Laying a temporary drive

theone8181 · 31 Oct 2020 at 08:39

Hi im looking to make a cheap temporary drive to last me until early next year when it gets done properly. Currently im having to park on the grass and my thoughts were to just dump a couple of tons of gravel on it and park as the current wet weather is taking its toll (also interesting as yesterday morning i was wheelspinning to get off :eek:

). The grass will be getting dug up for block paving so whatevers on it will be coming out anyway. Am i mad? Also fwiw its a small cul-de-sac not a main road, an i realise ill probably have to spend some time brushing the stones back on the drive.

BongoHunter · 31 Oct 2020 at 08:57

I dug out 2 lines in my front lawn for a couple of rows of cheap slabs and put gravel underneath - think a big number 11 - row of slabs under each wheel.

Was fine for a few months until we got our proper drive in - and way less material to move / sort compared to doing entire thing.

Gravel straight onto wet muddy grass will turn into a big mess in no time with our winters I would think

bimbleuk · 31 Oct 2020 at 08:59

Use a barrier/membrane underneath the gravel and it should be fine that's how my parking patch has been for the last 15 years. Only recently had to use slabs as my new car is on the heavy side.

Maybe use some border boards too to build up a decent layer.

cainer · 31 Oct 2020 at 09:28

You could always do the first part of your end goal by getting it dug out and have scalpings put down,
then buy the blocks and sharp sand when your ready to finish it

sprite1275 · 31 Oct 2020 at 10:24

Could dump a few tons of hardcore on it and then reuse some of it when you do it properly.

Megahurtz400 · 31 Oct 2020 at 11:41

https://www.toolstation.com/plastic...dDkrTtHaWlkDCy_qZl4lrL0f85MhTvsQaAua8EALw_wcB

Some of this and some dirt/gravel on top?

gitbags · 31 Oct 2020 at 11:41

Plastic driveway grids? They clip together and you can sink them straight into grass.

Edit: pipped to the post.

theone8181 · 31 Oct 2020 at 20:04

gitbags said:
Plastic driveway grids? They clip together and you can sink them straight into grass.

Edit: pipped to the post.

Just roughly pricing them up, I reckon there's not much in it between that and gravel. Can always be tight and try to sell them after

. I don't need to do the whole area either, I could do an 11 like the poster above.

Scrutinize · 31 Oct 2020 at 20:13

Honestly, for the price a decent permeable ground mat / weed guard plus a few tones of cheapest 20mm shingle from your local aggregate quarry/dealer @ c£20-£40 per T you won't go wrong.

Using the ground stabiliser /grass crete system adds in unnecessary cost and effort.

{SAS}TB · 31 Oct 2020 at 23:22

Hardcore base (can be topped / finished off later) or some kind of grasscrete or similar solution

b0rn2sk8 · 1 Nov 2020 at 08:53

The problem with just chucking the gravel down is that you need to get rid of it after.

The plastic stabilisers seems the most sensible solution to me.

Scrutinize · 1 Nov 2020 at 10:48

Plastic stabilisers are designed to be filled with gravel though.

The proper standalone temporary loadbearing matting used for drives is not cheap.

Abyss · 2 Nov 2020 at 01:00

If you're getting the driveway done properly anyway next year I'd get it dug out and hardcore put down. It means no wasted cash and driving over it for 6 months will help compact it all down.

Gav_r26 · 2 Nov 2020 at 08:23

Abyss said:
If you're getting the driveway done properly anyway next year I'd get it dug out and hardcore put down. It means no wasted cash and driving over it for 6 months will help compact it all down.

This is what we did when the extension our built. Builders dug down, membraned and then MOT'd so they had better access and stable ground for the scaffold, and meant it was ready to go when we had the drive done a year later.

Basher · 2 Nov 2020 at 11:27

{SAS}TB said:
Hardcore base (can be topped / finished off later) or some kind of grasscrete or similar solution

This is what I did. You shouldn't need a membrane if you use hardcore, certainly not for a short period of time.

Get a mini digger for a weekend (lots of fun), dig it out, whack some hardcore down, some gravel on top and job done!

Gav_r26 · 2 Nov 2020 at 11:35

Basher said:
This is what I did. You shouldn't need a membrane if you use hardcore, certainly not for a short period of time.

Get a mini digger for a weekend (lots of fun), dig it out, whack some hardcore down, some gravel on top and job done!

I was under the impression that the membrane was there to prevent the hardcore being worked into the ground over time.

Basher · 2 Nov 2020 at 11:37

gav_172 said:
I was under the impression that the membrane was there to prevent the hardcore being worked into the ground over time.

We found it made very little different when we extended our drive a few years ago. Either way, as a short term measure I wouldn't bother personally.

Gav_r26 · 2 Nov 2020 at 11:42

Basher said:
We found it made very little different when we extended our drive a few years ago. Either way, as a short term measure I wouldn't bother personally.

Possibly, but for the cost if it, which is peanuts, I personally wouldn't risk it and have the drive sinking in a few years time. I suppose it depends on how long you are planning on staying there etc. You say short term, but if its staying down as the base for the permanent drive then its not really short term.

200sols · 2 Nov 2020 at 11:51

A membrane can stop the hardcore mixing with the sub grade and causing some sinking over time.

Basher · 2 Nov 2020 at 11:52

gav_172 said:
Possibly, but for the cost if it, which is peanuts, I personally wouldn't risk it and have the drive sinking in a few years time. I suppose it depends on how long you are planning on staying there etc. You say short term, but if its staying down as the base for the permanent drive then its not really short term.

As long as you choose the right sub-base material, it's just not needed in my experience. Before we did ours, I helped some family build theirs and it's been down for 15 years with no movement.