How to swap grass for gravel down the side of our house?

How to swap grass for gravel down the side of our house?

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Discussion

Tiggsy

Original Poster:

10,261 posts

251 months

Wednesday 21st August 2019
quotequote all
Our rear garden is 100% patio (and the best thing we ever did - now gets used all the time and is literally another room of the house) anywayyyyyy....the only grass I own is down the side of the house and I want it gone!

Is it as simple as take off the top 2 inches, lay weed fabric, gravel - done?

Should I do more of a "driveway" type job and stick a sub base down to keep it looking good for years to come?

How much extra work would be needed to have that front bit of sufficinet hardiness that I could park on it (on the odd occasion we have lots of friends over and I need the space?

Any gravel tips?

Others nearby have done a similar thing and they all look grim with weeds, weed liner on show, etc, etc


Chrisgr31

13,440 posts

254 months

Wednesday 21st August 2019
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I'd be inclined to dig out a couple of inches, chuck down some weed fabric, and put gravel on top, then weedkill when they come through which they will as dirt that gets in the gravel forms a base for the roots. However dont forget small gravel means you are creating a litter tray for cats!

rfn

4,530 posts

206 months

Thursday 22nd August 2019
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I think if you want to park on it I personally thinkyou'll need to dig deeper and get some hardcore down (& wacker-plate it).

We did our front garden in gravel about 18 months ago - pics for before/during/after below. I dug out 9 tonnes of soil.. it's approx 8m square (so a lot bigger than your area, I accept!)

P.S. as an aside, hiring the digger was the most fun I'd had in years.





Edited by rfn on Thursday 22 August 07:56

Tiggsy

Original Poster:

10,261 posts

251 months

Thursday 22nd August 2019
quotequote all
So what is under that gravel you are now parking on in the picture it looks like it spread on the dirt? But I assume you put some hard-core down first?

DocJock

8,341 posts

239 months

Thursday 22nd August 2019
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For similar, I used 150mm MOT 1 sub base, compacted with whacker plate, topped with compacted 20mm gravel.

Initforthemoney

743 posts

143 months

Thursday 22nd August 2019
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Use grids if you are going to gravel it.

RC1807

12,482 posts

167 months

Thursday 22nd August 2019
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Initforthemoney said:
Use grids if you are going to gravel it.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/b/Gravel-Grid/181029/bn_7023402847

Riley Blue

20,915 posts

225 months

Thursday 22nd August 2019
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I have a similar strip at the side of my house, I put slate chippings on top of the membrane. No weeds after five years and no problems with cats either.

Happy Jim

964 posts

238 months

Thursday 22nd August 2019
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Tiggsy said:
So what is under that gravel you are now parking on in the picture it looks like it spread on the dirt? But I assume you put some hard-core down first?
Looks like Type 1 via a potato camera!!

AWRacing

1,710 posts

224 months

Thursday 22nd August 2019
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How old is your house?
Are there any restrictions on what you can/cant do in your deeds?

If you dont fancy hiring a minidigger take a look at hiring a turf cutter to help with digging up grass. In theory you should get an uniform cut depth that way - they arent great for stoney soil though

Tiggsy

Original Poster:

10,261 posts

251 months

Thursday 22nd August 2019
quotequote all
AWRacing said:
How old is your house?
Are there any restrictions on what you can/cant do in your deeds?

If you dont fancy hiring a minidigger take a look at hiring a turf cutter to help with digging up grass. In theory you should get an uniform cut depth that way - they arent great for stoney soil though
House is 2 years old so restrictions aplenty! But all the neighbours have done similar and the management firm dont seem to care.

Chrisgr31

13,440 posts

254 months

Thursday 22nd August 2019
quotequote all
If you are going to dig to any significant depth take care to ensure that

- either you are insured to cover the cost of repairing a gas supply pipe, an electric cable, water pipe or phone line

- or you dig carefully by hand, although I was hand digging when I went through the gas pipe.

Its expensive to have the utility companies out!

Tiggsy

Original Poster:

10,261 posts

251 months

Friday 23rd August 2019
quotequote all
OK - taken off the top soil, now going to rake it level before laying a weed fabric. Now, should I get a wacker plate and really flatten out the raken ground before I put the fabric down? Can you wack dry top soil?

In one spot I'm going to dig deeper and put hardcore down as a car will be parked on it (occasionally) but the rest is soil/fabric/gravel.

sfella

876 posts

107 months

Friday 23rd August 2019
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No you cant whacker soil, it just sticks to the plate

rfn

4,530 posts

206 months

Monday 26th August 2019
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Tiggsy said:
So what is under that gravel you are now parking on in the picture it looks like it spread on the dirt? But I assume you put some hard-core down first?
Yes approx 40-50mm of hardcore, whacked down with the wacker plate.