Browse Forums Paving & Concreting 1 Jan 17, 2013 8:37 am Hi everyone After years of enduring our massive driveway (approx 250m2) as crushed rock, we are going to splurge the cost of a new car on exposed aggregate. We've just received a quote from a local guy we've used before for about $103 m2. There's a fair amount of excavation and drainage required and all of this plus tip fees is included in the m2 cost, so overall we're fairly comfortable with his price. He has quoted for 25 MPA with F62 reinforcement, and I'm keen to hear what others have to say about this. Should we be asking for 32 MPA? How is this likely to change the cost? From my point of view, we're spending a fortune already and I don't want to cut corners, but I also don't want to spend more than we need to if 25 MPA is adequate. We're in the NW suburbs of Melbourne and on clay (our house slab was a H class). All help and guidance appreciated! Re: Exposed Aggregate Driveway - 25 or 32 MPA? 2Jan 17, 2013 9:06 am That is standard driveway construction of F62 and N25. But you say you have a big driveway and maybe you'll have large trucks or multiple cars on it i would go something a little more heavy duty such as upping the reo to F82 and N32(also helpful in reactive soils)... maybe you'll want the thickness to be between 100 - 125mm... Also make sure he uses chairs. Building with Jandson Homes - Eclipse 18. http://adgnetworks.blogspot.com/ Re: Exposed Aggregate Driveway - 25 or 32 MPA? 3Jan 17, 2013 9:17 am Thanks adgn He has quoted 110mm thickness. Does this sound ok? We're on a 1/2 acre block (hence, the driveway size) and have done the landscaping, shed, etc, so large trucks and heavy vehicles are now a thing of the past. We've only got the one car, but visting friends and family can certainly load the area up. Thanks for the advice re chairs - was just reading another thread where this came up. Not clear from his quote what he is doing here so this is something we will definitely raise. Re: Exposed Aggregate Driveway - 25 or 32 MPA? 4Jan 17, 2013 9:18 am If the driveway is long then I'd be asking how many expansion joints and what width and what product will they use to 'joint' them with... All fine and dandy to have expansion joints but if they fill with sand or aren't actually a gap you can be assure there will be sand jacking issues in the future. Where you are coming from is where you are going to... Re: Exposed Aggregate Driveway - 25 or 32 MPA? 5Jan 17, 2013 10:14 am Thanks onc_artisan re expansion joints - will check this out. Hubby just told me that based on other concreting work this guy has done for us, he definitely uses chairs. Does anyone know what increasing from 25 to 32 mpa is likely to add to the cost? Re: Exposed Aggregate Driveway - 25 or 32 MPA? 6Jan 17, 2013 3:40 pm Maybe 15$ cubic metre...so about $1.65 per sq mtrs for 110 mm thick concrete. Would this actually assist? Hmmm well I'm tending to think this might just increase the brittleness. But only an engineer can answer this. So long no extra water is used. Though I figure onssecond thoughts it could help...the engineer is the one to ask about this and whether the steel should be in the lee part of the concrete out the top Where you are coming from is where you are going to... Re: Exposed Aggregate Driveway - 25 or 32 MPA? 7Jan 17, 2013 3:41 pm Lee = lower Where you are coming from is where you are going to... Re: Exposed Aggregate Driveway - 25 or 32 MPA? 8Jan 17, 2013 3:46 pm Increasing the strength is only likely to add a couple of dollars/m2 to the price, although 25N should be suitable (the Cement and Concrete Association consider N20 suitable for most driveways. Adequate joints and good joint detailing (http://www.anewhouse.com.au/?p=4200) and/or extra depth are better for improving the drive than concrete strength The Harder You Try - the Luckier You Get ! Web site http://www.anewhouse.com.au Informative, Amusing, and Opinionated Blog - Over 600 posts on all aspects of building a new house. Last year I had a gas leak at my house. 3 days later, I have about 1 sqm of my exposed aggregate paving broken up. I am not sure how to go about getting it repaired… 0 10411 After some ideas on making our patio kid friendly . Currently we have exposed aggregate. The patio faces west and is always in sun even though it has a shade directly… 0 3619 2 822 |