Pea stone/gravel for a parking pad

The local government insists that no cars or vehicles be parked on unpaved ground. I'm planning to put pea stone down and wonder what sort of preparation is required.

When my neighbor did this, they just dumped a LOT of the stone on the ground and spread it out. As you can imagine, stones went everywhere and the area was impossible to walk through because you would sink into the stones. The stones got onto the lawn from snow shoveling and banged up the lawnmower blades and occasionally sent missiles flying through the air. I'd like to avoid that, if possible, although it may just come with the territory.

Am I correct in assuming that pea stones are roundish, cream and white roundish colored stones about 3/8" in diameter while pea gravel has more ragged edges? Does anyone have pricing information for their area so I can compare the quotes I get from the several places I will be calling in the next few hours? I realize location makes a big cost difference but I am just looking for gross data points.

How much would it/should it take to create a "pad" for a minivan?

The precise wording of the ordinance says that as long as the wheels are on stone, brick or gravel, they can be just runners that the tires sit on and the whole area need not be covered in building material. I think that would look tacky, but it might be easier to control the pea stone by digging two parallel trenches, lining them with a layer of sand and then filling the trench with the stone.

Thanks in advance for your input,

Reply to
Robert Green
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You may want to check out what is called Crusher Run. It is rock that starts off about 3/4 of an inch rock and finer . Sort of like you just take a big rock and start crushing it up and get anywhere from almost dust up to the 3/4 inch stones.

The stone is not very much , maybe 10 to 15 dollars per ton. I would think maybe 5 tons would be plenty for just one car to park on. The other cost is for the truck to deliver it. Total may run from $ 150 to $ 200 depending on the area and how far the trucks have to go. If you are very far from where the rock is, there may be an added cost.

Reply to
Ralph Mowery

It's not what you've planned to do, but have you thought about using permeable pavers? You could either pave the entire parking area or just do a couple of runner tracks for the tires to rest on. The pavers can be filled with gravel or planted with grass. Here's a look at a driveway made with TurfStone permeable pavers:

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Reply to
Moe DeLoughan

"Robert Green" wrote in message news:ksolqi$3gv$ snipped-for-privacy@dont-email.me

Excavate, put in, confine edges, compact. See below. _________________

Gravel is generally considered to be water rounded stones of whatever size.

If I were going to put down an aggregate I would prefer crushed stone or crushed concrete to gravel; the rounded edges on gravel make it more "slippy". I would also want a mix of sizes up to around 3/4";again, the mix of sizes makes it less slippy.

BTW, crushed concrete makes a good base for pavers or bricks, concrete or clay (better). Where I live, you could get a 10' x 15' brick pad for about $750. All materials and labor.

Whatever you put down, you'll need to contain the edges to keep it from spreading out from weight. Concrete makes a good edging. Just digging a ditch maybe 6" wide and several inches deeper than the excavated area for your pad and filling it with your rock would help. Whatever you put down needs to be compacted mechanically; ground too, if it was disturbed.

How thick do you need it? No idea. I would guess 3-4" depending on what the soil is. ________________________

A couple of alternatives come to mind...

  1. two parellel ditches 8" deep and 16" wide. Put concrete blocks in them, fill with dirt, plant grass.

  1. washout. Washout is what is rinsed out of cement trucks after delivery. Around here it is free but you need a truck to pick it up and a way to spread it around. It doesn't set up hard like concrete but does firm up considerably.

Reply to
dadiOH

Hi Robert,

One of the prerequisites to reading AHR is that you must know every This Old House episode by heart.

(Kidding.)

Anyway, I'm 99% certain they did the pea stone deal by pouring some kind of tar, then the pea stone then a roller. Search around for the episode.

Reply to
Dan Espen

Well, that's what happened to the neighbor's pea stone - it was just dumped on the ground and raked out and from there it spread like The Blob.

I'm *completely* unfamiliar with this sort of project, which is why I asked here before searching around the web. So far, I have the general idea of digging a few inches down, lining the trench with landscaping cloth, putting down a layer of sand and then filling to the top of the trench with pea stone, pea gravel, regular gravel or one of the dozen or so stone products I see advertised locally.

