Am I crazy attempting my driveway.

[Nick44]

My wife and I were thinking of getting the driveway concreted, and after some looking around decided we could afford it in 100 years or so, it is a long drive. So we came up with the following plan. DIY. Now don’t get me wrong I am aware that this job will be at the limit of what I reckon I can do and most likely well past but some advise on whether it is even possible would be helpful.

We have a sloping gravel drive about 120 metres long, the first 60 metres is a gentle slope, it then takes a 90 deg bend and heads down to the house at around 10 or 15 degrees. Most drivers will not take the truck down this final section (the house slab was line pumped from the road). We are thinking of concreting the final 25 metres at 3000 wide and 100mm thick so around 8cubes. s this section gets ripped up by water and cars gathering speed for the ascent.

I will set all the form work and reo dig 3 or 4 trench footings across the drive 1 at each end a couple in the middle (is this needed? don't want to see the drive in the paddock) then wait for our concrete with my helpers (was planning on 2). I was thinking of getting it there but way of a long corrugated iron slide which I could keep shortening as the drive grew up the hill, so would "just" need to spread out the concrete from the middle to the edges then screed off run a broom over it and have a beer. I assum I need breaks every 3m of s, what is a gap and how do you do it? The biggest slab I've poured so far is 6 by 1 and it was flat.

Is there any other prep I need and what are my chances of being able to get it done?

[manofaus]

dunno about the crete running down your corrugated sheeting....
an idea (I am not a concretor) but this is how I plan to do my drive. clear area, put down your formwork, say i would go for 150, have it 50mm from ground. get your crusher dust pack down to give you 100mm in concrete thickness. Set your sheets of f72, or if you are tight f62, do your cuts, and move them out of the way. you will get a truck down that no worries with a good compaceted base, but probably go for a width of 3200-3600 to make it easier. you can then drive your truck forward, put down a sheet of reo on your chairs and pour more crete, just need to move the concrete with with a shovel. you will probably need three people to do it like that. Just cut your concrete at 3000mm intervals (30mm deep groove).

[johnc]

A rake might be easier than a shovel, however a screed with broom finish may look a tad rough, you need to get everything smooth before hitting with a broom, you don't want hollows and rises from a rough screed FWIW.

[Gaza]

pay for a few concretors on day rate ie around 500 aday to finsh the slab if its not finsihed right it wont last,

formit up lay reo in drive truck and pull up reo as truck moves forward. or get a line pump

you will need to cut mid span joints into stop cracking

also need to hire a roller to prep base prior to pouring

your slab is around 400m2 so its twice the size of a house slab, thats a lot of concrete

[Nick44]

Only planning on doing the last 25m so only 75m2 which leaves 40 odd metres of steep drive to get the crete down. The line pump for the house cost me $3000 as they were there half the day setting up and pulling down so did not want to go there. As I have formwork, reo, mates and a solid gravel drive (if a bit washed out), was trying to think of ways of getting away with only the price of the concrete, which wont be that much. Are not too concerned about the finish. The slide idea came from some friends who did this for there house on a very steep property, I was hoping my drive would be steep enough to make the slide work. So I need a high slump to get down the slide but low enough to sit on the sloping drive when in place, Any ideas?

[cherub65]

I'm with Gaza, form it up and lay the steel. Get concreter's to finish. The only concrete I do would be footings.

Re price, ring around. did small 5 cubic m last week, pump $450.00 & 2 concreter's $720.00

Stand back and watch

[Bloss]

:whs: and yes your are crazy if you attempt this - concreting is one of tasks that looks deceptively simple to do, then you have a go and find out why the word 'deceptively' is used. Even forming up is harder than it looks as many a DIYer has discovered as the pour proceeds and their formwork fails. A better alternative for DIY IMO is roadbase/scalpings/sand or whatever and pavers. For a drive way you can get seconds (I'd use the 75mm not 50mm), but in any case not all that expensive. Ideal to do in sections and can do as much or as little as you want and can afford. A simple mortar battered edge or use treated timber firmly fixed using gal or mild steel reo as an edge. If you are keen on concrete pay someone!

[shauck]

Or asphalt

[ringtail]

Or asphalt

x 2 for bitumen. Considerabley cheaper than crete and all they need is a compacted surface and a bobcat

[stevoh741]

x3 for bitumen. Hotspray cheaper than asphalt. Check these guys out (Ill be using them later in the year) Bushmates Coloured Bitumen (http://www.bushmates.com.au/)

[Bloss]

Not a fan of bitumen in Perth . . . but each to their own. On a slope too . . . and like most things the longevity is down to the prep.

