old cracked concrete

I have a bit of a driveway down the side of my house, it leads to a garage that I dont use for my car, our cars are parked on the gravel at the front of the house infront of the side gate.

The concrete is all cracked, sunken in places, weeds coming through it and uneven. What is the best way to deal with this? I want to rejuvenate it and be able to put my car on it in the winter and when I want to wash it.

Do you think its possible to put edging around it all, and pour some new concrete over the top of it, raising the level by a few inches and making it nice again or will it just crack under it? Is the only option so remove the old concrete and put all the foundation in again? It is quite a lot lower than the back door so raising it if possible without removing the old concrete would be cheaper and easier I imagine.

Thanks

 

If I had to do that job @Carllennon I would definitely clear it all out and heap up the broken stuff to one side - then level it all out and start from scratch - using the broken concrete bits as hardcore in the base - you will get a better finish and a decent level. Once you have the preparation in place, it will take a mate with a long straight edge for tamping - and a load of ready mix to save that job.

 

There isnt really a shortcut carliennon

Do as Tetters suggests or simply replace with more gravel.

 

If you use the old concrete in the base make sure you break them up into small bits as big bit of concrete will not settle in even if you put new gravel on top they may start to rock and move about later under the new concrete and then start to crack the new concrete

 

wot?

 

Thanks for the feedback. Sounds like a big job and no easy quick fix :(

 

As granny used to say...''If a job`s worth doing, it`s worth doing well''

 

Oh

 

If it were me..I'd dig the whole thing out...make your side shuttering, level and peg down well. (3-4 inches for good heavy usage) Break up your old drive to act as some hardcore...order some ready mix and barrow in...Get a good heavy length of wood slightly over the width of the shuttering (find a friend) and in unison tamp the wet concrete down (proceed up and down its length a few times and level off) Leave to dry or cover to stop the crete drying out too fast in warm weather. Once set..I'd leave it a good few days to a week... carefully remove the shuttering....if your going to do a job, do it correctly and it will serve you well for years to come...just my opinion...lol

 

Been thinking - might be a good idea to put a membrane in too for extra strength

 

IMHO gravel is the way forward - get rid of the old concrete - dig out to a shallow pit of around 4" deep (if necessary) - edge with timber - fill with 10mm gravel. 10mm is large enough that it settles well and doesn't get stuck in tyres/shoes. As you walk on the gravel it will settle down and stop moving.

If at sometime in the future you change your mind - it's easy to remove the gravel and start again,

From my experience a weed proof membrane is rarely necessary under a thick layer of gravel - I have previously laid gravel on compacted soil - no weeds have appeared - but I suppose it all depends on the material you use as the top layer.

Concreting is a lot of hard work - you don't want to come home one day and see that a crack has appeared

 

I meant this kind @clanless

 

The problem I have with gravel is that it gets everywhere..like my neighbours...grrrrrr. all over the road
If your gonna go down this route then use interlocking driveway grids..so much nicer and practical...I've seen them and they look great keeping all the chippings in relative situ