ungültig
2021-05-04 19:39:13
- #1
Hello everyone,
I hope I am in the right place with my first question. If not, please feel free to move it to another forum.
We own a semi-detached house built in 1975 and would like to visually improve an approximately 10m long, 1.20m wide, straight garden path through our front garden.
Currently, lovely exposed aggregate concrete slabs are laid loosely without a side curb. On the one hand, the slabs are unsightly, on the other hand, they constantly slip apart due to the lack of side edging.
At first we thought - no problem. Excavate a bit, set curbstones, new base (gravel, grit, etc.) in between, nicer stones on top. After lifting the exposed aggregate slabs, however, a concrete foundation appeared over the entire length of the path, estimated to be at least 15-20 cm thick. See pictures below.
The foundation seems to be installed horizontally. From the house to the garden gate, a slope was applied on the foundation. On the house side, therefore, there is about 12cm of concrete gravel mixture on the foundation (relatively easy to remove, partially crumbly). The exposed aggregate slabs then lie on the slope in about 2cm of coarse grit.
Strangely, the slabs are also slightly offset to one side on the foundation (overhanging on one side, not fully covering the foundation on the other side, see pictures).
Perhaps someone can answer the following questions regarding this:
Was such a construction common in the 70s? That is quite an effort for a garden path that is not drivable. The foundation looks neatly shuttered, tactilely more like reinforced concrete of basement walls, not like the concrete bed for e.g. curbstones.
Could the foundation have a deeper purpose? For example, cable/pipe protection? Is such an effort usual for a single-family house front garden? And at more than 1m width? The water supply and sewage pipes run under the foundation in the basement, but comfortably at 1.5m depth. Electrical and communication lines do not seem to lie under the foundation. Would anything special need to be considered regarding the surface if the foundation were in fact a concrete pipe/cable channel?
Has anyone ever refurbished such a construction? Which paving stones could be installed instead of the 5cm exposed aggregate slabs and what would the substructure look like? Like so far, make a slope + grit? Or better to stick with slabs? Would the concrete need to be treated/sealed somehow? Probably not.
Actually, we wanted to widen the path at the house in the stair area and at the garden fence to the mailbox. How could a good transition be created laterally away from the concrete foundation to lay the surface both over the foundation and the adjacent soil? I would rather avoid further concreting the property... on the other hand, the "soil portion" might sink quickly - or can this be sufficiently prevented, for example, by compacting with a tamper?
Thank you very much in advance for tips and suggestions!
Best regards,
Volker

I hope I am in the right place with my first question. If not, please feel free to move it to another forum.
We own a semi-detached house built in 1975 and would like to visually improve an approximately 10m long, 1.20m wide, straight garden path through our front garden.
Currently, lovely exposed aggregate concrete slabs are laid loosely without a side curb. On the one hand, the slabs are unsightly, on the other hand, they constantly slip apart due to the lack of side edging.
At first we thought - no problem. Excavate a bit, set curbstones, new base (gravel, grit, etc.) in between, nicer stones on top. After lifting the exposed aggregate slabs, however, a concrete foundation appeared over the entire length of the path, estimated to be at least 15-20 cm thick. See pictures below.
The foundation seems to be installed horizontally. From the house to the garden gate, a slope was applied on the foundation. On the house side, therefore, there is about 12cm of concrete gravel mixture on the foundation (relatively easy to remove, partially crumbly). The exposed aggregate slabs then lie on the slope in about 2cm of coarse grit.
Strangely, the slabs are also slightly offset to one side on the foundation (overhanging on one side, not fully covering the foundation on the other side, see pictures).
Perhaps someone can answer the following questions regarding this:
Was such a construction common in the 70s? That is quite an effort for a garden path that is not drivable. The foundation looks neatly shuttered, tactilely more like reinforced concrete of basement walls, not like the concrete bed for e.g. curbstones.
Could the foundation have a deeper purpose? For example, cable/pipe protection? Is such an effort usual for a single-family house front garden? And at more than 1m width? The water supply and sewage pipes run under the foundation in the basement, but comfortably at 1.5m depth. Electrical and communication lines do not seem to lie under the foundation. Would anything special need to be considered regarding the surface if the foundation were in fact a concrete pipe/cable channel?
Has anyone ever refurbished such a construction? Which paving stones could be installed instead of the 5cm exposed aggregate slabs and what would the substructure look like? Like so far, make a slope + grit? Or better to stick with slabs? Would the concrete need to be treated/sealed somehow? Probably not.
Actually, we wanted to widen the path at the house in the stair area and at the garden fence to the mailbox. How could a good transition be created laterally away from the concrete foundation to lay the surface both over the foundation and the adjacent soil? I would rather avoid further concreting the property... on the other hand, the "soil portion" might sink quickly - or can this be sufficiently prevented, for example, by compacting with a tamper?
Thank you very much in advance for tips and suggestions!
Best regards,
Volker