ToughButterCup Posted December 18, 2017 Share Posted December 18, 2017 This will be a small car park. So far I have put some drainage piping under it, covered it with what was left over from our MOT 1 pile and levelled it with our digger. I'd like to prettify it as cheaply as is sensible. My thoughts are to roll it as flat as I can get it, put some of that black membrane down to suppress weeds, and then tip some 40 to dust on top of that. Roll that to with a mm of it's life and then wait for the rain to 'tighten things up' And then put some pretty gravel on it. I know gravel isn't ideal : it moves..... But it's always the same old story: how do I do just enough to make it look a million dollars with only a hundred in my bank account? I'm sure someone has faced this challenge before. May I plagiarise your ideas please? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Construction Channel Posted December 18, 2017 Share Posted December 18, 2017 Pretty much as you have described. But make sure you only put 1-2” of gravel on it. Or even better if you use crushed stone it doesn’t move quite as much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferdinand Posted December 18, 2017 Share Posted December 18, 2017 (edited) Edgings. Edgings are important. And something to keep the gravel in the car park not the road. We have some of the most expensive edgings because the bloke gave us a fixed price and said "choose any edging". Edgings could be anything that retains the gravel - my current project has used 150mm x 50mm sixties knobbly concrete edgings that wer already on site, but angled bricks can work well. For retaining gravel, a row of bricks on the edge can work - they just need to be slightly proud. Or even spaced bricks if the spacing makes gravel wedge between. On gravel, the normal stuff rather than decorative can look fine. There is a thread about pricing somewhere, but I was paying approx £33 per bag for 8 or so, delivered. Some came from Wickes, but the Civil Eng. side of Buildbase had good prices. Or cheaper by the lorry from the Lancs version of Joe the Quarryman down the road. F Edited December 18, 2017 by Ferdinand Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterW Posted December 18, 2017 Share Posted December 18, 2017 I pay £13/ton delivered for a min of 15 tons. That’s standard golden gravel which is 5-7mm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToughButterCup Posted December 18, 2017 Author Share Posted December 18, 2017 45 minutes ago, Ferdinand said: [...] Or cheaper by the lorry from the Lancs version of Joe the Quarryman down the road. [...] We have just the man....remember this? Well, he's got what I need at a price I can afford. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russell griffiths Posted December 18, 2017 Share Posted December 18, 2017 Is this temporary or permanent? i have found even with the black membrane you will get weeds they can grow from top down as well as from bottom up you will find you will get weeds from any form of seed spread be it the wind or birds or you wheeling the mower across the surface. Unless this is going to be the mutts nuts finished article I think I wouldn’t bother with the membrane. Get some roundup and give it a spray every now and again to keep the edges tidy. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oz07 Posted December 18, 2017 Share Posted December 18, 2017 angular gravel for the finished surface. Binds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProDave Posted December 18, 2017 Share Posted December 18, 2017 Yes be careful what gravel you get. You want crushed stones that will be angular and bind together. Don't male the mistake I did once and got a load of "20mm gravel" All lovely roundish stones. It was like driving on marbles, hopeless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToughButterCup Posted December 18, 2017 Author Share Posted December 18, 2017 Must go to AngularRus then... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpmiller Posted December 18, 2017 Share Posted December 18, 2017 Rolled road planings maybe? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger440 Posted December 18, 2017 Share Posted December 18, 2017 Have you been on pavingexpert? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curlewhouse Posted December 29, 2017 Share Posted December 29, 2017 We got some road planings for £8 a tonne delivered as a temporary measure when the site got muddy, but I'm so pleased with how they've bedded in that I'm going to use them as the bed before my own gravel driveway goes in (the plan is to use ecogrid stuff in between to keep the gravel in place and the same eco grid where my driveway crosses the village green, but with grass growing through it on that part). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe90 Posted December 29, 2017 Share Posted December 29, 2017 +1 on road plannings, I have put down 150 ton and it’s brill, compacted really well, just need to level it off and finish with tarmac when we have finished the house. