Gravel Driveway Questions

[v1paul]

We're going to be getting our driveway gravelled but we're not quite sure about a few things. Firstly, can gravel be put directly onto a concrete base or so we need something slightly softer to stop the gravel moving around? Also, what size gravel is best for driveways? I've heard that 10mm gets stuck in tyre tread and large stuff is difficult to walk on.

[RonJohnson]

I'm no expert, but do have a gravel driveway. I would say that you may need something between the gravel and concrete. Where my gravel encroaches on a harder surface, it is moved about all over the place by cars (especially by the neighbour who insists on hoofing the loud pedal as soon as he's on the gravel, resulting in most of it being sprayed onto the road).

As for size, 10mm sometimes gets stuck in the tyres but I do not have great problems with this despite tyres with a fairly open tread pattern. I prefer it to the 20mm for walking on.

Edited by RonJohnson on Thursday 17th June 15:56

[briSk]

my house was owned by a bit of an eco type and it's gravel straight onto the earth. it's miles better than next door in terms of drainage but obviously we need to spray to stop the weeds.

a mates parents had gravel on concrete and it just spreadout/induced wheel spin etc. again i don;t know but i am sure a layer of hardcore or something would help...

have you thought oabout the sort of 'gravel in tar' suyrface they have at a lot of stately homes. so it looks like gravel but's erm fixed. that's something i was going to entertain the idea of in the future..

[sherman]

The Nidagravel system would work quite well for this probably but you would need to sort out a way for water to drain through the concrete.

http://www.landscaping.co.uk/nidaplast/125/default...

[v1paul]

Had a look at the NidaGravel and phoned the distributor, the drive is about 500 square metres so it would cost over 7k including delivery and VAT which is too expensive. Looking at breaking up the concrete and putting a proper base down now. I've had a little look online and most people are saying put a bit of type 1 down as a base, can anyone comment on this or give any alternatives. Really we want a nice flat look although we don't know if this is possible without paying out for the NidaGravel type stuff.

[bogie]

our place had a gravel drive when we first moved in 3 years ago

basically just some hardcore, gravel, wackered down ....as we found out, in places it was pretty deep ...too deep in fact

if you have a powerful RWD car, and you wash it, the brakes occasionally stick on if you dont dry them off afterwards = you often need some revs to break free ....not a problem on a high grip surface

you can imagine whats coming....

one weekend the girlfriend got her Sagaris stuck in it with locked front brakes...

then my Vantage a month later

a month after that at 5am, she gets so stuck in it in the Sagaris she calls the AA (!) ...AA arrived - even his truck cant get enough grip to tow her out, so he calls for a different truck ...3 hours later shes free to go to work

..I rang up the block paving company the same day, Id had enough of gravel ...a few weeks later we are sorted with a lovely real drive and path ...been fine since

gravel + powerful RWD cars is not really so clever - get yourself something 4wd LOL

[m3jappa]

Gravel over concrete is better than gravel over much else imo, as ultimately it will just rip up whats underneath as well causing a hideous mess.

Best thing to do is to use a tack coat on the concrete (after giving it a clean) then stick 20mm gravel to that, the tack coat will hold a lot of the stone. Its not perfect but its about the best way i have found.

just dont go turning hard on it or accelerating etc.

Gravel drives can be a real nightmare and DO require regular leveling out.

[cpas]

We've had 20mm gravel in driveways of a couple of houses, and it's a cheap, quick and easy way of making an even covering of whatever state your drive's in. On one house we whackered hardcore down but more recently we've just thrown the gravel over a decent layer of weed net. A tonne of gravel costs about £30 and will cover quite an area - and if you need more, you can easily lose another tonne over what you've already laid!!

[fido]

Horrible stuff. It's okay around flower beds and when you don't want to block pave the entire garden (front or rear) but else i avoid.

[MrChips]

Going against the general flow here but I love ours! Did it a few years ago and it still looks like new. Loads of MOT type 1 hardcore down, and well flattened. Then a thin layer of gravel....can't remember the exact type but it's around 20mm. Took me ages to find something decent but it was worth taking the time to do. No problems with gravel moving around or getting in tyres/shoes at all.