Driveway Project

Soldato
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9 Nov 2008
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Afternoon all - the time has finally come for me to sort out our front driveway. We've lived in the house for 3 years now and my wife parks on the front grass and it's starting to feel all a bit too *****.

I've only got a streetview image from before me moved in (The area has been tidied up massively since the Google Streetview picture was taken);



The area is 6m*2.9m.

Ideally we wanted to extend the block paving across but the few quotes we had about 18 months ago just came in too expensive for it to be worthwhile (we're planning on moving in a few years and my wife hasn't minding parking on the grass). The main reason for getting it sorted is just for it to look nicer.

With all of the above taken into account and my preference for making it look nicer for as little cost I think we've decided to put gravel down. Plenty of other houses down the road have gravel driveway so it won't look out of place, it should be cheap(ish) to complete and won't take much time.

What am I looking at to gravel the area? I'd like to do the work myself (or with friends) over one weekend and think I've got a rough idea of the plan;

Day1 - dig out existing soil (roughly 20cm deep), have soil (3.5m3) collected by 'grabber truck'
Day2 AM - lay hardcore down (10cm)
Day2 PM - have MOT Type 1 delivered from GravelMaster, rent whacker and compact down to fill 4cm-5cm and gaps
Day2 PM - lay gravel into gravel holders which fills remaining 5cm-6cm

Anyone have any tips or advice? I'm unsure of how to get rid of the soil at the moment as that seems like it's going to be very costly?


Rough man maths seems to suggest - 6m*2.9M*20cm = 3.5m3

Each Travis Perkins bag is going to be roughly 0.5m3 so I'd need rougly 7 bags across all 3 materials. Cost roughly of £370.


TL : DR - looking for cheap way to make driveway look more presentable, landed on gravel - am I doing it right?
 
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Soldato
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I think gravel will look cheap/get everywhere? (on the nicer block paved side?)

I guess the issue is it (probably) won't add enough value to be worthwhile doing full blog k paving to the house short term. Just hopefully doesn't negatively impact the cost of the house.

Has it knackered your grass thus far? Otherwise just keep it?
 
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Man of Honour
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Although we had a dropped kerb the previous owners got rid of the driveway as there is a separate garage (detached) at the back and left hand side of the house.

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We went for paving as it felt neater, whilst more expensive than tarmac, it was easier to replace a paving brick if it broke, a relatively easy maintenance of just adding more sand as and when needed.

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Courtesy of Google:

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Cheap option would be tarmac - I'd keep away from anything loose like gravel as it is a pain... but does offer a little "auditory" protection.
 
Soldato
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Yes another gravel driveway for it all to be dragged over the pavement and into the road so it can get flung up by cars into peoples windscreens and bumpers. Good idea.
 
Soldato
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You could always get an 8 yard skip on your drive way to load the soil into from wheel barrows, you can also get a skip that has doors so you can walk right into it and tip out.

You will not need hardcore and MOT 1, you will get away with a recycled MOT or a 40mm crusher run, while these may not be readily available in bulk 1t bags, some googling and a few phone calls may get you a better deal.

You have made no previsions for any sort of geotextile, woven and non woven or any sort of geo grid, basically without this over time your sub-base will dissapear into the soil below.

There are products on the market that you can lay on top of your level, compacted sub-base to keep the stone in place, have a google for Adpave its a Naylor product, other manufacturers are available, TP can source this for you.

When choosing the aggregate you want to finish with take into account your location in the country, limestone may be expnsive if it needs to be transported a long distance into the area, also anything that is dredged from riverbeds i.e golden gravel will cost more.


If it was me doing this cheap, I would use this method,

1. Reduce dig 150mm

2.lay geogrid

3. lay 100mm sub base, with a slight fall to the kerbs and compact

4. lay non woven geotxtlie

5. fill with a 20mm clean limestone

EDIT: Buy a decent wide broom to sweep the gravel back in every other day ;-0
 
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Soldato
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You could always get an 8 yard skip on your drive way to load the soil into from wheel barrows, you can also get a skip that has doors so you can walk right into it and tip out.

You will not need hardcore and MOT 1, you will get away with a recycled MOT or a 40mm crusher run, while these may not be readily available in bulk 1t bags, some googling and a few phone calls may get you a better deal.

You have made no previsions for any sort of geotextile, woven and non woven or any sort of geo grid, basically without this over time your sub-base will dissapear into the soil below.

There are products on the market that you can lay on top of your level, compacted sub-base to keep the stone in place, have a google for Adpave its a Naylor product, other manufacturers are available, TP can source this for you.

When choosing the aggregate you want to finish with take into account your location in the country, limestone may be expnsive if it needs to be transported a long distance into the area, also anything that is dredged from riverbeds i.e golden gravel will cost more.


If it was me doing this cheap, I would use this method,

1. Reduce dig 150mm

2.lay geogrid

3. lay 100mm sub base, with a slight fall to the kerbs and compact

4. lay non woven geotxtlie

5. fill with a 20mm clean limestone

EDIT: Buy a decent wide broom to sweep the gravel back in every other day ;-0

Thanks - you think 150mm will be deep enough? I notice you say to lay 100mm of sub base (THIS?) and 20mm of gravel - but I'm digging down 150mm so what happens to the remaining 30mm?

I have access to enough hardcore which can be delivered free which is why I was going to use it. 100mm of sub base over my area is going to cost a fair bit (£250~).

