# Re-gravel garden/drive



## IamDave (Feb 6, 2015)

Hello!

It's been a while since I've been on here.

Looking for some opinions on what to do regarding gravelling for a driveway.

Recently moved into a house that had a gravelled patio with concrete slabs on top. The garden has a slight slope so the patio area was raised to level it off. Upon removing half of the slabs to allow parking of the car I noticed sand and soil/mud/earth had been built up to achieve this. The covering of gravel appears fairly thin as there are now patches that are barely covered.

I've been parking my car on here but it's left massive trenches where the wheels have been (guessing because of the built up earth being displaced and being insufficient gravel to compact into it and take the weight).

The question is will I get away with simply levelling everything off as best I can (mixing the earth in with gravel) then simply laying fresh gravel (probably a bulk bag) on top? There does appear to have been a weed barrier placed below the earth that has been used.

The first photo is how the previous owner had the garden and the photo below shows the area after I'd removed half of the slabs but before beginning to park the car on it.

Thanks
Dave



















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## Andy from Sandy (May 6, 2011)

Personally I don't like gravel especially the small stuff that will get stuck in tyre treads.

It also gets migrated everywhere.

If the ground has sunk then there is no foundation and just putting down more gravel will not fix that.

It will require maybe 6 to 7 inches, and maybe more depending on the ground, of the top to be dug out and then type 1 or broken bricks putting down to a depth less than what you are going to finish the top with.

It's the big lumps that stop the top from sinking.


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## steveo3002 (Jan 30, 2006)

wouldnt be a massive job to dig that out a bit and concrete it , nice hard surface to work on then 

as said the gravel will always spill out onto the path etc


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## ollienoclue (Jan 30, 2017)

The beauty of gravel is that is is cheap and self drains. The larger sizes won't move much but they do make noise.

Even if you concrete it, you will need to remove those slabs, get a man with a mini digger in to remove all the soil/sand to a depth that escapes me, and refill it with decent packed hardcore, before concrete or similar is laid on top.

Concrete is only ever as good as what it is sat on. It had sod all tensile strength and will crack over time unless the layer beneath is perfectly level and compacted.

I have not bought concrete for years but it is sold in cubic metres and looking at that I would say you are in for a part load though you may have a bigger area in mind.

You may need to consider the need for drainage as the highways people can often legitimately kick up if rainwater is allowed to run off your drive into the street but in reality it happens all over the shop.

Someone more construction minded than me will know the technicalities in detail, also any need for planning?

Tarmac may be a worthwhile consideration but again the base underneath needs to be decent, not soil or sand.

Whilst you have a digger in and concrete about it may be worth sinking some decent gateposts into the ground as well as they will be there for all eternity then.


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## Andy1972 (Jan 12, 2014)

If you want a concrete slab then you will need to dig the whole area out approx. 300mm and lay, 150mm of type 1 (hardcore) and then 150mm of concrete over the top.

In terms of planning, it wont be required for this as it’s a driveway but you mustn’t allow and water to run off your garden into the street. A simple Aco drain would fix that or better still put a slight fall to the side so it drain sideway into your garden.

If you want to gravel it, then same principle applies but instead of the concrete slab you will need 150mm of gravel. I would also suggest you lay done the plastic hex grids to try and keep the gravel in place a bit better.

As with water, gravel cant spill out onto the road or you may end up with a visit from the highway department if you fall out with your neighbours.


These two are the cheapest options but another and possible cheaper is using the flags you already have. Set them on the earth is fine I would likely use hardcore as above then a 50mm sand/cement bed. Lay them in two strips for the wheels. Stick gravel between but as its not taking any load you don’t need the hardcore for this bit

Most expensive option is to use resin or block pave it

Tarmac for such a small area will be very expensive as its one of those things that gets cheaper the bigger the space is.

Hope that helps


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## IamDave (Feb 6, 2015)

Appreciate all the responses. I had briefly thought about reusing the flags to create a drive and support the wheels and that sounds like a good option as you've said.

I'm not very DIY orientated so will weigh up the cost of getting someone in or "have a go" myself and see how it turns out  It may be a warmer weather job though!

In the very short term I may just buy a bag of gravel to fill in some spots then I can reuse this to fill in the gaps between flags as suggested.

