Gravel for path: what happens if you deviate from the 10mm size recommendation

[Adsibob]

I read somewhere that 10mm stone was the recommended size for a footpath made of gravel. However, SWMBO has fallen in love with one gravel which is described as 3-8mm and another which is described as 14mm to 20mm.  FFS!

 

Are either of these sizes viable alternatives? I imagine the 3-8mm should be quite comfortable to walk on, but likely to get stuck in the bottom of people's trainers, whereas the 14mm to 20mm will be slightly uncomfortable if you walk on a 20mm pebble that is otherwise surrounded by 14mm stone.

 

Shall i just stick to 10mm?

[ProDave]

FAR more important than size, is the type.

 

We once made a gravel area with 20mm stones, but they were all rounded stones and they just rolled on each other, bad enough to walk on, hopeless te drive on.  Whatever you get make sure they are crushed or irregular shaped stone.

[Adsibob]

7 minutes ago, ProDave said:

FAR more important than size, is the type.

 

We once made a gravel area with 20mm stones, but they were all rounded stones and they just rolled on each other, bad enough to walk on, hopeless te drive on.  Whatever you get make sure they are crushed or irregular shaped stone.

Good to know!

 

The two contenders are:

 

1. The 3-8mm one which looks fairly angular in these pictures, but the intended "applications" on the website lists various things EXCEPT it doesn't list paths, which is somewhat of a red flag! 
2. The 14mm to 20mm one does say "Suitable for low traffic gravel driveways & footpaths", so maybe this is best. Here are the pics.

[SteamyTea]

My rear is coated in 20mm crushed granite.

Noisy, but done a good job over the last 17 years.

Bits still get picked up by my walking boots, but most of it has stayed in place.

I did put a weed membrane down first, but that has long disintegrated.

[saveasteading]

1 hour ago, SteamyTea said:

My rear is coated in 20mm crushed granite

!

[SteamyTea]

1 minute ago, saveasteading said:

!

Ok.

Cornish granite.

 

[saveasteading]

Single size gravel will not bind. 

The sizes quoted are what has  gone through a sieve of that size. Some could be much bigger in one direction. So you have to see samples.

 

The 3 mm is almost sand. This will be stronger but a bit functional.

 

For a footpath, 10mm is fine.

 

 

[Adsibob]

4 hours ago, saveasteading said:

Single size gravel will not bind. 

The sizes quoted are what has  gone through a sieve of that size. Some could be much bigger in one direction. So you have to see samples.

 

 

Samples arriving soon. I will post pictures when they do.

[Adsibob]

Right, the good news is that we went with the larger size gravel and laid it and it's fine to walk on. Ultimately we realised we'd be more bothered by small bits of gravel getting stuck to boots or flying over the edging strip onto the lawn then the minor discomfort of walking on thicker gauge stones. But it's fine.

The less good news is that the 200g sample, though perfectly representative of the gravel which was eventually purchased and delivered, was not really enough of a quantity to get an idea of what it would look like installed. Now that we've laid 850kg of it, it looks much brighter in colour than the 200g scattered across a paving stone which was how we checked the colours would go well together. We're idiots. Anyone should have realised that a few pixels look different to a densely pixelled image.

 

Fortunately, we were short on gravel, and still need to buy another 400kg to 500kg or so to finish the path. This therefore creates a possible opportunity to fix the colour issue. The 2/3 of the path that has been laid is too light. We could spread that out across the whole path area, and then buy the remaining gravel of a slightly darker grey and top up the thinly spread gravel with that grey. Is that likely to darken the appearance of the path or is this not going to work. The mix is a mix of grey, white, pink and beige, but there is too much white in it really. I had thought about removing the white stones by hand and topping up with more of the same mix (of which I would remove the white stones as well) but I think that is super made way of wasting time. There must be thousands of white stones.

 

I sometimes think I'm going mad. Then i have to remind myself I already went mad... long ago. Does that mean I'm getting madder and madder? 

[Jilly]

Overthinking seems to be the bane of self building...

[SteamyTea]

I thought my graveled (20mm granite) rear was a bit light at first. I soon got used to it, and it has darkened over the years.