Modern Concrete Driveway Update, Grass Or River Rock

Good morning and Happy Thanksgiving, even though I'm a little bit late!

 Just got back in town from a weekend of soccer for my daughter and now it's back to work and back on countdown schedule for the house.

Every day we are one step closer, and considering that we have a holiday party planned for Dec 10th there is no time like the present. I am remaining optimistic and just know that some how some way it will all get done!

Well the good news is that our drive way is poured, rock salt treated and the forms are removed. Even though I called them concrete pavers this is really done by forming and pouring concrete in place. It is extremely time consuming, extremely labor intensive AND extremely expensive. As I said before, I am lucky that my husband is in this industry which helped us do this driveway at a more moderate price:)

Here are some progress pictures for you to see where we are currently at.

The concrete is actually darker in these pictures because it is raining here right now, but we added a material (slag) to lighten our concrete so that our end result will be much lighter and whiter.

You will notice a couple of things in these pictures of the concrete driveway in progress.

First: the inside of each and every crack will be chipped for a smooth debris free crack. These were caused by seepage from the concrete when it was poured.

Second, there are holes that we added to give it a little more of a natural "stone" look, and they will all need to be pressure cleaned well and sealed which will give them a more finished look, and will also help protect them from stains and the elements.

 Third, as I just stated, there are holes in the concrete which were done by throwing rock salt on the wet concrete and then pressure cleaning them piece by piece to remove the salt and leave a textured look as shown below.

Fourth, we will be adding either grass OR black river rock in between each line to define and complete our amazing modern concrete driveway. Both options are equally amazing and costly, however the river rock will be less maintenance for us in the long run since we won't have to mow, water or weed it at all. Decisions, decisions.
Here is a sample of one small bag of the river rock that we tested to see what we think.

Here are some bigger pictures to give you a better idea of what both can look like.

And, with grass.

The driveway so far is lookin gooooooood! Since my husband owns a concrete cutting and finishing company and does allot with decorative concrete, there is amazing attention to detail and his men REALLY know what they are doing. If you are interested in this type of work his company is Concrete Connection, Inc as an FYI. We plan to be finished with the cleaning, curing, sealing and adding of the elements by Monday latest (though as my husband knows, I'm pushing for much much sooner :). This thing is taking FO-EVA and I'm waaaaay too excited to wait, but I have no choice. This was for us a big piece of our addition/remodel because this will complete the circular driveway and deflect from our garage addition as opposed to driving up and going right to our new bed room windows. This was also done to give our house a modern face lift which will compliment the paint, and to make an artistic statement.

Let me know what you think~