At some point in the last 170 years, a concrete path was laid from our front door to the street.
It's really very short, only a few feet long. It's looking pretty tired and grubby now. It's not lifting, but is cracked in places and just looking yuk.
I could of course call up a random driveway company but I'm not sure it would be economic for an eight foot long 18 inch wide bit of concrete.
Repair/refurb (hints welcome) or replace with something else (hints welcome)?
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Easy enough to break up and replace like for like, but what would enhance the house? I like brick paths, although I don't have one.
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With a small area you could dig out the concrete, lay a bed of sand, compact it and lay engineering bricks on their sides, brush over some more sand and it should be good for another 170 years. Much as Manatee says.
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Thanks all. Why do I never learn? My budget is four pence.
Me: the chaps I mention from time to time but you have no idea about suggest paint, bricks, or Tarmac. What do you think?
She: well duh. This, obviously.
www.classicvictoriantiling.co.uk/pathways.html
My budget is blown again, isn't it.
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Funnily enough I first thought of the tiling, I was looking at what are probably late Victorian houses in Cambridge (going by appearance and the street names Kimberley, Pretoria) and lots of those had patterned tile paths. Some had been nicely re-done (the originals being all a bit dilapidated now). Could be slippery when wet.
goo.gl/ZrQAaH
Some were more elaborate than that - borders and stuff.
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>> goo.gl/ZrQAaH
Ah, that's great, Manatee, thanks. I might just wander there tomorrow lunchtime and have a look at the reality. Not sure I've seen this done in the village here, which is interesting. Ta muchly.
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>> My budget is blown again, isn't it.
Look on the bright side, there wont be any scaffolding involved.
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if I call in a company in Cambridge they're bound to suggest scaffolding and a fifty foot pit to justify the fifteen grand quote.
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I'll do it for half of that.
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I won't sleep until the deal's agreed. Seriously post a pic and I'll take a view.
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Thanks Martin. I'll try to see if I can do that this weekend.
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"I like brick paths ......... "
We have a brick paviour drive - it looked great to start with but, after 18 years, ants have been messing about beneath it. They bring fine sand up to the surface and have caused the paviours to sink in some areas so that puddles are formed when it rains.
I would imagine that tiles are laid onto some sort of mortar base which is less likely to be conducive to ant activity.
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>> "I like brick paths ......... "
>>
>> We have a brick paviour drive - it looked great to start with but, after
>> 18 years, ants have been messing about beneath it.
Pavoir drives are a devious con by builders to get repeat work. None of them, and I mean NONE lay the stuff on a suitable base.
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>>Pavoir drives are a devious con by builders to get repeat work.
>> None of them, and I mean NONE lay the stuff on a suitable base.
So many saggy versions in my area. Developers doing things on the cheap chuck down shingle or slightly upmarket lay Paviors.
I have random arranged slabs on re-enforced concrete on a proper base with a central soak away.
They local guy who did the work suggested that, for a little more cost, include steel mesh thus ensuring anything parked on the drive would not affect it.
No ant problem but nature's hydraulics - tree roots, have lifted and split one corner after decades.
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They do here oh grumpy one o:-)
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Crikey, Dog, I don't want it to look like Biddulph Grange!
Mind you, that reminds me it's about time I re-read "The Seventh Sword". Excellent "true" hokum I'm sure you'd like.
Here you go.
www.amazon.co.uk/Seventh-Sword-Psychic-Quest-Arthurs/dp/0099888009
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Is it available on my Roku?, getting a bit tired of the Vikings now I'm on season 3. I enjoyed 1 and 2 though.
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Can you get books on a Roku?
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Reading about the Knights Templar at the mo, then moving on to some books by Colin Wilson I have gathering dust, starting with Dreaming To Some Purpose, followed by The Outsider .
(*_*)
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Why wouldn't you start with The Outsider, Dog old bean? Colin went downhill from there in my view.
Though at 16 or so I loved his The Occult and then Mysteries. Don't know Dreaming though. Is it about lucid dreams perhaps?
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I feel drawn to that particular book more than The Outsider for some reason. A friend bought them for me after I gave his boy some wonky Hi-Fi speakers, I lived within shouting distance of Wilson's cottage in Gorran Haven at the time.
Here's some reviews of Dreaming: www.amazon.co.uk/Dreaming-Some-Purpose-Colin-Wilson/dp/0099471477
Interesting that you were reading him at age 16. I first became interested in books when reading Erich von Daniken's 'stuff' back in the late 1970's - see, I was a [even more of] sucker back then.
:o)
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Lordy, Dog. I read von Daniken at an early age too - I don't recall how early but I do recall being entirely convinced and arguing with someone my deeply religious about it, who was very offended.
My mum made me apologise and anyway, after about a week I began to think "hang on a minute"...
I still feel faintly embarrassed about that to this day.
There was an excellent BBC Horizon programme about him way back in the seventies, maybe early eighties, which ripped it all apart. I just looked on Youtube but it's not immediately obvious if it's there. They did it again about 20 years later, but it wasn't as good as the first one where they interviewed him and were really confrontational.
Amazingly, he is still about and still talking about his theories. You can even email him, and only last year I did so.
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von Heineken is 82 now, and lives in the land of Switzer's, according to Wiki.
I still tend to lean towards his theory of ET influencing early and not-so early humans. Maybe I've read too many of 'those sort' of books. I don't think we are alone in this super-massive universe, and can well-imagine 'beings' 1000's, 1000,000's or even 1000,000,000's of years in advance of us but, whether they have learnt/learned to make a decent cuppa remains to be seen.
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ET? I always think the Drake equation doesn't really cover the time element satisfactorily, dunno about you. I know it talks about the length of time signals might be sent, but it doesn't seem to take into account that it also has to be happening at the precise time we are listening.
