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Scope Of Work: Replace asphalt driveway with new concrete pavers installed on ultrabase. Replace existing walkway pavers with the same pavers used on the driveway.
Time Frame: 3 weeks
Budget: $50,000.00 - $40,000.00
Designer: Garry Reisky from Terraform Contracting
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This pattern doesnlt look very appealing. I think we can do better.
At first glance, this house looks like many others in the Greater Toronto area. Walkway pavers with an asphalt driveway, nothing out of the ordinary here, good to go, right? Well, not so fast, if you look at the walkway pavers, the pattern is not exactly winning the 'best curb appeal' of the month award. I think it's fair to say the colour and pattern leave a lot to be desired. With that thought in mind, the homeowner reached out to me for some suggestions on how we could improve the situation. The driveway was installed about 15 years ago when the house was rebuilt, it was showing significant wear, the time for a new driveway had come. These homeowners knew they wanted to replace their asphalt driveway with a new interlocking concrete paver driveway and walkway. The walkway could be the same material as the driveway or something completely different, the homeowners were open to new ideas. So where does one start choosing materials for the their project? Ideas can come from projects family or friends have completed, perhaps you saw something in your neighbourhood or when you were driving. Many times homeowners start with a catalogue or two from different manufacturers of these products. After going through some pictures, Richcliff from Unilock was chosen for the driveway. The two colour mix would be installed consisting of dawn mist and pebble taupe using the 3 size random pattern. What about the walkway, what to do, what to do? Two selections came to the surface, copthorne or town hall. I suggested going with copthorne, we have used it in the past with great results to make curved walkways. Town hall is a little too large for a smooth flowing walkway. Copthorne it is then!
Now for the fun part, let's get to work on this project! The first order of business was getting rid of the walkway pavers, bye bye, you will not be missed! Off to the crusher for you, along with the asphalt from the driveway. After the driveway was excavated we install a compacted gravel base. On top of the gravel base we installed a product that goes by a few names ,some people call it ultrabase, sometimes it's called rcc (roller compacted concrete) or just compactable concrete. This base material provides excellent long term stability for an interlocking paving stone driveway. Ultrabase is installed the exact same way as a traditional gravel base, the only difference being the cement content.
After the base was installed we can finally get to the best part, installing pavers! Attention to detail was important on this job as we had to blend the colours as they were being installed. Five sku's were used on this project, two for the driveway and 3 for the walkway and border detail. It's important to work from several bundles at a time and to review your work as you go as to avoid any blotchy sections. Overall this project went very well, a great client and an impressive finished projuct, what's not to like.
Materials used on this project
- Ultrabase: Parkview building supplies
- Driveway field pattern: Unilock , Richcliff, pebble taupe/dawn mist.
- Driveway border and walkway: Unilock, copthorne, 3 colour mix, burgundy red/burnt/clay/old oak.