New Block Paved driveway - blocks cracked after a few months
Anonymous user 16/03/2024 - 2.40 PM
Hi, we had our old driveway and garden dug up and block paved about 3 months ago. All the usual stages were followed and the company seemed very thorough. We have been sweeping in the paving sand they left every week or so, as instructed, but have not had the drive sealed yet (unsure about this as some say it causes water to pool, and drainage is all good so far).
We have noticed that about 3 or 4 blocks have cracked across the middle, and these are all in different parts of the drive. The drive has had little use in the last 3 months due to WFH, so we are not sure why this has happened. One of the cracked blocks is close to the house, in a spot that has never been driven over, although we have dragged heavy wheelie bins over it on foot.
Is this due to poor quality blocks, or is it common for them to crack like this after such a short time of being laid (admittedly over an unusually cold winter)?
We will be contacting the company to see what they say, but I suspect it will be them wanting to seal the drive to get more money from us.
Thanks for helpful replies.
Are you a tradesperson and able to answer this question?
Hello,
It sounds like low-quality bricks to me and unfortunately a few will creep through the cracks even with high-end materials. They may have been damaged when they ran the whacker over for a final time and, as you say, once the frost gets in they can crack apart. As they're only bedded on grit its a quick and easy fix and I'm sure your tradespeople will be happy to do this for no/minimal cost.
In terms of sealing the driveway, its best to leave it a season for the natural colours of the stones to establish and any efflorescence to disappear. Unless your set on it I really wouldn't bother as again, I've experienced mixed results.
All the best
Dan
Cracked blocks can be a number of things and frost is not one of them !
The process of manufacturering paving blocks is to with stand weather of all types.cracks are caused by improper wackering.ie not enough sand on surface to protect the blocks.or improper underground .i.e not enough sand to cushion the blocks from the subase.i do agree that airline cracks can form from improper wackering.but not that frost would make them open more the opening is caused by movement.
As for sealing their should not be any efflorescence that's is salts. if the drive has been laid in dry conditions and blocks stored properly this will not happen.as for sealing if you want to stop pollination in between the blocks then a good quality sealer is the best way to stop this .their is no natural color to block paving bricks as they are dyed and are not natural stone. So many semi pros out their doing cheap jobs that always need repairing.please remember if it sounds go good to be true ,it almost always is.you get what you pay for.want a Driveway to last a lifetime have it done by a established company .
I would suspect that the blocks were damaged in the final wack to vibrate sand in and frost has made hairline cracks expand to visible wider cracks, as Dan says an easy fix, I wouldn't seal the drive for at least a year after installation and as this can be an ongoing process I would recommend using a jointing sand stabiliser to harden the kiln dried sand rather than an expensive sealent, this is cheap to buy and can be applied very quickly by yourself, beat to do it in hot weather after and sand has been topped up