Anyway, we really should go offline with these continual nonsensical meanderings about irrelevant bits, Dog. I hope everyone else has long learned to skip the thread, but I dread we are boring the pants off all the other intelligent normal people.
Mods, I'm happy for Dog to have my email, if he wants it.
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I was thinking along the lines of Sir Francis.
8-)
I enjoy the company of my two dogs and, if Dutchie leaves me all his money I'd get five more.
I understand dogs more than some people, which isn't surprising I suppose, as I've been owned by dogs of various shapes and sizes since I was 8 years young.
I'd like to think there's a planet in this galaxy or another where dogs are the dominant species.
No doubt someone has written a book on that idea, or there's a Star Trek episode waiting for me on YouTube.
Maybe I should change my forum name to Anubis, the Dog|God.
(*_*)
Last edited by: Dog on Thu 25 May 17 at 13:44
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>> I'd like to think there's a planet in this galaxy or another where dogs are
>> the dominant species.
They are the dominant species in this village judging by the number of enslaved bipeds following them round admiringly and picking up (or not) their sacred doings.
There is also holy bush, which the canines obviously require their bagged emissions to be hung from. Part of the ritual is that the accompanying human must never be observed while doing this.
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>>There is also holy bush, which the canines obviously require their bagged emissions to be hung from. Part of the ritual is that the accompanying human must never be observed while doing this.
I have a theory that the bagged emissions often seen hanging from bushes and hedges are in fact meant to be flung through the bush/hedge but get caught up on a branch instead.
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Blessed are the s*** chuckers.
May their own shoes be annointed.
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>> Blessed are the s*** chuckers.
>>
>> May their own shoes be annointed.
>>
Hands - may the next poo bags be the one that splits ...
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Every dog owner has, at one time or other, put their finger through the bag while picking up dog poo.
And it always gets under your fingernail.
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Our official school bully threw a dog turd at a pal of mine's face in grammar school.
Regrettably, he had his mouth open at the time. Says he can still taste it 60 yrs on !
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Until you've had your dog do a huge poo on Copacabana Beach and realised that you've left all your plastic bags in the car you just don't know embarrassment.
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Pictures required.
If it's only a few feet long try 'worrying' about other things.
If it's 'er indoors' wibbling about the square root of FA then just tell her to wind her neck in!!!
Works here every time...........................not.
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The last time I did a 'Victorian tiled path' in my previous life as a contractor the client was looking at a bill of £4000 or so. That was 10 - 15 years ago now.
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Resin bonded driveways with chippings embedded look very nice.
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I used left over floor paint to mark off a drive area to be avoided (after a coal lorry ran over and smashed a manhole cover) and it looked nice for about three years before needing a new coat. I believe there is a special garage floor variety which would probably last longer
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Very fiddly to lay. The tiles are thin, and have to be laid dead flat, else it will look awful. York stone; much easier and cheaper to lay.
Red and black Ruabon quarry tiles? I expected Tenison road to deliver nice Victorian tiled paths of the 4k variety, but instead they have the cheaper version here:
goo.gl/maps/eGiF2buMTWG2
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I laid Ruabon quarry tiles in my conservatory, orange ones with one corner cut off and little black slate squares in the gaps. About 20% of them were curled, I had to ask the supplier for another few boxes. They look OK, although one or two have spalled where there was an imperfection on the surface.
It was a sod of a job, becuase of the irregularity of the tiles and because I laid them diagonally so the cuts were a real faff.
Dennis of Ruabon went bust shortly after. I assume the factory is the same one now, with different owners.
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Do you need wheelchair or buggy access? If not take it all out with a jackhammer or pick axe and put down some gravel, a nice crunch under foot, helps with security.
Last edited by: Hard Cheese on Thu 25 May 17 at 11:01
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I need my path relaying at the front and side of the 'owse..(stop it Dog).
Currently 3X2 concrete flags. Some have cracked, some not level and half a dozen oil stained from the old diesel Vitara. Weeds sprout between them at various places as the ' grout ' has broken down. I don't want block particularly. Resin looks good but I've heard some firms just pour a layer over what's there. Black bitmac with brick borders and inserts looks good until wet leaves and litter start getting trodden in by foot or car wheels. Our pavements are done in this.
I'm beginning to think someone just to relay the best of the flags, replacing the broken ones and oily ones...unless they'd clean up. That's just down to me gates, where they disappear from view. Beyond that, there's another 30 feet but they'll have to wait.
Some of the flags touch each other leaving no room for a decent amount of mortar. My own logic tells me they need to be locked in place with a mortared gap of about 3/4 inch...am I right ?
There's a flagger recommended on our local Faecesbook group...I might give him a go. It's not easy to find someone who will do decent work nowadays...every bloke thinks he's an expert !
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>>I need my path relaying at the front and side of the 'owse..(stop it Dog).
The drive at this owse is/was concrete, probably a DIY job. Don't look nuffink compared to chummies block drive next door, but it gave good grip when we had some snow (in Cornwall!) whereas chummy couldn't get out of his iced up driveway.
www.google.co.uk/maps/@50.2736438,-5.0422414,3a,15y,100.07h,84.53t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1smH3xSO7iZz2-Oi9ITmS6Jw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
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Turn around, and there's a nice dog, Dog.
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I remember that doggie as a Jung pup when I used to walk Milo the Ridgeback at 7am most mornings.
I'd be wary of meeting it now though because that breed can be a tad aggressive ... in the wrong hands.
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A jung pup you're now afreud of?
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>> A jung pup you're now afreud of?
It belongs to Pavlov
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>> It belongs to Pavlov
That name rings a bell.
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I would feel safe Fromm it once I'd Reiched my driveway.
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Tired concrete - Manatee
