Paving in the Rain

It’s understandable that home owners planning on having a new driveway laid might be caught in a bit of a quandary this time of year.

On the one hand, there are those incredible deals as the home improvement industry looks to pick up some early work with ‘New Year sales’. On the other, there’s the worry that any paving job, whether it’s block paving or impressed concrete, will suffer delays due to the British weather we all know and love at this time of year.

Fear no more, though, because we’re here to answer a few of those worries and give you the added confidence to go ahead with that new driveway anyway. Besides, waiting till Summer is no guarantee of better weather. I’m sure we’ve been on plenty of summer holidays spent mostly in wellington boots, crouched under a soggy canvas or listening to the rain hitting the roof of a caravan as if you were sheltering inside a biscuit tin. So, to get a quote for paving, rain or shine, you can visit PavingQuoter.co.uk

In fact, for the vast majority of driveways they can be installed whatever the weather. The first job in any driveway installation is to dig out the’footings’ and compact the correct mix of larger and finer rubble and hardcore. Unless an absolute cloud burst happens, this can usually continue without hinderance.

Next for block paving, comes one or two layers of traditionally grit sand, which is compacted to form the base for laying the blocks onto. This is the stage most affected by excess water as the sand when extremely wet tends to retain the water, making it less easy to work with, which can lead to dense areas forming that will need tapping out later.

Once the blocks are laid, and the finished surface has been swept with sand to work into the gaps between blocks, a little rain can be very beneficial in helping the sand ‘soak’ down into the gaps and settle.

With Impressed concrete finishes, the base is laid as above. Instead of the two layers of sand, a finer mix of aggregate will be used to bring the surface up to the required level prior to pouring the cement. The pouring stage is critical as its this that will provide the final surface. If too much water falls as the concrete is being poured, it can weaken the mixture or make it a shade to pliable to work with. This can effect drying times.

Usually, contractors are able to cover over recently poured surfaces so if it starts raining once they’ve already started there’s no need to worry.

Although its no detriment to the surface and it shouldn’t make you favour block over impressed in any way, when laying an impressed concrete driveway, there’s one finishing touch that needs a little dry spell… the colouring.

When an impressed driveway is laid, after the base preparation and the concrete pouring, the next stage is to apply the final colour – usually through using a pigmented powder that reacts with the still wet concrete and stains the colour down to about an 8th of an inch below the surface. Once the colour has been applied, then the installers will move quickly to apply the patterned mats and ‘imprint’ your chosen design onto the surface.

If there is an excess of surface water collecting when the powdered colouring is being applied, obviously, some of the powder is going to float off rather than stick to the surface area it was applied to. This could lead to uneven colour surface, so it’s one of those jobs best done when its dry. Alternatively, the contractor may be forced to apply makeshift covers with tapulines etc to keep the worst off until the powder has had time to do its job.

So with a little luck, you can go ahead and get that driveway sorted and make use of the paving companies less busier times of the year. Remember, once the summer months approach, many paving companies will be booked solid so if you decide later to go ahead with a driveway quotation, you may have a very long wait indeed.

If you’d like find out how much it would cost you to have your driveway re-laid or extended or you’d like a new driveway installing, then just visit PavingQuoter.co.uk. Just type in a few basic dimensions of the size you’d like your drive to be and select either block or impressed (there’s even a tarmac option) and our clever online software will work out an approximate cost of the job there and then. No need for a paving contractor to call round – our online quotes are completely free, absolutely no obligation but we do promise to give you an instant online price guide and save you money.