ᐅ Preparing the Base for Paving a Driveway

Hello,

I need your advice.
We want to renew our driveway and have found that beneath the paving there is fine basalt sand instead of gravel as a base layer.

We planned to replace it with gravel.

Our excavator operator said he would leave it in place, as it would be wasteful to remove it.
We listened to him, but now our glazier thinks that material might not be stable enough and there is a risk it could settle.

Does anyone have experience with this?

The question is, who will be responsible for the warranty of the completed paving work later on? The excavator operator or the landscape gardener?

I’m not leaning toward either one, as each will likely blame the other... seen this happen so many times before...

When the landscape contractor carries out the paving work, they are also responsible for ensuring a proper base, as they must guarantee the quality of their work. So, in this situation, I would tend to trust the landscape contractor more than the excavator operator. It would also be questionable whether the landscape contractor would proceed with the work if they already have concerns.

If the landscape gardener hasn’t been doing this for just six months, they will offer and charge for "paving work on an already prepared substrate provided by the builder" and then be done with it. It always depends on what was commissioned, of course.

None of this really helps the original poster here, since they probably just want it done correctly rather than finding out later how to argue about it.

I would replace the substrate; the planned use and expected loads on the surface, combined with the results of the soil survey, determine the required depth.

There is nothing more frustrating than having to redo everything four years later.

I just wanted to make it clear that I would trust the landscaper more than the excavator.
And if the landscaper says the soil is not load-bearing, then make the soil load-bearing according to the landscaper’s specifications 😉