Getting rid of the soil seems to be my biggest headache at the moment, even soil skips are coming in at £250+.
 
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2 things straight off the bat:

1. Change your fences - they make it look rough.
2. It looks like your drive has a drain cover of some sort - can you move it / build on top?

It's a bit narrow so anything you do is going to look tight and hard to keep a clean look, you may want to think about using it as something else or putting a garage there to divide it.

Alternatively get rid of the grass and have double parking with the same brick work throughout.
 
Soldato
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2 things straight off the bat:

1. Change your fences - they make it look rough.
2. It looks like your drive has a drain cover of some sort - can you move it / build on top?

It's a bit narrow so anything you do is going to look tight and hard to keep a clean look, you may want to think about using it as something else or putting a garage there to divide it.

Alternatively get rid of the grass and have double parking with the same brick work throughout.


None of this is in anyway related to the thread. The fences have been changed (I specifically mention that the photo is over 3 years old and has been tidied up since then). Not interested in moving the drain cover. We already have a garage (round the back with car access). Don't want to block pave the grass bit due to cost.

I am specifically looking for advice and help with replacing the grass with gravel.
 
Soldato
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Thanks - you think 150mm will be deep enough? I notice you say to lay 100mm of sub base (THIS?) and 20mm of gravel - but I'm digging down 150mm so what happens to the remaining 30mm?

I have access to enough hardcore which can be delivered free which is why I was going to use it. 100mm of sub base over my area is going to cost a fair bit (£250~).

Getting rid of the soil seems to be my biggest headache at the moment, even soil skips are coming in at £250+.

Ah sorry I didnt make myself clearer,

20mm is the size of the limestone, you can commonly get 10mm all the way up to 150mm limestone, you want a good covering as it will naturally move around and leave bare patches, lay it too shallow water will pool on top.

150mm reduced dig is plenty in this instance;

so if you reduce dig 150mm, you can add a good 100mm of the sub base, combined with geogrid this will be plenty to support a light vehicle driving on and off before using the final 50mm for the gravel,

you could keep the gravel slightly lower than the existing surfaces ie, block pave and footpath in an attempt to keep it in your boundaries.

The sub base you linked is the "ideal" product.

If your free hardcore is a consistent 40-50mm then it might be a worthy substitute however if its really chunky then I personally wouldnt bother.

TP is ridiculously expensive if you dont have trade account, have a look at other merchants like Keyline and Jewson, also smaller independents

If you cube it up properly and go to them with the quantities they should offer discount.

Unfortunately the removal of waste is expensive.


Just to assure you im not pulling your worm, its my job to price and procure materials for multi million pound groundwork and civil engineering projects.



EDIT: Just be wary of any services that may be running to your property, the last thing you want to do is put a shovel through an electrical cable, gas pipe or even your fibre cable. I'd like to think they were buried deeper than 150mm and clearly marked but its better safe than sorry.
 
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Caporegime
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Gravel is horrible.

You'll be forever sweeping back to where it's meant to be
Not necessarily.

Someone else linked a recycled plastic grid that works well. I can't find that exact link, but something along the lines of http://britishrecycledplastic.co.uk/hebden-402-ground-reinforcement-pavers/. I've seen these in action and they're brilliant. They keep the gravel where its supposed to be. And when hedged in by a nice border (eg block paved) it looks really smart.

^^it was nick.ligget who has already posted above, Adpave it was.
 
Soldato
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Not necessarily.

Someone else linked a recycled plastic grid that works well. I can't find that exact link, but something along the lines of http://britishrecycledplastic.co.uk/hebden-402-ground-reinforcement-pavers/. I've seen these in action and they're brilliant. They keep the gravel where its supposed to be. And when hedged in by a nice border (eg block paved) it looks really smart.

^^it was nick.ligget who has already posted above, Adpave it was.

It is a good product, it does come at a cost, not only for the grids but the layer of compacted gritsand you should lay them on. However you can use them for gravel or brush soil in and grass seed, before you know it you have a stealth drive way lol
 
Soldato
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It is a good product, it does come at a cost, not only for the grids but the layer of compacted gritsand you should lay them on. However you can use them for gravel or brush soil in and grass seed, before you know it you have a stealth drive way lol

What does it look like once the grass seed grows? Is the grid very noticeable?
 
Soldato
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What does it look like once the grass seed grows? Is the grid very noticeable?

Initially It depends on what seed you use and if you get the right amount down, many of the manufactures recommend a blend of different seed, the genius of it all is with the grass it uses the root system to give the whole thing strength.

Then as it matures and grows it will depend on how short you cut your lawn and will probably be more noticeable in the areas your tyres track all the time.



With a gravel type finish you will notice it all the time and i presume thats why they offer different patterns.
 
Soldato
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If you're selling in a few years, why invest money in this?

Just keep parking on it, then when ready to sell on chuck some grass seeds on if you're bothered. Whilst stop parking there as well obviously.
 
Soldato
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If you're selling in a few years, why invest money in this?

Just keep parking on it, then when ready to sell on chuck some grass seeds on if you're bothered. Whilst stop parking there as well obviously.


Kerb appeal, even a cheap gravel driveway and some new fence panels would create a more attractive first impression for potential buyers.

Dedicated parking for two cars is a big plus imho.
 
Man of Honour
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Indeed. IF you can do it relatively cheaply it will appeal a lot more to prospective buyers to have somewhere to park their car(s).

That was the first thing we spent money on, was to build a driveway.
 
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