Pavestone Driveways

Al Carrell: Pouring concrete is not the only way to create a driveway. We had a concrete driveway and it was cracked, it was broken up, it was sunk, it was stained, everything was wrong with it and we decided to cover it up with pavestones. And when we did that, we talked to an expert and we've got him right here for you. Hello there Charles Graves, how are you?

Charles Graves: Doing fine Al. How about yourself?

A.C.: Thanks a lot for joining us on Your New House.

C.G.: Appreciate it, appreciate it.

A.C.: Now, when you came out here, you saw that my driveway was in a little bit of trouble, and how was it that we were able to get this thing to look so great?

C.G.: Well Al, when we got out here, you're driveway was in a lot of trouble and we noticed right off that we were going to be able to lay over it rather than have to take the entire driveway out.

A.C.: Well then you had some guys out here with jack hammers to begin with.

C.G.: Right. We do have to have to take concrete out at each of the entrances to the driveway or what we call approaches, so that when we lay the pavestone back to the original city approach, they'll be at the same level.

A.C.: The next step was...?

C.G.: We put in a base. It's what we call a flex base. It's a compacted base so that it can hold the weight of the cars as they come in.

A.C.: And then over the existing driveway here, what are they doing there?

C.G.: Well, on the concrete portion of the driveway that we left intact, we'll screet in one inch of sand that we put the stones into. The reason for that sand Al, is that once all of the pavers are laid and the edge restraint is set up, we've got what is called a concrete toe holding everything together on the outside edges.

A.C.: Ah-huh.

C.G.: Then we have a plate vibrator that we're going to run over this and that will vibrate those pavers down into that sand forcing the sand up between the joints and locking it tight against the edge restraints that we've set up.

A.C.: So even without any mortar in there, they're almost just like they're mortared together.

C.G.: Yes sir.

A.C.: In our case, you found that the sidewalk going up the front door was not too good either, and so you've added the sidewalk.

C.G.: Yes. We added the sidewalk. We actually raised the sidewalk eliminating one step.

A.C.: And I noticed that you were able to even curve it up here.

C.G.: We have a special, what we call a guillotine cutter, that we actually cut the brick with so that we can form it to any size that's necessary.

A.C.: In the case of a driveway where you're going to take out the whole driveway, or maybe there's not even a driveway there, how would you handle that?

C.G.: Well we'd handle that basically the same way that we handle the approaches on your driveway where we did have to tear the concrete out. We grade the area the way we wanted it. We come in an and put in our base, our sand, lay our pavers, our concrete toe, our edge restraints, vibrate the pavers into the sand and sweep sand in from the top to lock the whole system up.

A.C.: No matter where you live, you're going to have some shifting in under there. What happens if you have a sinking place in the middle of the driveway?

C.G.: Well Al, that's a good question. It's a very easy thing for us to repair as opposed to traditional concrete. You've got a crack, it's has to be cut our or something. We can just come in, take one paver out of the system; the rest of it comes apart just like a jigsaw puzzle. We repair the subbase, put the same materials back in that we took out. You don't have a patched look. It looks the same as it did before the....

A.C.: Well that sounds easy.

C.G.: It is pretty easy.

A.C.: How about stains on the surface?

C.G.: Well because of the way this product's made, it does not absorb like normal concrete. Normal concrete's going to absorb probably 25 to 30 percent moisture where these are only going to absorb less than five percent moisture. So they don't soak in. They're very easy to remove with household detergent, like you use in your sink, dishwashing soap and a stiff brush.

A.C.: I don't think I'd want to tackle this as a do-it-yourself project, but I can see that pavestones offer an opportunity for a lot of do-it-yourself projects.

C.G.: Yes Al, they do walkways, patios, garden areas, things such as that. We also do a lot of swimming pool decks with this product.

A.C.: Well I'm real happy with what I have here and I didn't even look at the idea of putting new concrete down, but how does this compare price wise with concrete?

C.G.: Well, it's a little more expensive than concrete Al, but you've got the advantage of it never cracking, crumbling or deteriorating. It carries pretty much a lifetime warranty against any of those things.

A.C.: And it sure looks a lot better.

Episode 023 1995 - 96 Season

| Concrete Driveways | Faux Brick Driveways | Pavestone Driveways | Hand Rubbed Finish | What is a Point? | LIST |

To order a Video Tape, call 1-800-TO-BUILD and ask for Episode #023.