[Brikky]

Forget it. Using a cori iron sheet as an extended chute probably won't work. If the truck can't make it to the delivery site you'll be looking at having to pay for the concrete plus dumping fees. If you did manage to start placing it and you hold the truck up you're looking at about $2.50 /minute after 30 mins.

[stevoh741]

Forget it. Using a cori iron sheet as an extended chute probably won't work. If the truck can't make it to the delivery site you'll be looking at having to pay for the concrete plus dumping fees. If you did manage to start placing it and you hold the truck up you're looking at about $2.50 /minute after 30 mins.
Unless like last time I got a pump the concrete truck didn't mix long enough (plant only couple mins away and he should have known better) and gummed up the line pump taking over an hr to clear the line also resulting in a quarter meter being dumped all over my back yard. He didn't dare ask for waiting money.....

[Nick44]

Thanks Guys, it is about what I thought.

I will still give it a bash myself, in 2 sections of 4 cubes, I have got 45 min to unload so should be good. The finish wont be as good as it could be but I will live with that and am confident at a passable job.
Was rather hoping to keep the pump away with my slide idea but looks as though I need a pump, which will make the speading easy.

[Bloss]

A few rules with such pours - have a few bodies around (beer & BBQ after the pour!). No reason why your finish can't be as good as a pro - although you might take a little longer to get there. Regular garden rakes are the best home DIY tool to spread concrete and get it roughly flat and even. Have an extra formed up area ready to go as there will nearly always be a bit extra (as you do not want to underestimate!) so you may as well have something useful instead of dumping. Do not start finishing off until the concrete has started to go off - common error is to start while too wet and overwork the surface.

Make sure when you do your form work there are no pegs above the forms - that's so you can screed off without interruption. Screeding is tiring for most novices - that's why you need extra bodies to take turns. And really important make sure the formwork is strong enough and well braced. For large areas and drive ways a careful screed job and then a broom finish can look good on a drive way and be done without a trowelling off step. Use edge finish tools and make sure you have plenty of control lines.

If you haven't already done so look at the docs on concreting in the Library http://www.renovateforum.com/f220/index-90136/

[stevoh741]

Thanks Guys, it is about what I thought.

I will still give it a bash myself, in 2 sections of 4 cubes, I have got 45 min to unload so should be good. The finish wont be as good as it could be but I will live with that and am confident at a passable job.
Was rather hoping to keep the pump away with my slide idea but looks as though I need a pump, which will make the speading easy.
Why are you so against a line pump. For $400 beats the hell out of five guys with barrows and you can place it exactly where you want it. For all the extra labour not having one is a false economy if you ask me...

[Bloss]

Why are you so against a line pump. For $400 beats the hell out of five guys with barrows and you can place it exactly where you want it. For all the extra labour not having one is a false economy if you ask me...

:whs: but the five guys might be free + a few slabs and meat . . . I'd still go the pump

[Godzilla73]

but the five guys might be free + a few slabs and meat

No such thing as free, anybody helping out on this project is sure to never let the poor bloke forget it, no matter how flyblown you get them or how many snags you pump into him. In fact, i reckon it'd only make it worse...:stretcher:

[shauck]

If you did manage to start placing it and you hold the truck up you're looking at about $2.50 /minute after 30 mins.

We have it good here in Daylesford. Russell the local Boral guy has great patience, no extra charge and he even gets in and gives a hand. Last time, helped place stumps for me.

[Bloss]

No such thing as free, anybody helping out on this project is sure to never let the poor bloke forget it, no matter how flyblown you get them or how many snags you pump into him. In fact, i reckon it'd only make it worse...:stretcher:

You've gotta find some better friends . . . seems you have been burnt

[Nick44]

Why are you so against a line pump. For $400 beats the hell out of five guys with barrows and you can place it exactly where you want it. For all the extra labour not having one is a false economy if you ask me...


Got burnt with the last pump. Got a verbal rough quote then when the pump guys saw it and how long it took to lug their pipes up and down the hill the price went from my estimate of $1000 to $3000. My fault for not geetting a real quote.

[Nick44]

Hi again,

Still have not decided on the driveway, but have been thinking of one of those wheel strip drives. Anyone know how wide you should make the strips and how wide the centre strip is? Was thinking 1 metre wheel strips with a 1 metre centre strip.

[shauck]

Not an answer to you're question but, as I understand it, you have quite a slope to deal with and in the event of heavy rain, erosion along all the edges of the concrete strips is going to do more damage and faster than you may like.

[Nick44]

Was going to rock up the edges into a bit up a gutter with drains under the drive to get the water to the down hill side.

Measured up the cars this morning, both have a 1600 wheels centre to centre so thinking 2 strips of 1000mm with centres 1600mm apart. Is that going to cover most vehicles and the gas bottle truck?