'Living' Car Standing Surface

Mar 07, 2026 Last reply: 4 months ago 14 Replies
R

I'm in the process of resurfacing a small car standing space (c.6m wide x 4m deep) at the front of my house. So far I've broken up and shifted the 4" of concrete that was there before. It's now clay rich soil.



I'd like to surface the car standing/access space with something that lets stuff grow through it. Maybe this:



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I have been warned off it. Weeding. Adequate support to stop the surface sinking. Finishing the edges neatly around a drain cover and where the space meets the pavement.



The weeding doesn't bother me but I'm not sure how to approach support/edges.



Anyway, any thoughts?


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A

"The roll is tough enough to withstand steady foot traffic and even light vehicles"

That doesn't read like a long term solution for parking a vehicle.

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R

Yes, agreed - but it looks far more substantial than:

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which they reckon you can just chuck on top of your lawn . . .

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J

I used something like this at a previous house:

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The ones I went for were green, about 2' square, the earth takes the strain but they were only walked over.

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R

I would have thought that you would need something like this rather than rubber:

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But you'll need a firm base of compacted crushed stone rather than just clay.

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T

I would absolutely recommend putting down a load base of crushed limestone for drainage and support. This will accrue grass and weeds anyway. If you use a grow through grid on top and backfill with soil, you should get a decent drive on patch of lawn

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T

Actually, installed over a decent sub base that stuff is very very good. Don't unroll it over a lawn, per se, but add sub base underneath and then topsoil/seed

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A

There's a concrete version of that hexagon stuff ...

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A

I'd go for something more substantial, maybe overkill

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W

One of our local crematoriums has used something similar. Don't know anything about which product or how it was used but it gets a heck of a lot of traffic.

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R

I should have mentioned it's on a slight slope - maybe 40cm across the depth - which would make anything too rigid difficult to lay. And those would need quite a lot of soil shifting . . .

Good site though, thanks.

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R

Maybe I'll think about the thinner matting and a decent base - thanks.

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R

A few car parks I use have it. Does seem to be durable.

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A

Plenty of Youtube videos where tarmac, block paving etc. drive repairs or replacements are shown and the problem with the failure is identified as a lack of a decent compacted depth sub base.

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A

Those make quite good shed bases when filled with gravel.

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