How to refresh a gravel driveway?

Hillmatt33

Hi All

I would like to refresh our old gravel driveway, the driveway is sandy and has weeds growing through it.

The idea would be to dig a trench on the fence line for a garden bed and refurbish the rest with some fresh stone.

I'm hoping for some guidance on how to best lay the new stones, I dont think ordering in fresh stone and just tossing it on top will be a great option as the stones will be too loose.

Is there any ground works I should do before laying the new stone or compacting I should do after laying new stone?

Does anyone have any guidance on how to go about doing this project, I'm keen on a DIY even if it will be a mountain of work.

Thanks

MitchellMc

Hi @Hillmatt33,

You might like to check out these Strol 0.5m² PebbleLock Permeable Pavers, as they are designed to lock pebbles into place and create a stable surface that does not creep. Alternatively, the more budget-friendly option would be to install an edging on both sides and along the entire driveway length to prevent the stones from being pushed outwards under the weight of vehicles.

I'd presume the existing drive is well-compacted already. Depending on your pebble size, you could consider compacting it after laying. However, if it's a larger-sized pebble (>12mm), it'll be hard to get a good compaction as they're just not fine enough to interlock sufficiently.

You might also like to consider having someone come in with a bobcat and scrape 10cm off the top of the drive. This will provide a sunken space to lay your new pebbles in. The 10cm high walls should help retain the pebbles within the area.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell

Hillmatt33

Thanks Mitch

Budget is a consideration so I don't think we will go with Strol 0.5m² PebbleLock Permeable Pavers.

The driveway is well compacted, I think installing some edging to keep the stone in would be benificial followed buy some compacting after, the driveway is already slightly sunken so if I installed edging 5-10cm high followed by some compacting would this work?

Can you reccomend what sort of edging I could install and how to install it to make sure the weight of vehicles don't push the stone outwards?

I'm thinking of using some 10mm blue agregatte for the driveway do you think this would be a suitable material for the driveway and also be able to be compacted after?

Thanks

EricL

Hi @Hillmatt33

I propose using 150 x 50mm 1.8m Treated Pine Sleeper H4 - 1.8m in combination with Galvanized sleeper post joiners. You can dig a little channel where the sleeper could sit in, and the galvanized post joiners would keep the sleepers lined up. This is on the condition that it's allowed and not running into public property owned by the council.

The sleepers would act as a container for the gravel and prevent it from being spread out to the sides. However, I would still recommend thinking about installing the Strol 0.5m² PebbleLock Permeable Pavers even on just the portion where the wheels of the car are going over. The plastic frame will prevent the vehicle from sinking into the gravel as it designed to support surface weight.

If you need further assistance, please let us know.

Eric

Hillmatt33

Thanks Eric

The Driveway is 32m long so it gets quite expensive if I add in the Strol pavers.

I think the treated pine and galvanized sleaper post joints will be the way to go.

My only concern is the loosness of the stones on top if I don't go with the Strol pavers, as Mitch said if I go with stones smaller than 10mm and hire a compactor do you think this will be sufficient to get a good level of compaction and mitigate somewhat the loose top stones?

Thanks

MitchellMc

Creating boarders with the sleepers and getting the stones to compact sufficiently between them will mitigate some of the movement @Hillmatt33. I'm sure @EricL will let us know if he has other thoughts.

Mitchell