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auchlossen Posted December 29, 2017 Share Posted December 29, 2017 Planings are good as a road surface, binding into a solid structure. However I am not sure what your objective is re water. You say you have put some drainage pipes in. The planings will make an impervious layer, they are after all macadam from roads, and will become as solid an impervious as a road when compressed, or even more so if you were to put some diesel into the mix. But if you want to create a free draining bed, then you should avoid planings and also Type1 [whose dust binds down into an impervious layer], and use broken rock as a base. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferdinand Posted December 29, 2017 Share Posted December 29, 2017 I *would* use a membrane because it likely only to be perhaps 1-2% of the budget and will keep the materials separate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gow Posted August 24, 2023 Share Posted August 24, 2023 On 29/12/2017 at 12:56, curlewhouse said: (the plan is to use ecogrid stuff in between to keep the gravel in place and the same eco grid where my driveway crosses the village green, but with grass growing through it on that part). Did you stick to your plan and use eco grid? If so, would you recommend using eco grid? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToughButterCup Posted August 24, 2023 Author Share Posted August 24, 2023 2 hours ago, Gow said: Did you stick to your plan and use eco grid? If so, would you recommend using eco grid? Thanks Oh God! I still haven't done it. BUT , work is scheduled for this October. Plan (cross section and plan will be posted here) in September.... I think, definitely, more than likely, probably. Yeah. Hmmmm.... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carrerahill Posted August 24, 2023 Share Posted August 24, 2023 On 18/12/2017 at 09:00, ToughButterCup said: This will be a small car park. So far I have put some drainage piping under it, covered it with what was left over from our MOT 1 pile and levelled it with our digger. I'd like to prettify it as cheaply as is sensible. My thoughts are to roll it as flat as I can get it, put some of that black membrane down to suppress weeds, and then tip some 40 to dust on top of that. Roll that to with a mm of it's life and then wait for the rain to 'tighten things up' And then put some pretty gravel on it. I know gravel isn't ideal : it moves..... But it's always the same old story: how do I do just enough to make it look a million dollars with only a hundred in my bank account? I'm sure someone has faced this challenge before. May I plagiarise your ideas please? I would not put on 40-fines if you are going to put decorative gravel on it, that will impede drainage, I would just put down hardcore and compact it to within an inch of its life, then place a suitable gravel on top. That is what I did on our drive and some 4-5 years later it still looking as it should. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToughButterCup Posted August 24, 2023 Author Share Posted August 24, 2023 Thanks @Carrerahill. Current thinking is dig out to 300 below FL > Mot 3 compacted > underlay -300- SWA to gate area - 3 - 4(?) core > underlay -310- 17mm duct for Fiber BB> embed junction box for BB (B4RN) EcoDeck 500> topsoil , rough grass mix> two rows of cobbles to curtilage set back 750mm > concrete nosing to road deck. > Blacktop to road edge . Tea, medals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Ambrose Posted August 24, 2023 Share Posted August 24, 2023 >>> Tea, medals. Nice idea re the medals - you have campaign ribbons and all? I just finished 70 m^2 of ecogrid 30 for pedestrian use. Fairly pleased although it's not cheap. The company that sells it was dodgy over delivery though. Paid for 'next day' and it turned up on day 3/4 (I forget). Asked them to sort less than 7.5T truck as we live on a narrow lane. Arrived in a van after the truck decided he couldn't be bothered (we get 7.5s regularly). Had to unload an entire van full by hand rather than with a hiab. A kind of couldn't-be-ar5ed attitude. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToughButterCup Posted August 26, 2023 Author Share Posted August 26, 2023 It looks like you've used gravel to fill the grid. What sort of gravel did you use? It looks really nice and I'm quite impressed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larry Posted September 6, 2023 Share Posted September 6, 2023 We've put grids on our drive filled with 10/20 round shingle. Works well but wouldn't have got anything bigger in terms of the aggregate. Really rate the grids. Reduces movement significantly and much easier to push a buggy /Wheely bin whatever over it. We did terram (from eBay) then MOT, sand layer and then the grids. Bought a second hand compactor for the MOT. Do get a few weeds I guess from seeds that make their way in but easy to remove. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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