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## Jack R (Dec 15, 2014)

Here's a guide for you to follow showing the make up of a parking area, don't get tempted to put any more than 50mm of gravel as a finish as you will get stuck. Gravel doesn't compact and will always move so less is more with driveways, if you need to build it up due the the sub soil being poor then build it up with the type 1 and use a compacter (wackerj building it up about 50mm at a time.



Personally I would go with block paving as it's the best of both worlds being a solid surface and water will pass through it if done with the permeable blocks.


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## IamDave (Feb 6, 2015)

Thanks, that helps visualise things!

I’ll be honest it’s more a matter of cost at the moment. I need something a little more stable but having only moved in 5 weeks ago I don’t want to dig into my savings until I’ve built them back up sufficiently.


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## Jack R (Dec 15, 2014)

Why don’t you speak to some hire companies, that do ground stabilisation for things like concerts and shows. They might have a damaged bit that they can’t use anymore that might be big enough for you to park on as a temporary solution.


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## Willows-dad (Jul 12, 2012)

Get yourself a quote or two to have it block paved. You should only be looking at £70-£80 a square meter. Doesn’t look a huge area to cover. I appreciate that you’ve only just moved in, but when it’s done it won’t need doing again for a long while. Make sure you go off recommendation though, there’s a lot of bodgers about.


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## beatty599 (Sep 18, 2016)

Gravel is good as it's very cheap, but concrete would probably be best in your case as long as you have no thoughts of changing it to paving or tarmac in the future. 

Concrete you'd need to have a good 150-250mm type 3 sub-base, base course 70-150mm, a binder course and then your concrete C20, then some kerbing at the side.

So I'd say you'd be best excavating out the old one at the minute and leveling and putting down your type 3 and 20mm aggregate and use it as your car park until you're comfortable in your savings to do the rest.

Roughly and depending on your location it's around £8.11 a tonne for the stone.


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## bigbrother (Jun 30, 2011)

As said before you could concrete the area but after a while you will look at it a wish you had gone down another route as it will look very bland.
I'm a landscaper and to block pave a small area i would charge £120 m2 because it's small.
Gravel is the cheapest option but i would go around the local builders merchants (all of them as they have different types) and have a look for either chippings or flint type gravel as these will not fly about nearly as much as pebbles.

Depending on what car you have and soil type if cost is a big issue you could get away with just clearing the existing gravel putting some driveway fabric done (from Wickes) with gravel on top.You don't want to go to deep with the gravel 3" max as you will have problems later, as for soil type if you have clay you will need 3"/4"hardcore if it's compacted sand or ironstone based soil you might get away without hardcore.


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## TRN Ent (Nov 16, 2008)

If you've got the chance to redo a driveway, consider how you might use it in the future.
Do you do work on your own cars, consider if you need to jack up your car, wont be so easy on gravel.
I think the best option would be block paved.

As for a wild card, if it was me I would consider putting in an inspection pit too if it was feasible.

Tom.


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## ollienoclue (Jan 30, 2017)

bigbrother said:


> As said before you could concrete the area but after a while you will look at it a wish you had gone down another route as it will look very bland.
> I'm a landscaper and to block pave a small area i would charge £120 m2 because it's small.
> Gravel is the cheapest option but i would go around the local builders merchants (all of them as they have different types) and have a look for either chippings or flint type gravel as these will not fly about nearly as much as pebbles.
> 
> Depending on what car you have and soil type if cost is a big issue you could get away with just clearing the existing gravel putting some driveway fabric done (from Wickes) with gravel on top.You don't want to go to deep with the gravel 3" max as you will have problems later, as for soil type if you have clay you will need 3"/4"hardcore if it's compacted sand or ironstone based soil you might get away without hardcore.


Can you get people to lay a layer of tar or whatever it is and then spread the gravel/chippings on top so they stay put? In laws had this done and they don't move and of course because the gravel is thin it is nearly silent. Also completely none slip regardless of the weather. Looks smart and a lot less oblique to the eye than say tarmac or concrete.


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## bigbrother (Jun 30, 2011)

ollienoclue said:


> Can you get people to lay a layer of tar or whatever it is and then spread the gravel/chippings on top so they stay put? In laws had this done and they don't move and of course because the gravel is thin it is nearly silent. Also completely none slip regardless of the weather. Looks smart and a lot less oblique to the eye than say tarmac or concrete.


What you have seen is Resin driveways they are very good and look very nice but there is no way to cut corners with this product it has to be done properly for it to work, which would include digging out and hardcore and concrete then resin on top.


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