Advice with a Gravel drive
Chris South
I am trying to build a gravel drive/parking area which is 36' x 27'. It has
been dug out to a depth of about 4" and is surrounded by bull-nose kerb
stones. Do I need to put chalk chippings down on the earth first and use a
whacker plate or will just putting gravel on the earth be ok?
What sort of gravel is best for a drive of this type.
Please can you advise.
Many thanks
Chris South
Bob Builder
membrane down (cost around 1.50 per square metre for the lower spec stuff).
This helps prevent the gravel becoming contaminated by the subsoil.
If your subsoil is so soft you think you need a wacker plate! then dig it
out and replace with Hardcore, then consolidate the hardcore with the wacker
plate. Put the membrane on top of the hardcore before gravel as you are
again trying to prevent the layers mixing.
Whilst it is not unusual for an excavated surface to be rolled (the
equivalent of your wacker plate) the main purpose of this is to identify
soft spots that are dug out and replaced with hardcore.
Your Specification is pretty low but providing you don't expect to do much
turning on it you may be OK. Eventually all gravel 'ruts' and needs to be
re-levelled. This happens much more rapidly when the vehicles are turning on
it.
cheers
Bob
"Chris South" <Chris...@btinternet.com> wrote in message
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Stottie
I would not recommend what most experts or people that think they are cos
they recommend what the experts say.
If the gravel is not allowed to settle into the sub soil it tens to leave
more tyre marks.
My father took this sheet up that was under his red chipping and it has made
a great difference.
Regards
John
"Bob Builder" <better_...@Yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
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Chris South
What is Geotextile and where can I get it?
Chris South
"Bob Builder" <better_...@Yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
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Bob Builder
colour, examples shown on this site:
http://www.state.me.us/mdot/planning/csd/geotext.htm
For the quantity you want you should be able to get it from a large garden
centre or landscape contractor. Most large builders merchants have it but in
rolls far too big for your use.
cheers
Bob
"Chris South" <Chris...@btinternet.com> wrote in message
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Bob Builder
If your subsoil is well drained and firm then you can gamble on leaving out
a geotextile layer. The trouble is you are much more likely to get the
gravel contaminated with the subsoil and consequently it won't look clean
for as long. In the end if it does get contaminated you have to dig out the
gravel and put in new clean material.
Out of interest how deep was the gravel that was laid? - I simply suspect it
may have not been deep enough and it ended up sliding around on top of the
material.
cheers
Bob
"Stottie" <thestot...@fsnet.co.uk> wrote in message
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cormaic
<thestot...@fsnet.co.uk> enriched all our lives with these
words......:
>My father took this sheet up that was under his red chipping and it has made
>a great difference.
If there's only 30mm or so of chippings or gravel over the
geo-mebrane, then no wonder it performed so poorly. That depth of
cover is only suitable for gravel-muched areas in gardens, not for
driveways.
If the planned driveway of the original poster has been
excavated to 100mm, then it should be backfilled with 75mm of DTp1
sub-base material (or DTp2/40mm-dust, if DTp1 isn't available) which
should be thoroughly compacted and then covered with 25mm of the
chosen gravel.
The use of a geo-membrane between the sub-grade (the earth)
and the sub-base is optional, but I wouldn't bother unless the
sub-grade was iffy in some way. There is absolutely no point in using
a geo-membrane between the sub-base and the gravel. This is an
incorrect use of a geo-membrane.
A gravel somewhere in the 10-18mm range is best suited to
driveways, but whatever one you choose, it *will* scatter, it *will*
be lost over time, and it *will* rut: that's what gravel does, so be
prepared to top it up every year.
--
cormaic Paving and Drainage Web Site
Culcheth http://www.pavingexpert.com/
Peoples' Republic of South Lancashire
cormaic CAN BE FOUND AT borlochshall.co.uk
cormaic
<better_...@Yahoo.co.uk> enriched all our lives with these
words......:
>For the quantity you want you should be able to get it from a large garden
>centre or landscape contractor. Most large builders merchants have it but in
>rolls far too big for your use.
Terram do a brown version of their Terram 1000 fabric in 10m2
packs specifically for DIYers and you can buy online at
www.gardenfab.co.uk
Alternatively, Greenham Trading (www.greenham.com) and most
large BMs do a 50m2 "Mini-Pack" of original (white) Terram 1000.