeds in sand already.

But my first vusit to pavingexpert appears to say that mortar isn't good,
you need drainage.

Any comments, please

mike ring wrote:

Just a flyer; anyone know reliable firms in the
Brentwood/Basildon/Chelmsford area?

Bentley Drives may cover the areas you mention. They do lots round here
and the results still look ok a few years on. No idea what they charge
though.

Yell has them at:

Fairways Garden Centre,
Hullbridge Rd,
Rayleigh,
Essex SS6 9QS
Tel: 01268 786622

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

"mike ring" wrote in message
. 1.4...
"andrewpreece" wrote in
:


I'd personally shy away from concrete, even the coloured bricks/fake
stone variety, because
I hate fake stuff, and concrete in its natural form is not
good-looking. Try clay paviors if
you want the brick-type paving, and see what fancy patterns you could
arrange them in.
IMO it's best to get a material that varies in texture/colour slightly
so you get a texture effect:
there's nothing worse than every single brick being exactly the same
colour and shape. Mix
up a few batches if necessary. Just some thoughts,

Thanks for the responses.

One of my main concerns is weeds; they get everywhere and are a real PITA,
I want to eliminate them if I can, so I'm worried about the sand filling.
I
get plenty of weeds in sand already.

But my first vusit to pavingexpert appears to say that mortar isn't good,
you need drainage.

Any comments, please

You put a geotextile membrane down first, protected by a layer of sand
underneath and above it.
The DIY warehuses sell big rolls of it. Lets water through but not weeds.

Andy.

"andrewpreece" wrote in
:


One of my main concerns is weeds; they get everywhere and are a real
PITA, I want to eliminate them if I can, so I'm worried about the
sand filling.
I
get plenty of weeds in sand already.


You put a geotextile membrane down first, protected by a layer of sand
underneath and above it.
The DIY warehuses sell big rolls of it. Lets water through but not
weeds.

Andy.

I'm not sure about that - I tried it around the base of a tree, with gravel
on, and the weeds grow happily on that. Pretty soon their leaves attract
enough blown dust for them to rally get going - millions of the b****s, a
real sod to pick. And if I use weedkiller the debris is a basis for more
seedlings....

mike

andrewpreece wrote:

"mike ring" wrote in message
. 1.4...

"andrewpreece" wrote in
:


I'd personally shy away from concrete, even the coloured bricks/fake
stone variety, because
I hate fake stuff, and concrete in its natural form is not
good-looking. Try clay paviors if
you want the brick-type paving, and see what fancy patterns you could
arrange them in.
IMO it's best to get a material that varies in texture/colour slightly
so you get a texture effect:
there's nothing worse than every single brick being exactly the same
colour and shape. Mix
up a few batches if necessary. Just some thoughts,


Thanks for the responses.

One of my main concerns is weeds; they get everywhere and are a real PITA,
I want to eliminate them if I can, so I'm worried about the sand filling.

I

get plenty of weeds in sand already.

But my first vusit to pavingexpert appears to say that mortar isn't good,
you need drainage.


Mortar is ggod, and the drainage runns oof the top.

That needs to be allowed for of course - but that's so in any paving.

Any comments, please


You put a geotextile membrane down first, protected by a layer of sand
underneath and above it.
The DIY warehuses sell big rolls of it. Lets water through but not weeds.


Ive laif what amints to a contiguous laod of sbals on rather crumbly
screed. The weeds don't get through that I can assure you.

Its mostly bordred by eiher steep drops to the lower garden, or a french
drain that fills the pond...

Andy.

In message , The Natural
Philosopher writes


Ive laif what amints to a contiguous laod of sbals on rather crumbly
screed. The weeds don't get through that I can assure you.

Its mostly bordred by eiher steep drops to the lower garden, or a
french drain that fills the pond...

Which, translated in to english, means ?

You're Stanley Unwin

.... and I claim my five pounds

--
geoff

John Rumm wrote in news:4238bf71$0$43795
:


Bentley Drives may cover the areas you mention. They do lots round here
and the results still look ok a few years on. No idea what they charge
though.

Yell has them at:

Fairways Garden Centre,
Hullbridge Rd,
Rayleigh,
Essex SS6 9QS
Tel: 01268 786622

Thanks, John, I'll check them; it's going to be loadsadosh, so I'd like to
find a firm with a record. It's very easy to find you've hired gipsies
hereabouts

mike