parking space material?

[Gilbert]

I'm hoping to avoid digging as much as possible (!:O) so does anyone have any suitable alternatives to concrete for a hard standing drive/car park?

TIA Gilbert

[Grunff]

Whatever material you use, you will still need to dig down a few inches unless you want your finished surface to be higher than surrounding ground.

Can you tell us a bit more about what you're trying to achieve?

[G&M]

Gravel. As the car presses it in just sprinkle some more on every few weeks.

[Michael McNeil]

You will be doing that forever if you do, then when you give in you will have a load of stoney soil to get rid of. Digging is unpleasant until you learn the knack. Cut the turf with the spade, dig in the exact amount, lever and lift straight into the strategically placed barrow.

Once you get the swing it can become quite relaxing. You don't have to load the shovel or the barrow with more than you can easily manage, to show what a man you are. The trick is little and often, swallowing copious amounts of sweet tea in the process. (This latter is best accomplished while your wife mops your fevered brow.)

(Preferably not by a swipe with a sock full of wet shit like mine was prone to doing. Bitch!)

[G&M]

Works fine for me on our farm. Any solid surface would get broken up by tractors and so on anyway. Just get a new pile of stone delivered every now and then until it goes solid.

[PoP]

I don't see gravel as being particularly friendly stuff for various reasons, but having to keep maintaining it like that comes near the top of the list of objections.

PoP

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[G&M]

Possibly if you are looking for low maintainence. In fact it's far less hassle than gardening or whatever.

And where we are it's also one of the few permitted surfaces. Only others are stone slabs or mud !

[Gilbert]

yes, er, thanks for that... but with about 30 tonnes to shift I was planning to hire a mini digger! :O) Cheers! Gilbert

[Gilbert]

Thanks for that, but what do you mean by 'solid'? Don't the little buggers escape all the time? Cheers Gilbert

[Velvet]

Be aware that many cats (and foxes) like gravel. They seem to dislike the larger sizes, preferring the traditional 'small' gravel. Just a thought, before you install what they'll perceive as a lovely fresh new giant litter tray...

Velvet

[G&M]

We've already got countless sheep adding their bit :-) The 20mm gravel is right, cats prefer pea gravel.

[G&M]

A bit. It's a gravel courtyard. Makes a nice noise as you drive in. But eventually it does push solidly into the earth below and you need some more.

[Mark]

Michael McNeil [e-mail] typed: ur fevered brow.)

S**T.. that's were she disappeared to :-)

[Paul King]

Just as a small aside to this thread... how do you keep a gravelled courtyard weed free? I mean, with a huge gravelled area (as seen on some stately homes) they aren't going to invest in hundreds of gallons of weedkiller surely?

[Grunff]

You hire a grounds keeper who goes round and pulls up the weeds. As long as he keeps on top of it, it takes very little of his time.

[The Natural Philosopher]

MOT type 1 is a better bet for unmetalled roads.

Ive had some down a year prior to gravelling, and its worn and compacted down fare better than greavel ever did.

Ive even used it in the verge outside the frontn garden, where traffic insisist on using the place to overtake and park. Weeds are already growing on it, and grass will follow.

It ios teh best sub base for traffic bar none I reckon. You can top dress with gravel if you want, but frankly, it looks quite nice really.

[Wanderer]

Yup, I'd second that. Had some under a patio I put down at our last house. Where I didn't use MOT 1, under a path leading away from the patio (I used broken concrete and rubble there), the slabs moved and settled, but with MOT 1, the patio was solid as a rock!

[G&M]

I might try this, though where we live we are required to lay gritstone gravel on top.

[The Natural Philosopher]

That should work very well. We are on boulder clay, and one of the local stud farms that I had occasion to drive a dumop truck up (manure collection) had simply laid MOT type 1 over he clay. Result an excellent low usage suitable track, that took everything heavy, and had grass grwong down teh middle as well. And indeed would have had grass growng everywhere except it gets wiped off by the wheel pressure.

If you can get away with it, drive your tractors and land rovers over it for a few months, then re- rake level and repeat, before finally top dressing.

Or borrow a road roller, and do it in a few passes. It really does provide an ecxcvellent stable load spreading base for whatever goes on top.

[Rick Dipper]

Slate scalpings. I got mine at 200 quid for 20 tonne delivered by the quarry, but then I live in noth wales. Slate scapings tend to bind together better than other types of stone, due thoe their shape.

Rick