How much gravel?
Discussion
) and am wondering if anyone knows a formula for working out how many tons i will need and what approximate depth is best?Wacky Racer said:
Stand back, estimate it very carefully and multiply by 3.
That's always been my rule of thumb.....
Which is what I did a few years back when I wanted to re-gravel my front garden. Also, it appeared that you can buy 20 tonnes for not very much more than 10 tonnes.That's always been my rule of thumb.....
So I bought 20 tonnes. To cover an areas about 15 by 20 metres.
It took me 2 days to spread it around, about 6-12 inches deep. Which is good for weed prevention, but no so good for parking or walking on. It was like being at the beach.
So I started using as much as I could to do the paths around the house, the concrete base of a massive shed, gave it away to freinds and neighbours, etc... and I still had issues parking and moving cars in the front!
Took about 3 years for it to flatten down so it could be walked/driven on properly! LOL
I got a quote today for 7m3 (after compaction) of MOT Type1 crushed concrete, they told me I need 13.5 tonnes, that's 1,920Kg/tonne as previously mentioned (so I don't doubt the 1620 for gravel).
Anyone know how long it would take to move a pile of Type1 around 15m by wheelbarrow? I'm guessing I'd need 20 barrows of 50Kg, 2 minutes to fill with a shovel, push it 15m, and tip it out. That's 40 minutes per tonne, say an hour with plenty of breaks... but has anyone done it for real?
Anyone know how long it would take to move a pile of Type1 around 15m by wheelbarrow? I'm guessing I'd need 20 barrows of 50Kg, 2 minutes to fill with a shovel, push it 15m, and tip it out. That's 40 minutes per tonne, say an hour with plenty of breaks... but has anyone done it for real?
Edited by -Pete- on Tuesday 8th March 18:04
-Pete- said:
I got a quote today for 7m3 (after compaction) of MOT Type1 crushed concrete, they told me I need 13.5 tonnes, that's 1,920Kg/tonne as previously mentioned (so I don't doubt the 1620 for gravel).
Anyone know how long it would take to move a pile of Type1 around 15m by wheelbarrow? I'm guessing I'd need 20 barrows of 50Kg, 2 minutes to fill with a shovel, push it 15m, and tip it out. That's 40 minutes per tonne, say an hour with plenty of breaks... but has anyone done it for real?
Hmmmm that means I need 27 tonnes for the 14m3 of MOT that I need to do my drive/lawn with. Think I'll need a digger to move it around!Anyone know how long it would take to move a pile of Type1 around 15m by wheelbarrow? I'm guessing I'd need 20 barrows of 50Kg, 2 minutes to fill with a shovel, push it 15m, and tip it out. That's 40 minutes per tonne, say an hour with plenty of breaks... but has anyone done it for real?
Edited by -Pete- on Tuesday 8th March 18:04
TheEnd said:
Crushed concrete isn't the nicest looking stuff, they'll be all sorts in it.
If the wagon driver has space, he can tip slowly and inch forwards and spread most of it rather than a big heap.
There's an access problem, and half of it needs to go round the side of the house. It's going to be covered with something, just worked out that pavers will cost another £1000 (sigh). So maybe 20mm gravel, around £100 from Wickes.If the wagon driver has space, he can tip slowly and inch forwards and spread most of it rather than a big heap.
OK, so how about 15 tonnes = 15 barrows of 66Kg, 2 minutes to fill with a shovel, push it 15m, and tip it out. That's 30 minutes per tonne, 7.5 hours plus breaks? I know I'm going to regret this...
If you want to turn a grassed area into a parking area you don't want to be just chucking gravel on top. The grass will come though, you'll sink into the soil and it will be a right old mess as the worms throw soil up through the gravel.
Scrape the top surface off. Lay and compact a layer of type 1 4-6 inches deep. Mix a bit of cement dust in there and water it down to make a really good job. Then throw a couple of inches of gravel down on top. Job done.
You will need a digger and a vibrating roller, you could possibly get away with a vibrating compactor but a roller would be best. By the time you've hired everything and messed around it just might be worth getting a quote to do the job.
Henry
Scrape the top surface off. Lay and compact a layer of type 1 4-6 inches deep. Mix a bit of cement dust in there and water it down to make a really good job. Then throw a couple of inches of gravel down on top. Job done.
You will need a digger and a vibrating roller, you could possibly get away with a vibrating compactor but a roller would be best. By the time you've hired everything and messed around it just might be worth getting a quote to do the job.
Henry
-Pete- said:
OK, so how about 15 tonnes = 15 barrows of 66Kg, 2 minutes to fill with a shovel, push it 15m, and tip it out. That's 30 minutes per tonne, 7.5 hours plus breaks? I know I'm going to regret this...
i'm curious as to how this went. either it took 3 times longer than estimated or you now have a very bad back! 
as for me, i need to fill an area of 10m x 5m but i have no idea how deep it needs to be.
the area is currently very uneven mud level with the lawn and patio. i am going to be levelling this off and then taking the depth of gravel required off this level so the resultant gravelled area sits flush with the patio. there will be a weedproof membrane going under the gravel. needs to be deep enough to look good whilst being easy to walk on.
i think 50mm will be ok, equating to 2.5m3 or roughly 4tonnes of 10mm clean gravel. sound good?
I haven't done it yet, I'm still trying to decide whether to do it all in one week over Easter, or order 10 tonnes, see how far it goes (and how long it takes) and then I'll know what I need for the second load. I'll post on this thread when I actually get round to doing something about it... possibly from the 'back hospital'
I believe that soil once excavated is around 2x the volume of compacted soil, so when you level it you may have to compact/wack it before measuring, or leave it for a period of time to settle. Good luck.
I believe that soil once excavated is around 2x the volume of compacted soil, so when you level it you may have to compact/wack it before measuring, or leave it for a period of time to settle. Good luck.
Well, to actually help the OP, one tonne will cover approximately ten square metres at 50mm thick. That goes for pretty much all common materials, except soil which is much lighter per cubic metre.
Oh, and those bulk bags are approx. half a cubic metre, or one tonne. We used to put a tonne in each, but we started to see our sales drop, so we acquired bags from all our local competitors, and weighed them. The amounts in some were, quite frankly, embarrassing, given that most of the local builders were expecting to be buying a tonne. No wonder some could undercut us by 20%, given how little they were putting in the bags!
For parking vehicles on, we usually suggest using all crushed or 50/50 crushed/round, as this will tend to stay where you put it, the round stuff just acts like ball bearings. 14-20mm is ideal, too large to get stuck in the tyre treads and too small to make it hard to walk on.
Just beware that large expanses of gravel shout "drug-dealer", especially if it covers the paths as well as the driveway.
Oh, and those bulk bags are approx. half a cubic metre, or one tonne. We used to put a tonne in each, but we started to see our sales drop, so we acquired bags from all our local competitors, and weighed them. The amounts in some were, quite frankly, embarrassing, given that most of the local builders were expecting to be buying a tonne. No wonder some could undercut us by 20%, given how little they were putting in the bags!
For parking vehicles on, we usually suggest using all crushed or 50/50 crushed/round, as this will tend to stay where you put it, the round stuff just acts like ball bearings. 14-20mm is ideal, too large to get stuck in the tyre treads and too small to make it hard to walk on.
Just beware that large expanses of gravel shout "drug-dealer", especially if it covers the paths as well as the driveway.
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