Thanks for your input, Bob!

Reply to
Robert Green

Yes, I've seen that listed on the product page of one of the local stone suppliers. I just selected pea stone because a) it's mentioned by name as an acceptable material in the ordinance and b) it's what my neighbor used before she had concrete poured. Ironically about a month after it was poured the city came and cut it up to repair the pipes leading to the water meter and made what was then a very obvious repair. It seems to have aged and become less noticeable.

I am seeing numbers running exactly as you quote, varying a little based on the quality of the stone. All white pebbles cost more than gravel, etc. $157 per 1 (what that represents they don't seem to say but I am thinking maybe that's a cubic yard. I am still waiting for a callback from the city about what exactly will get them off my back. This is all because one neighbor called the parking police on another neighbor so they came out an ticketed as far as the eye could see. A reminder that neighbor wars spread just like international ones. )-;

Thanks for your input, Ralph

Reply to
Robert Green

It seems the sight of grass inflames their ticket writing glands. (-:

Sounds like a good way to keep "the Blob" contained. I guess that means calling some local cement companies to see if they have it, but it sounds fairly tricky to deal with and I am not sure I want it in my minivan!

Thanks for your input, dadiOH.

Reply to
Robert Green

Thanks. There sure are a lot of different stone/rock/pebble/gravel types out there.

That makes sense. I remember walking (or trying to!) on my neighbor's freshly laid three inch deep pea stone driveway and it was a little like quicksand. When she tried to roll the lawnmower over it the wheels just pushed up a huge ridge of stone making it almost impossible to move it.

I was quote $1200 by one guy I know. I thought that was a little high, but since I have no idea of how much elbow grease is involved, it may even be low for my area (Wash, DC).

See my comment earlied about "The Blob." I'll bet if I went to the CCTV archive I could edit together a time-lapse of her driving slowly spreading out and disappearing.

I think that's what they said in the ordinance. I guess this is the time to find it and post it here. I'll respond to the rest of your post in another reply:

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---------------- It shall be unlawful to park any motor vehicle on the unpaved area of any residential lot, except during a snow emergency. "Unpaved area" shall mean any surface not completely covered by asphalt, brick, block, concrete, gravel, crushed stone or structurally sound porous material. It shall not be necessary to provide a full platform in the surface material under the parked motor vehicle so long as the wheels of the vehicle rest on runners or other surface made of said material. Both city code enforcement officers and parking enforcement officers shall be authorized to enforce this section of the City Code. In the performance of their duties under this section, city enforcement officers are hereby authorized to enter upon private premises in order to place a parking citation on a vehicle parked in violation hereof if the vehicle is clearly visible from the street. Any restraint or hindrance offered to the entry of a city enforcement officer or the placing of a parking citation on a vehicle by any owner or tenant, or agent of an owner or tenant, is a misdemeanor.

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Sounds like if I park the van in the backyard, I am off the hook. My wife may not like that idea although if it's parked outside the bedroom, I could hear anyone trying to steal it at night - again!

Reply to
Robert Green

You have already checked with asphalt paving companies on a cost for paving? Any kind of loose stone will sink into the ground from traffic after a while, which may just months away, as was mine which started out as shale. I had to temporarily have 2x10 lumber lain down over the shale in order to walk from the car to the front door after a rain. Figure out the cost of stone that has to be overlain over the years versus asphalt paving.

Reply to
willshak

I am not sure that they will make the authorities happy. Also, I am not sure exactly what you mean by permeable pavers. I am not much of a landscaper

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Great. Thanks for the URL's

I am guessing from the wording of the ordinance and what I know from other neighbors getting hassled that grass growing through the pavers like it is in the pictures will set them off in a ticket-writing frenzy.

I have considered asphalt or concrete to make a real driveway, but I'd really rather not, if only because I feel that the city is forcing me to and I hate being forced to do anything. In the long run it's probably the right thing to do, though.

Reply to
Robert Green

Actually, I used to record them on my DVR faithfully every Saturday. Finding any one episode would be painful because they're not very well categorized. I'll look on-line. Good suggestion.

