I need a new front yard, old one is very tired, also drains to check propely and renovate while the yards ripped up.


Options
Concrete , dull industrial
Tarmac , dull industrial urban
Tarmac/coloured chippings better but messy?
Resin, multi colour choice smooth stable, but a bit modern for a farmhouse?
Block pave multiple choices of colour, hard wearing, long lasting, and not quite as costly as I expected.certainly cheaper than resin

Resin can be pourous saving some works on gulleys and fall gradients

Any experience on here from owners or even better contractors?

Possibly 100 sq/m if I go full hog, hard to cut the area down , Im already limiting the area more than mrs g prefers

Boroughbridge n.yorks if any contractors want a chance to quote  At work
At home

"I can't always believe facts I read on the web" - Charles Dickens

winner by default of the tractor vs caravan race

Block paving has high maintenance in the standard form, hardcore base then sand and brick

If your thinking block, then I would surgest the industrial block as the tractors/ lorries will tear it up Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

RRSport Member is a landscaper

http://www.rrsport.co.uk/forum/member-caperbility.html Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

I've had mine done in bound resin (not bonded/scattercoat) and it looks fantastic. Good to walk on, porous so no puddles, but, and its a big but, it is expensive. I'll put up some piccies later. Needs a good sub base (mine was done with porous asphalt). As said can be any colour you like, so should fit in whatever house/building style. FL2 Metropolis, Loire Blue, ebony/ivory

There is a lot of information at this website:

www.pavingexpert.com/tarmac01.htm

Block paving is best its hard wearing you can lift it easily and put it back again in future if you need to for anything.
Concrete is just awful but I suppose on a farm thats how lots of drives and yards are done, its just easier to wash down, but a right job if you need to get under it in future for pipework maintenance I guess.

I have a lot of block paving and some tarmac. The blocks started off with a nice coloured finish but I don't know whether it's mud or algae but it just looks the same grey colour all over after a couple of years. It's very strong and you can jack a car on it whereas if you do it with tarmac the trolley jack sinks in and leaves indentations. 3 x FL1 2 manual + 1 auto
5 x FL2 4 manual + 1 auto
Now Discovery Sport P250 MHEV SE

from experience of concrete it needs a fall or it gets filthy quickly I guess block is the same.
its not an area were tractors etc go, just the forklift truck occasionally to lift me up to clean gutters etc.

Quote came in for block near 20% cheaper than resin, but will need more drains gulleys, which cant realistically be quoted for until the area is dug up and we can see the real state of the existing drains.

this is the lovely concrete with as much to do again behind the camera, looking very green in the pic . its actually whitish right now after a very good spring clean this year old pic must have been 2008.
 At work
At home

"I can't always believe facts I read on the web" - Charles Dickens

winner by default of the tractor vs caravan race

From my experience (300m2), blocks requires killing weeds + re-sand then reseal every year. If the seal is oil based then it lasts longer than the water based but it is also very expensive. I can only afford water based sealant so the drive needs re-seal every 2-3 years.

my rear garden is block pavers, and i jetwash it every couple of years, weed kill, wait till it dies off, brush away the dead weeds and then sand, wait for sand to sink in dry and then ......... and then i should seal, but its rained, so i wait again for the blocks and sand to dry .... but then it rains again and i end up not been able to seal as the good old british weather is too wet

to be honests its a pain in the ass, if its not totally level you get puddles, and this then causes those blocks to discolour more than others, i spray with wet and forget and they doesn't totally clean them

I have a plan to tile over the whole area and use a resin grout to prevent regrowth of the weeds and discolouring

the driveway will go towards a resin for drainage and to hopefully preven excess water sheeting off and under the garage door Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

Printed / stamped concrete........

Click image to enlarge

I wouldn't bother with all these manufactured cobble setts ....... complete wate of money!
I got Marshal Tegula paving blocks done on my driveway a few years back.
Looked really nice when new, but the decorative surface soon wears away, dulls down and show the pebbles used in it's manufacture..... don't even mention the weeds!!!...... horrible horrible things!!!

Get yourself some proper [reclaimed] Yorkshire stone blocks as below.
http://www.traditionalstonesupplies.co.uk/...med-paving
Laid properly it'll stay level for years, the finish won't deteriorate and you won't have a weed problem.
Wish I did that !!

Meantime until you decide, just chuck a few tons of gravel on your hardstanding.


 FL2 now gone and have a couple of items left for sale:-

Brodit active iPhone holder + Brodit dash clip,
Bluetooth Music Streaming Module.

we had similar dilemma when we had our extension made and needed to either extend the tarmac drive or replace it.
resin, lovely, but too expensive
blocks all seem to go the same colour over time
tarmac seemed boring
we went with a gravel retention/stabiliser system, can't remember the name, but it is like walking on a very stable surface as the invisible matrix prevents the gravel from moving. i think there are lots of different systems, try googling.
our drive is on a slope and this system worked amazingly well.
It was significantly less expensive than blocks and resin, complies with SUDS and was very fast to install.

photos please David

Ronp, thats the type of block paving i would go for if having it relaid again  Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

Here is the plastic being laid, it has its own membrane attached to the bottom, but the installers prepared the ground as they would for laying blocks, then this is simply laid down and then the gravel spread on top.

Click image to enlarge

Click image to enlarge