So whilst my car is still in France awaiting repatriation, focus inevitably moves to other stuff I've been putting off for years! One such thing is the path to the front of my house: -


Loose Stones

Basically it's stones which have been set in cement, which has come loose over the years. Front-left of the picture is a "slab" of stones that slope downwards as a unit (presumably the base has moved). There's loose stones, there's big slabs of loose cement that were filling gaps. There's loose gravel. It's just a bit tired and worn and needs sorting before someone trips on a loose stone.

I don't want to spend loads of money getting a man in to do me a completely new path, it's fairly likely we'll be moving house in a year or two so I just want it tidy and "maintained", so would rather do something myself (but being conscious of my back problems so probably slowly!). So what's the simplest way for me to tidy this into a reasonable job myself? I could just remove all the loose, dry-fill with a concrete mix and set it as is. At least it wouldn't move around (base quality notwithstanding) but can't help thinking it'd look a bit naff and botched, especially since there's a slab of stones together that have obviously sunk at one side. Or do I try and pull all the stones up and do it all again from scratch, which presumably means compacting and levelling a decent base first. Or do I do something completely different (hide it all with gravel - that's a joke Or some other kind of pathway)?

Landscaping really isn't my thing, so I'm at a bit of a loss as to the best way to tackle this, so any help from the LCB collective appreciated.

Any links to n00b howto's for solutions would be good too.

Thanks.

Hard to tell from the picture but it looks like its sloping in two directions?

If it were me on a budget I would be tempted to dig out all of the stones, clear off all the mortar and then relay on a fresh bed of mortar to try and get it as level as possible.

If it were me with slightly more money I would remove the stones and dig down a bit to level off the area between the lawn and the drive and then lay some nice paving slabs to tidy the area with a fancy bit of edging to retain the lawn.

If you are thinking of moving it's worth doing properly. The front path is the first thing people will see!

Looks to me like the section on the left was added at a latter date. Just remove this section and grass over. If needed lay a separate path from the drive to the existing path nearer the front door.

Shame about the bad back as if you're wanting a safe DIY solution and good first impression I'd be pulling that lot up excavating down about 6" and smash that lot up for sub base (saves dump runs) lay some quarry waste on the top then finish with some 3x2 British Standard concrete flags. Point gaps with mortar.
Not rocket science and not expensive in the scheme of things - it's your house not an allotment! As you point out the preparation of the bits you don't see is the important bit. Get slabs, gravel, sand delivered straight to where you are working to cut out hassle and unnecessary handling of stuff. Apart from the slabs which you'll need a mate to help with it's do able and you will never need to go back to it again

The other day while waiting for a youtube video to load, there was a commercial about a PU Foam that they inject below the slabs and they punp ītill slabs are level.
When the resin sets, it is as good as concrete resistance wise.
HTH.
ETA Link.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGIohRT698s

[Edited on 6/29/2015 by Angel Acevedo]


An then the DIY video...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igZlPm93QRQ

[Edited on 6/29/2015 by Angel Acevedo]

Start again, first impressions sell houses.

Get the local labourers to dig out and remove as you have a bad back, edge with concrete, type one whacked down, sand and do some neat block paving at your own pace.

quote:

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Originally posted by mark chandler
Start again, first impressions sell houses.

Get the local labourers to dig out and remove as you have a bad back, edge with concrete, type one whacked down, sand and do some neat block paving at your own pace.

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I have been trying to think of a solution that dosen't involve either a massive ammount of digging and heavy slabs or a ton of concrete.
(1) Pressure wash
(2) Wash the slabs and steps a few times with a 25% solution of the cheapest supermarket bleach, this will get rid of the black discolouration especially on the steps.
(3) Apply glyphosate weed killer and leave it to work for a coupe of weeks.
(4) Ripp up the up left side of the crazy pazing
(5) Put some concrete edging in.
(6) Repoint the remaing crazy paving.
(7) Either turn the area you ripped up into a rockery with tough spreading plants such as a Sedum or "Snow in Summer" or you could concrete it and a set 50 to 80mm round cobles is to the wet concrete.

That would still leave the area immediately below the step to tidy up.

[Edited on 30/6/15 by britishtrident]