Slurry paving grout saves time on a 'monster' Somerset driveway

One ‘monster’ landscaping project that was completed this month was a 550 metres squared domestic driveway in Somerset. See which fast-setting slurry paving grout and machinery our customer chose to get the job completed on time, regardless of what the weather threw at them.

About the project

Alfie Isaacs and his team at Alfie's Landscapes Ltd lend their expertise to all kinds of projects, from small courtyards and domestic patios, to driveways and larger paved spaces. Based in Taunton, Somerset, they were tasked earlier this year with creating a beautiful driveway and entrance for a very grand property in Chard. The clients wanted the 550 metre squared driveway laid with a captivating selection of sandstone setts.

As part of the project, Alfie's team removed 240 tonnes of soil from the old driveway, dug out and cleared all of the spoil and installed new drainage, plus a huge soak-away.

Once the drainage was all set, the bedding mortar was laid and compacted.

Choosing a slurry paving grout

Now, pointing sandstone setts with a 3:1 mortar mix of cement and sand could be the way to go. But for this large driveway it would have taken Alfie's team weeks of pointing work on their hands and knees. Although him and his team are no strangers to hard graft, Alfie wanted a rapid-setting grout solution that would be quick and easy to mix, apply and clean-up.

Alfie had worked with UltraScape's Flowpoint slurry grout before. He shares, "I like the product and knew it would be the quickest and most efficient way to point a driveway, and especially one of this size!" Flowpoint Smooth was chosen for the job, in the colour of Charcoal. Offering a smoother aggregate finish than the standard set, Flowpoint Smooth can be used for joints as narrow as 3mm in width and is ideal for use with paving setts – whatever the scale of the paving job. And, as a paving grout that can be applied and will set quickly (within 15 minutes), the driveway would be ready in no time at all. In fact, after applying Flowpoint, foot traffic can be within an hour. Within just four hours, the area can be open to vehicles.

Speeding up clean-up operations

While Flowpoint was saving Alfie's crew hours of pointing time on their hands and knees, he still wanted to speed-up the process even further. After applying Flowpoint with rubber squeegees, Alfie opted for using the Berta Sponge Machine to clean up the cementitious grout even faster.

Manufactured by Raimondi, the Berta ADV Sponge Machine is a paving grout cleaner that cleans epoxy resin and cement-based slurry grouts from all types of floors. The Berta is available to hire for a week, or to buy out-right. Custom-made roller replacements are also available.

What Alfie says about the job

Managing on-site works was not the only task Alfie had. Him and his team also had to contend with three storms during the course of the job: Dudley, Eunice and Franklin! Despite the challenging weather conditions, the project still got finished on time. Alfie commends his team and says it was a job well done. "After five weeks this monster driveway was completed! "We dug-out 240 tonnes of soil and cleared it away. Then prepared the ground and an all-new drainage and soak-away was installed. "Then, 550 squared metres of sandstone setts were laid and grouted with Flowpoint. "A big well done our team who battled through the storms to get this one done on time!"

Considering using Flowpoint yourself?

If you're considering using Flowpoint for your next paving job to achieve a smooth and easy finish similar to this Somerset driveway, please don't hesitate to give our team a call. UltraScape's cementitious, fast-setting slurry grout is taking the industry by storm and is loved by contractors world-wide. All it takes is a few pointers before getting started with the grout. We can even arrange an in-person demo for your business. Call us on 0330 122 1025 if you'd like to find out more. We've got a wealth of tips and advice on using Flowpoint on our website. Explore the articles below and read our Flowpoint FAQs. If you have experience of using this quality slurry grout yourself, we'd love to hear what you think. Please share your comments below.