Driveway

[ronnie]

Am just about to move to a new house. The driveway is 4 metres wide and aprox 100 metres long. It slopes up to the house and is covered in granite chips. The problem is the rutting caused by vehicles driving up the slope to the house. This starts off as a small indentation then builds quickly to 'ditch'. I need a surface that will not move under load. The obvious solution is monoblock but this is not in sympathy with the building. I was thinking of tarmac or concrete. Any other thoughts?. Will I run into problems with Scottish Water with the rain runoff. Any advice???

[The Medway Handyman]

Best resource on the web for advice

The problem is the rutting caused by vehicles driving

Properly laid gravel drives don't move under load. Mine certainly doesn't move at all. I suspect that they have just dumped 10mm gravel down as a quick & cheap surface without a proper sub base..

Block, tarmac or concrete on a 400 sq/mtr drive will cost an arm and several legs. Properly laid gravel about half the price of blocks. No drainage problems with gravel.

[Phil L]

It's done in granite chips because of the costs of doing it in other materials. I install block paving or paving slabbed drives and the cost is approximately £40 per sq metre, you have 400 of these making it £16,000, and that's for bog standard materials (plain grey flags or brindle block paving) Concrete looks revolting (even the imprinted stuff after a few years when it's cracked up / been excavated / bleached in the sun) Tarmac may be your best bet but expect to pay about 9 grand if you want it doing properly.

[The Medway Handyman]

Probably about right, just dump gravel at about £20 a ton.

Properly laid gravel on a 100mm sub base is around £27 per square metre, so by comparison around £10,000.

Paving expert reckons £35 sq/m for tarmac, so thats more like £14K

As it happens Sir, I have some tarmac left over from a job just around the corner, I can do you a good price begorrah!

[Owain]

That's not a driveway, it's a bloody runway!

Owain

[The Natural Philosopher]

If you continue to rake, eventually the chips will bed down..but I have to say that tarmac-ing the chips is most appealing...if only it were cheaper...

[Rob Morley]

A few truck loads of limestone chippings and a big vibra-roller?

[ronnie]

Thanks everyone for your input. This is the first time I have asked a question and am delighted with the yime and effort you have given

[The Medway Handyman]

We sometimes like to lull newcomers into a false sense of security ..............

:-)

[Nick]

I was thinking of dumping limestone chips on my driveway but I'd like it to stay there. At present I have scoria which has bedded down nicely, but I'd like something that looks a bit better. The guy along the road has large limestone chips that shift around a lot. Perhaps if there was a variety of sizes of chip it might bed down better. I assume that throwing in some cement would be a bad thing?

[zymurgy]

Why not hire one of those self powered rollers and go over it with that to compact it for a couple of hours.

P.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Limestone doesn't shift around at all.

Not after a few 30 tonners have been over it.

It ends up like a section of the chalk downs, all smashed into a lovely porous, but stable layer.

Trouble is, it doesn't in the end look very good, grass grows, and it eventually wears out.

But for light use, its the bees knees.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Just arrange for another delivery of it and get the driver to drive his vehicle up and down it a few times.

[zymurgy]

Good lateral thinking batman ...

P.

[Rick]

Slate chips move less.

You can buy direct from the quarry, about zero cost if you collect, or transport cost (in 20 tonners) for delivery. 200 quid for 20 tonnes where I am.

If memory serves right its Tarmac that run the quarry.

Rick

[Nick]

I like the white colour of limestone, and there's plenty of that around here, while I don't see any slate chip suppliers. A tonne of slate chips might cost a bit to deliver from the UK to NZ :)