Dear all,
Have been somewhat losing interest in a resin-bound gravel solution to replacing a drive.
The original drive was pea-shingle on bitumen but the loose shingle tended to migrate all over the place, including sticking to shoes and being dragged indoors.
But what about slate chippings? Presumably they would stay put and lie flattish, if the grade was right. Does anyone have experience of using slate chippings? And what grade, thickness, and substrate are recommended.
Thanks.
Chris
Pea shingle is a nightmare on a drive. As you have found out, migrates, sticks in shoes etc.
You need 20mm gravel. That doesn't shift much.
I think slate chippings would crack up.
All loose surfaces for driveways are cheap and nasty. They look like shit after a few years They move about, grow weeds and accumulate muck and oil and are hard to clear snow off of. Their only redeeming feature is porosity, ie let water drain away.
Get yourself a proper finish, tarmac or concrete or concrete blocks.
Unless they are maintained properly.
Which, in a lot of places are forbidden except when replacing existing tarmac or similar, and are even then discouraged due to the rapid runoff f water into already overloaded road drains. This can cause localised flooding, which has been increasing in recent years.
Porous finishes are required by the rules, so for a new driveway tarmac is out, concrete is out, and the only concrete blocks permitted are the ones where you can grow grass through the holes. You can use a porous finish with impermeable strips to take the weight of the car wheels.
Try stone chippings, about 20 mm. They have sharpish edges and lock together. They run trains on them so it must work.
Or ones with a run back into the property or into a drain with a local soakaway.
Essentially if you can get the water off the road and soaking into your own land, it's fine.
Nothing to stop you using a non-porous surface, provided that any rainwater run-off from it is taken to a soakaway or a rain garden. Having said that, I don't like the look of concrete or tarmac drives. So, for a hard surface, I would probably lay permeable block paving:
Much, will still shift out from were the tyres run and need rakeing back. Might get away with it being a top layer on 300 mm of compacted MOT1.
So do I slate is soft and not that strong.
If tarmac, blocks etc are not an option due to covenants on the property I'd be looking at probably the plastic (rather than concrete) grid stuff that grass will grow through, possibly with slab running tracks for the tyres.
IKWYM but in fact they're expensive and classy. They look great in front of stately homes where the owners can afford to pay staff to look after them.
I did my drive years ago, type one compacted & 2" of 20mm gravel. Maintenance free. Even had a skip lorry on it without problems.
Absolute cobblers.
That grow weeds and accumulate muck, algae and oil.
including sticking to shoes and being dragged indoors.
Does anyone have experience of using slate chippings? And what grade, thickness, and substrate are recommended.
Slate looks nice and is fine for areas that don't get any traffic, like little areas below windows and that sort of thing. But for drives they are terrible. Over time the bits of slate break up in the areas where the wheels run and get smaller and smaller and it ends up as a terrible mess with lines of tiny bits surrounded by areas of big bits.
I had to take mine up after a few years. I replaced it with 20mm crushed stone (can't remember what stone) and that's been fine. The only thing is it hurts my feet when I go out in the nude.
Bill
...
Too much detail. Far, far too much detail...
Gravel or chippings/crushed stone?
And nothing is growing in it anywhere and you have never sprayed, raked, releveled or weeded it?
placing a drive.
d to migrate all over the place, including sticking to shoes and being drag ged indoors.
attish, if the grade was right. Does anyone have experience of using slate chippings? And what grade, thickness, and substrate are recommended.
Thanks for the interesting replies. In the meantime I had concluded that I hadn't seen many references to slate driveways, and some of the reasons aga inst have been pointed out.
Next door's driveway is in large grade crushed rock of some sort. I'd say t he average size is well over 20mm. I don't mind this too much but SWMBO say s it's too uneven to walk on, in shoes, let alone bare feet, or indeed in t he nude. Are there other grades between 10mm. and 20mm. commonly available?
Cheers,
Chris
I have 187 square metres of gravel parking area. About four times a year I spray any visible weeds with Roundup. The only time I rake it is when my idiot son in law has done a handbrake turn on it. Then I hit him with the rake. "Don't mark his face dad!"
Bill
Well you see, I have a skin problem and in hot weather I'm much better with as many areas of my body as possible bare. Since we don't have anyone overlooking us (except the police helicopter now and then) I do tend to wear nothing on every possible occasion. Apart from the skin problem I do feel more comfortable psychologically without any clothes on. Because clothes have irritated me all my life it's wonderful to take them off; it feels liberating, like putting something heavy down after carrying it a long way. Obviously there are health and safety issues: I find it best to wear pants when frying sausages or welding.
Bill
Gravel
Never weeded it, rarely raked it.
AFAIK you cen get either pea shingle wich is 10mm or less, or gravel @ approx 20mm.
In best uk.diy tradition the question has to be asked of the member for Yorkshire.. what do you wear when grinding at an angle;?..
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