JohnBishop

I can see this installation guide for Ecogrid https://ecogrid.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/EcoGrid-Gravel-Fill-Installation-Sheet.pdf Did you work out the thickness of your subbase? There is a table for "Field guidance for estimating sub-grade strengths". I understand this is basically how much clay is in the soil what makes it soft or firm. In my case it's no clay at all but soil and pretty much all sand underneath. I reckon the subbase supposed to between 200-100mm I see some installers putting the grid directly onto the membrane without screed (sharp sand) some don't even use the membrane:

I just received a can of Rustoleum Galva Zinc and a can of ISOPON Zinc 182 Rust Inhibiting Primer I reckon I should choose between one of them.

it looks like the gas pipe had a bit of a slack on it and it waved up to about 35cm deep however once we exposed it we were able to lower it to 50cm. I slowly slopes down as it goes away from the public pavement. We also come across a water pipe (blue) at about 70cm. Can someone recommend a suitable membrane to put to cover the driveway area before we put MOT aggregate? This is going to be a 20cm layer of mot then 5cm grid+gravel

That's awesome. We started with post bases but now we are into metallurgy and I want to open an iron foundry 🙂 They all seem to make it cheap, galvanised does not equal galvanised and 304 does not equal 316.

Thanks SimonD We are going to expose the pipe and see how deep it is. I think it slopes down towards the house so it could be between 35cm-60cm deep or it doesn't go parallel to the fence. So I understand the idea is to bed the pipe in sand and cover with a slab, so we don't need to create a void, a bridge over it just make sure the pipe is 10cm in sand below the slab.

Here it is all 3 different bases: The first one (grey) was the most expensive and supposed to be stainless steel but you can see the rust coming up where the cuts are. The next two (silvery) supposed to be galvanised but one already has the rust in the corners. The 3rd one is the one I am going to use, the cheapest of all, it hasn't been exposed to elements to show any rust yet.

while digging we come across some pipe, it's yellow, it's either water or gas. This looks like is going to be below a new layer of new material (MOT) 20cm MOT and 5cm grid with gravel. Do we have to cover this pipe with anything to protect it from vibrations at this depth 25-30cm?

Believe it or not but on galvanised one I see rust forming in one spot. I also have one base that supposed to be stainless steel and it also developed rust. These were exposed to elements for about 3 weeks.

Do you mean Hammerite is no longer solvent but water based paint?

primer then Black Jack bitumen paint?

ok so zinc phosphate metal primer (1 coat) then Hammerite (1 coat)?

Hi All, I hope you are well. I have a number of these galvanised post bases, I think I should preserve it as the rust is going to pop up on some of these welds soonish. What paint (multiple coats should I put on it)? Also should it be spray or slap it with a paintbrush? I can see Hammerite but still not sure which one as there are "direct to rust" ones. Cheers

Ok, a small update. I got 4 of these new bases. Since I will have to remove the existing concrete and pouring new concrete bases I am going to do all 4 of the in the same way. What do think about these? These are 5mm galvanised on the big piece however the 40x40mm foot it looks like is only 3mm thick steel. Is this enough? The old ones after good few weeks exposure to elements. It looks like the most expensive, stainless steel one developed some rust! Now in terms of concrete bases themselves. How wide and deep these concrete bases should be? 30x30cm and 1.5 feet deep? They will go 24cm away from the wall. Unfortunately it looks like they all end up on the existing expansion gaps. Please advise

I have drilled some holes and it looks like the concrete is only 4 inches = 10cm deep and from PDFs you attached (thank you) the anchor length is 13cm minimum for M10 M10 studs 130/170/190mm M12 studs 160/190/220/260mm I think in this case I have to cut the concrete out and see if I can make twice as deep footings like 40cm deep or something.

Hi again All, I continue to work on it and I realised I need to address the runoff rainwater on the side wall. There is tarmac and concrete between the houses and there is a bit of slope down towards my house what you can see on the picture. Neighbour's DPC line is at least a foot above mine and rainwater that hits this hard surface between the buildings, I would say 15-20 sqm runs towards my wall and have nowhere to go. Not sure why they did it this way but this whole bit next to the wall filled with gravel is contained, rainwater has nowhere to go without soaking the wall at the same time. You can see it being wet. I mean the gravel is no longer doing it's job as over the years mixed with soil, it holds moisture, some weeds pop up, also fat worms present in it tell me it's not gravel anymore. While excavating this material I hit sand in few places but I still don't believe this is how the rainwater should be directed just next to the wall. So I am thinking about extending this drainage to the existing one in the front yard. What do you think? Orange on the picture is the existing soakaway that goes somewhere, the French drain with a 60mm perforated pipe (red on the picture) will go over that soakaway and next to the retaining wall This is how it looks in relation to the schematic: Just so you know this is not square but of this shape because of the concrete footing that redirects rainwater even closer to the wall. We will see if I can dig out a hole under the concrete to run the pipe or will have to cut the concrete.

what geomembrane for domestic use? this is not a weed barrier right? I have some thick weed membrane left. Is it something I can get from a DYI store or better order online? I will order the pipe online as this will not fit into my car anyway.

In this article I can see the spec for a retaining wall https://www.pavingexpert.com/featur03#retain I can see I need a drainage board. This wall is going to be ~25cm high + 15cm concrete footing. Should I use bricks (using English or Flemish bond) or blocks and decorative bricks on top? I mean apart from visual difference is there any structural difference? I understand the retaining wall should be at least 20cm wide (2 bricks bonded or a block).

Right so soakaway is a dead way. The sewage line is on the other side of the building so still wondering what is this manhole for. What flexible pipe should I use for the French drain? How is it called?

This is what I have come up with. The existing soaker way goes perpendicular towards the gate (on the other side of the door pedestal), I reckon it connects with that drain somehow but I am still waiting for the lid keys to open it. I also poured some coke over it few times hoping it will dissolve the rust. It looks like it's bonded solid. It is at an angle which is a bit strange. The other thing is that this French drain between the retaining wall and the existing concrete is taking space. The car is 455cm so it will be sticking out over the retaining wall or parked at an angle. Do I really need it? Or should I make it narrower e.g. 5cm rather than 15cm.

We dug out a trench and there is sand pretty close to the surface. If I remove the surface soil do I really have to dig out another 25-30cm (for 50mm thick grids) then put down MOT Type3 in place of sand or just top it up with MOT aggregate?

This EcoGrid E50 looks cool. It can be joined with Bloxx to mix gravel filled grids with stone filled grids.

Yes, you're right it's more lightweight. The size of the grid is 0.5sqm I though it's 5.2kg per grid. This EcoGrid E50 looks solid for 5cm of thickness. Why would I want to go for 8cm thick grids?

Thank you. Yeah I saw these medium load grids and they look fragile, won't last. Have you seen Nidagravel promoted by Charlie DIYte? https://www.nidagraveluk.co.uk/gravel-stabilisation-grids/ Nidagravel heavy duty one is 5.2kg per 0.5sqm = 10.2kg per sqm (£14.48 per m2 + VAT) but only 40mm thick. they also make these grass reinforcement grids https://www.nidagraveluk.co.uk/grass-reinforcement-grids/ actually I could do some of it like that. You can park a car or double park but only temporarily but you still have grass. What do you think?

for anchors how do you think which resin is better Vinylester (Fisher) or Styrene-free Polyester (Rawplug, Dewalt) or does not matter much?

by the way the road is not busy, it's not the main road, maybe ~100 cars a day? I agree MOT Type1 once it dries it hardens. I think it's because it has more fine stuff in it.