What to put on muddy garage access road?

[Mike Harrison]

I have a grassed (well only just) area adjoining the concreted access to my garage - at this time of year it gets very muddy & I was wondering what would be the best thing to put over it to reduce the amount of mud-splattering of the car. Probably not worth the cost hassle of concreting but I was thinking about putting on some some sort of stone/gravel cover that would have some drainage & reduce the general gunkkiness... Gravel/pea shingle would probably end up going everywhere - I was wondering about maybe something like railway ballast, which is more 'square' than shingle/pebbles etc. and might stay in place better, especially as it became embedded in the soil over time.

Any suggestions ?

[Rob Morley]

garage - at this time of

over it to reduce the

concreting but I was

some drainage &

about maybe something

might stay in place

Limestone chippings will tend to compact together and form a fairly solid surface.

[Autolycus]

But for a long time, you'll be treading a grey slurry into your house and car. Railway ballast is horrible to walk on, particularly if you're not wearing boots - you tend to go over on your ankles. "Spent ballast", i.e. the stuff that emerges from track relaying can be cheap, and has more fines - too much sometimes. Crushed concrete or brick from a demolition/recycling yard is a possibility - cheap but can be dirty. Road planings are another one - never tried them myself, but a lot of farmers use them for tracks and gateways.

[Nigel Molesworth]

And when you consider that most suburban railway carriages don't have a tank for the WC waste, I wouldn't want it in my drive.

[meow2222]

garage - at this time of

over it to reduce the

concreting but I was

some drainage &

about maybe something

might stay in place

Pea shingle works. But better is to sprinkle down cement powder, rake it, then put the gravel down. Without the cement, the gravel slowly sinks into the mud. The cement gives enough extra solidity to stop that happening.

NT

[Mike Harrison]

Walking is not an problem - it only gets reversed onto and I have a motorised garage door!

[Phil]

[david lang]

As long as the area has a 'border' 20mm gravel won't go far. Use a landscape fabric underneath.

Just bought some 20mm gravel, £30 a tonne delivered. Cheap as chips.

Dave

[Tim S]

That was the case with the Mk I slam door stock. Most of that is gone now and all newer units have had retention tanks for years.

Of course, you might get ballast from a line last relayed in 1957 but the richards would be pretty well rotted down by now :_)

Tim

[Nigel Molesworth]

On my line they have only just gone. Standing on the platform looking at turds nesting in a pile of paper in hopefully a thing of the past.

[Mike Harrison]

What sort of area would a tonne typically cover for this sort of use ?

[Harry Bloomfield]

Have you considered those recycled plastic frame type things? If you imagine something a little stronger than a plastic milk or bear bottle crate, a couple of inches high - set in the surface of the soil so that the grass grows through it, protected from wear by the plastic.

[Harry Bloomfield]

It happens that Mike Harrison formulated :

At a guess and depending upon depth, 9 to 12 square foot.

[david lang]

I had a driveway some 8m x 4m and covered it with around 40/50mm deep. Tool

2 tommes.

Dave

[Nigel Molesworth]

Assume density about 2x water, so divide by 2 to get volume, so 1 tonne = 1/2 cubic metre. At 1/20 metre deep (5cm) you are looking at about 10 sq metres.

[nightjar]

What about the plastic mesh used for creating temporary car parks? It just rolls over the grass and stops things like feet and tyres sinking in. If you leave it long enough, the grass grows through and makes it a semi-permanent surface. There are also slightly more permanent solutions, which take the form of open grid tiles, which are pressed into the soil.

Colin Bignell

[Andy Hall]

The other option would be to make sure that it comes from stations.....

[The Natural Philosopher]

garage - at this time of

over it to reduce the

concreting but I was

some drainage &

about maybe something

might stay in place

Yew, Crushed limestone, and whack it flat - about 2". thick MOT type I road base.

Then just leave the grass to grow back naturally, or, if you are in a hurry, sprinkle a THIN layer of topsoil on it and re-seed.

I've done this where people use my roadside verge as a passing place, and it really stops the damage.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Mine cost me 16 a ton this time, 12 a ton last...mind you that was 16 tons...

[The Natural Philosopher]

Abouyt 5 sq meters.

Its about 3 tonnes to a cubic meter IIRC - see

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