Thread: Gravel Drive
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andrewpreece
 
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"Mike Saunders" wrote in message
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I woild like to know from anyone who has laid a gravel grive suitable
for light traffic. I already have a sound crushed limestone base. What
I need to know is

Advice on depth and type of material to use advantages/disavantages etc

Should I put some of that special fabric over the base to stop weeds
etc. Some are already growing in the base due to contamination Does
this affect the depth of the gravel? (Moves around more?)

Drainage. Mostly on a slight slope but there is one area that is lower
where puddles can form after heavy rain

Maintainance. Mud on tyres, fallen leaves etc. Does the gravel need
replenising every few years etc

Anything else I have missed

Many thanks in advance

Mike

I jokingly said, after I laid a gravel drive, that I should have taken a
Gravel
Technology 101 course first!

Yes, lay a geotextile fabric: use a proper heavy duty type, not the stuff
you put in
your flowerbeds.

The geotextile needs to be protected above and below by 1" of sand, to
prevent
puncturing.

Don't use pea -gravel, at least not the ungraded stuff ( as I did ) since it
goes everywhere,
especially on a wet day on the soles of your shoes. Also cats like it for
****ting in.
I eventually graded my 1 ton of pea-gravel manually with a garden sieve (
you can't
imagine...) to get 9mm gravel only. I would say go for pregraded 10mm. 20mm
is also
available but I think it's rather large, though stays in place more. Angular
gravel stays in place
better than rounded.

I followed the usual advice and put 2" of gravel on top of my top layer of
sand, but what with
it being rounded pea gravel and the sand acting like tiny ball bearings it
was very hard work
to walk on. I eventually solved that problem by using clay subsoil I had
lying around to create
a binder. The result ( at last ) is compact and easy to walk on. The added
clay does mean I
get a few weeds in the least trampled ares, but they pll up easily because
they can't penetrate the textile. In some ares of the country ( SE? )
something called hogging is available which is
basically a kind of clay/gravel mixture which does what I ended up doing,
but it's all ready
for you.

Make sure your gravel is contained on all sides: that means that there
should be a lip of some
sort at every edge, 1" or 2" should be enough. If your drive slopes down to
the pavement, gravel will
try and migrate onto the pavement ( I see a lot of this in other peoples
drives ), so remember that lip.

If you can I should try and get rid of the potential puddle area, if it's in
the main area of use. You could
build it up or maybe make a sort of soakaway.

As for maintenance, a bit of weeding every year ( or just use that pathclear
stuff ) will deal with any
annoying weeds at the edges, and a good rake with a grass rake will do. I
have not found the need to
replenish after 2 years of use. I do not have leaf problems though I can't
see that would be a difficulty, you will need to rake them up. Mud off cars
just washes in. Do not use bright white chippings- they will look naff. I
suspect that you will not bother with clay binder, so in order to avoid
kicking the gravel away so you can see the liner, as you walk, I think 2" of
gravel will be about right. You might want to buy in a 2kilo bag of 2" and
1" gravel plus some sand, and make a little test area
to see which size you prefer.
Andy.