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UK diy (uk.d-i-y) For the discussion of all topics related to diy (do-it-yourself) in the UK. All levels of experience and proficency are welcome to join in to ask questions or offer solutions. |
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Gravel Drive
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 |
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In message , Mike Saunders
writes 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 It's a pain in the neck to walk on g -- Richard Faulkner |
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"Richard Faulkner" wrote in message ... In message , Mike Saunders writes 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 It's a pain in the neck to walk on g And tends to spread everywhere. You get it in your garden, on the pavement outside your house and it will required regular 'raking' to correct the movement caused by car tyres. My sister has a gravel drive and regrets it to this day! Kev |
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Mike Saunders wrote:
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.... www.pavingexpert.com |
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"Mike Saunders" wrote in message ... 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. |
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I woild like to know from anyone who has laid a gravel grive suitable for light traffic. It's a pain in the neck to walk on g -- Richard Faulkner It's also a damn good burglar deterrent due to the noise it makes when walked on! |
#7
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Mike Saunders wrote:
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 about 3" 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?) It doesn't really work. Mud and organic debris gets on top of any garvel, and seeds blow in. Use path clear every year to control. Drainage. Mostly on a slight slope but there is one area that is lower where puddles can form after heavy rain Tough. Use deepre greavle and rake... Maintainance. Mud on tyres, fallen leaves etc. Does the gravel need replenising every few years etc no, it last about 20-30 yeqas, but it does eventually get packed with mud and debris, and need a thing top coat. Anything else I have missed Tarmaxc? I have the same job to do, again. Gravel is not maintenance free. get used to it. Many thanks in advance Mike |
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On Wed, 30 Mar 2005 13:04:09 +0100, The Natural Philosopher
wrote: Mike Saunders wrote: 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 about 3" 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?) Gravel is a cheap quick way of providing a drive, it is also not too permanent if you want to change your mind later. Have a good look at different sizes of gravel , on the first area I did the size was far too big. ! If you can get a lorry load and keep some excess for topping up later all the better. Think how you are going to contain it at the edges. It does need raking occasionally to keep it looking its best tho'. Robert royall at which net |
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"Mike Saunders" wrote in message ... 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 Part of my drive was gravelled by the previous owners. The car got bogged down in it, it was like walking up a pebble dune on a beach ... tough going! Plus it was the public loo for the local feline population! Soon after moving in I had that area block paved .... so much easier to drive, walk and no poo! Anyone ever asks me about a gravel drive ... I'd say never! |
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On Tue, 29 Mar 2005 13:12:15 -0000, "Mike Saunders"
wrote: 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 We used "slate scalpings" 200 quid a lorry load from the quarry, it packs down and binds together. Looked good for the first year or two, now we have had so much "sheep/cow/tractor doo dah" on it, we can't sweep it all off, and its back to being an uncleanable muddy mess. We are currently looking at concrete. Rick |
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"Rick" wrote in message ... On Tue, 29 Mar 2005 13:12:15 -0000, "Mike Saunders" wrote: 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 We used "slate scalpings" 200 quid a lorry load from the quarry, it packs down and binds together. Looked good for the first year or two, now we have had so much "sheep/cow/tractor doo dah" on it, we can't sweep it all off, and its back to being an uncleanable muddy mess. We are currently looking at concrete. Rick I must say I had a few initial problems with my gravel but nothing to put me off. This business of gravel acting like a difficult to walk on shingle beach was solved with a bit of clay subsoil to act as a binder. I think the use of geotextiles causes problems since it removes contact of the gravel with the binding soil below, and the sand layer to protect the textile acts as a lubricant. If you go to National Trust properties I think you'll find they don't use geotextiles ( though they quite often use fine gravel which is not so good near a house as you traipse it in ). The local cats went on a sh***ing spree when I first put gravel down, but when I added the binder they gave it a few half-hearted attempts and gave up,as they don't like hard work. I have a theory that slate scalpings may be too flat to allow dirt to percolate away - and I wonder what they're like to rake over if you want to refresh their look? Having said that I don't get much in the way of sheep/cow/tractor doo-dah on my drive! I'm still glad I put down gravel, despite the steep learning curve. There are plenty of houses with smart brick drives around me, but in a way, they have a very suburban feel to them which I don't fancy ( add a perfect front lawn to get the full surbuban feel ). I get a nice bucolic feeling crunching down me mellow golden gravel drive, with the odd clump of fleabane or campanula growing at the side. Andy. |
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