New Front Driveway - So many options....

R.O.S.S.I · 26 Sep 2016 at 12:02

Am I right in thinking you could use one of those mesh things and just infill with some fine stone?

Thinking that may be the most cost effective way of doing my front as I can't afford the £5k plus to get some resin bound gravel or it to be block paved.

Terminal_Boy · 26 Sep 2016 at 12:06

Make sure the base under the block paving is up to the job if you plan to park anything bigger that a standard saloon car on it.

R.O.S.S.I · 26 Sep 2016 at 12:28

It'll only have one normal hatchback car on it, maybe 2 when the Mrs decides to pass her test!!!

Kimi · 26 Sep 2016 at 13:19

Yes the grid is used for stones to. It's really good for keeping them from spilling over the kerb

valve90210 · 26 Sep 2016 at 13:53

Terminal_Boy said:
Make sure the base under the block paving is up to the job if you plan to park anything bigger that a standard saloon car on it.

R.O.S.S.I said:
It'll only have one normal hatchback car on it, maybe 2 when the Mrs decides to pass her test!!!

As has been said, you need to make sure the subbase is very stable for the grids. I had to dig out then out in a 50mm compacted layer of mot type 2 aggregate, that's what really gives the strength for parking cars on it really...

R3X · 29 Sep 2016 at 01:47

Not seeing the appeal of permeable paving, its just grass on the drive and surely just as much maintenance and hassle.

I have been quoted for roughly 45sqm 4k with a bit of haggling, full brick drive way, with drainage complete.

Its quite steep but 1.7k on that perm drive way and suddenly 4k sounds good.

All brick drive ways need is a good sweep surely or the jetwash.

R.O.S.S.I · 29 Sep 2016 at 09:48

I had a geezer on the phone to me yesterday about a resin bound drive and he said he starts at £45sqm if its going onto an already solid/sound base and is purely just laying the resin stone and finishing up. Right up to £85sqm which is for full excavation, sub base installation, edging and then the resin on top. He told me to use that as a guide and work out the full area needing to be done.

I really need to get rid of all the loose stones and the plants in the front to see what the make up is of the ground. There's a large portion of it which has some fairly solid tarmac and sub-base already down but there are a couple of sections which i'll need to dig down into as they were planting areas.

valve90210 · 29 Sep 2016 at 10:26

R3X said:
Not seeing the appeal of permeable paving, its just grass on the drive and surely just as much maintenance and hassle.

I have been quoted for roughly 45sqm 4k with a bit of haggling, full brick drive way, with drainage complete.

Its quite steep but 1.7k on that perm drive way and suddenly 4k sounds good.

All brick drive ways need is a good sweep surely or the jetwash.

For me the point of the permeable paving was simple. I could have a nice looking lawn at the front of the house next to my driveway which if needed could also be used to park two cars without damaging the lawn.

Yes I have to maintain it like a lawn because that's what it is, my other option was to get rid of the lawn entirely and make the whole area block paved or some such, personally I prefer the look of a nice lawn to paved area so I went for the permeable solution (also helped that I got the grid for mine free from work...

)

roadie · 29 Sep 2016 at 10:57

I really like the retention of grass, as I find the disappearance of green spaces somewhat sad. Of course, the challenge will be to keep it looking like a lawn with all the movement of wheels whilst manoeuvring on it.

valve90210 · 29 Sep 2016 at 13:10

roadie said:
I really like the retention of grass, as I find the disappearance of green spaces somewhat sad. Of course, the challenge will be to keep it looking like a lawn with all the movement of wheels whilst manoeuvring on it.

That's the whole point of the grid, it takes the majority of the weight of the cars and stops any damage to the grass.

NeoVo · 29 Sep 2016 at 13:33

Thanks for the thread and updates.
Has given me some ideas for our new house.

Something quite appealing about keeping abit of greenery but creating more parking space. When you are stood closer, can you actually see the grid?

R.O.S.S.I · 29 Sep 2016 at 16:05

What would be a real revelation is if someone made a grid system with artificial grass in it! I got rid of my grass as I couldn't be doing with the mowing and maintenance of it.

valve90210 · 29 Sep 2016 at 17:07

NeoVo said:
Thanks for the thread and updates.
Has given me some ideas for our new house.

Something quite appealing about keeping abit of greenery but creating more parking space. When you are stood closer, can you actually see the grid?

That depends how well the grass is doing...

Actually the grid on mine (which is considerably thicker than on the pics above) is pretty much hidden - with the exception of an area where I've laid it into a recessed drain cover.

At it's best:

A bit neglected last summer:

R.O.S.S.I said:
What would be a real revelation is if someone made a grid system with artificial grass in it! I got rid of my grass as I couldn't be doing with the mowing and maintenance of it.

Oh yes, that would be mega!! (I actually have a feeling I did see a system with that when I was looking for grids but it was about 3 years ago so I'm not sure)

One More Solo · 1 Oct 2016 at 10:34

R.O.S.S.I said:
What would be a real revelation is if someone made a grid system with artificial grass in it! I got rid of my grass as I couldn't be doing with the mowing and maintenance of it.

I'm sure I've seen artificial grass suitable for car parking but may need a bit more attention paid to the sub base.