That would prevent "the Blob" from occurring. Worth a shot. I saw a product that's pea stone embedded in wire mesh but it's hideously expensive.

Thanks for your input, Dan!

Reply to
Robert Green

"Robert Green" wrote in news:ksolqi$3gv$1@dont- email.me:

I have no advice to offer on the preparation, but I sure do on the material: Pea gravel is too fine for parking vehicles. You want "crushed stone" instead. Best thing to do is to call a local stone and gravel dealer, tell them what you want the stone for and how large an area you need to cover, and let them tell you what to get and how much to get.

Reply to
Doug Miller

probably because of pm10 ordinances that were passed in the last 10 years. i had a gravel front yard, and still got a ticket for parking my car on it. i just moved it to the graveled side yard, put in a gate, and presto, it was legal.

Reply to
chaniarts

Hope you find the episode. I can't remember what they did for the base but they were doing some old house and wanted a rustic look. They may have done asphalt first. It did look pretty good when they were done.

Reply to
Dan Espen

If you go to one or two places that sell stone, gravel, etc., and ask them, they will have the answer. You just tell them what you want it for and how big of an area you want to cover (how many square feet), they will tell you what you need (or what your choices are), how much it will cost, what they charge to deliver it, etc. They'll know that you want something that compacts together (like "crushed stone", or whatever it is called) and not something that stays loose like you neighbor chose to get.

How thick? -- I don't know. If it were me, I'd probably just ask them how much I would need for a certain size space (such as 10 feet by 20 feet) and

2 inches thick. That will give you an idea of the cost. You may need more than 2 inches thick, but if it were me, I would start with that knowing that I could add more later.

Let us know what you find out and what the cost is.

Reply to
TomR

Bobby, I can empathize with your objection to being forced to do something!

However, having read through all the comments, I come away with the feeling that the pea gravel cart is pulling the driveway horse (block that metapho r!).

Personally, I wouldn't mess with any kind of gravel. Too much downside.

I'd just either dig out two trenches to the requisite depth and pour concre te for two driveway runners. Even an inept DIY like moi could almost do it .

Check with your Urban Masters to see if you're allowed to plant between the runners. That may not be such a great idea, if your car is parked there a lot. Years ago, I busted my buns to dig out and modify the soil between m y runners and seed grass. Well, you just know that it all died because did n't receive any sunshine!!!

BETWEEN the runners might be a place to put gravel, but not the tiny kind; as others have observed, it tends to fly around. If you can afford it, put grow-through pavers between the runners. Your Urban Masters might not eve n notice, since your car's wheels are on solid concrete runners.

Another (inexpensive) solution might be DG between the runners, but remembe r it has to be moistened and FIRMLY compacted.

Interesting project; keep us posted.

HB

Reply to
Higgs Boson

After I posted the above, I saw your other posts about the town and the tickets etc. I doubt that my approach will work given what is going on in your neighborhood with the officials.

My guess is that when you hear back from the officials about what you need to do, you will end up needing to have a driveway put in -- including a permit for the new driveway. If that's the case, asphalt will probably end up being the lowest cost.

If, for some reason, your town wants a driveway or parking area put it, but doesn't require a permit, you could wait until some of your neighbors have an asphalt driveway going in and ask the company doing the work what it would cost for you to have one put in while they are already there doing work on that street. I had an asphalt driveway replaced and expanded about

4 years ago. While the workers were there doing my driveway, the owner of the company went up and down the street and 3 other neighbors on the same street had him do theirs at the same time. Of course, he didn't do them all in the same day, but they had all of their equipment there and just did all of the driveways while doing mine and for 2 days after that.

In my case, I didn't get a permit and I don't know if I needed one since it was a replacement and not a new driveway. And, none of my neighbors got a permit. But, in your case, the town is there and watching every move, so you'll have to figure out what the requirements are and then just do what they say.

Reply to
TomR

check maximum area coverage for driveways. in my town, there's a %age maximum front yard coverage with hard surfaces (paving, concrete, etc) to prevent someone from paving their entire front yard for parking.

Reply to
chaniarts

No gravel, it doesn't nest. Look into #57 limestone.

Reply to
Russ N.

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