Stone Parking Area Redo

[Scout2]

Want to redo our parking area without big cost, it is approx 2,500 sq ft.. Looking to use either asphalt millings or 3/4" modified stone with millings. In most places the old crushed stone is about 6" deep but most of it is crushed into the soil now and there are lots of weeds.

I have a small Kubota tractor with FEL/BH but no other attachments. Our thoughts are to scrape out 2-3", lay down HD landscape fabric, and then put new millings or modified down. We are also planning to add a perimeter of RR ties around the parking area to dress it up some and eliminate the slope issues.

Any thoughts, suggestions, recommendations?

 

[Western]

Since it is probably packed down good already,
I think I would just go over it with the felt, maybe treat the weeds 1st. Unless there is a reason to remove 2-3".

A photo would help, since more guy's that have been doing this recently will chime it.

 

[Scout2]

Thanks Dennis. This is what we are doing. We decided to use modified stone because there is only one supplier who has asphalt millings occasionally in our area and we intend to expand this area later.

 

[Gordon Gould]

If you have 6" of stone already why add more ? Is the felt because you have a water/mud problem ? If not I would just go over it with a grader/land plane. It will remix the stone and look like new gravel. The road topping in the picture is 5 years old.

 

[Egon]

If you have 6" of stone already why add more ? Is the felt because you have a water/mud problem ? If not I would just go over it with a grader/land plane. It will remix the stone and look like new gravel. /QUOTE]

Consider that option carefully. It should be the first thing done anyway if you plan to add more gravel. Grade it well and see how that works out before committing to more expenses.:thumbsup:

 

[EddieWalker]

Want to redo our parking area without big cost, it is approx 2,500 sq ft.. Looking to use either asphalt millings or 3/4" modified stone with millings. In most places the old crushed stone is about 6" deep but most of it is crushed into the soil now and there are lots of weeds.

I have a small Kubota tractor with FEL/BH but no other attachments. Our thoughts are to scrape out 2-3", lay down HD landscape fabric, and then put new millings or modified down. We are also planning to add a perimeter of RR ties around the parking area to dress it up some and eliminate the slope issues.

Any thoughts, suggestions, recommendations?

Kill the weeds with poison. No matter what you do, they will just keep coming back. It's what weeds do.

6 inches is plenty thick enough if you have the right type of rock. Is it a road base type of mixture of crushed stone wiht sharp edges of different sizes down to fines? If the stone is round, it will never lock together and it will always move on you. If it has the rough edges, it will lock together and form a water tight barrier that will support traffic in any weather conditions.

If you have less then four inches of road base rock, it will not lock together. Taking it down several inches, putting fabric down and then covering the fabric with a few inches of rock is just about the worse thing that you can do.

If you have low areas, loosen the rock and add more.

Asphalt millings has no strength to it and has to be applied on top of something else to support it. adding it to the top of your gravel after its compacted would give you a smoother surface if you rolled and compacted it.

A picture is worth a thousand words. You location and year round weather conditions also make a huge difference in what will work and what wont.

Good luck,
Eddie

 

[radioman]

How small of a kubota tractor is it? You might not have enough weight to do the pull with a grader. chances are if you had a boxblade with scarifiers down, it will clean up the parking lot and smooth it out. Crusher run stone looks like soil when left alone a long time and weeds starts growing into it. just messing around with top layer of 1-2inch deep will clean it right up and pull out many weeds. If you feel you need more stone just to regrade it better after cleaning up the old driveway with boxblade with more crusher run, it will lock everything together. You don't want to put new stuff on top of harden driveway where it will just eventually fall off to the side and have dips.

 

[Scout2]

Did not get started on project over the weekend or order the stone...

Answers:
Was intending to use felt for weed control.

Most of the top 2" of stone is sharp edged with various sizes from 1" down to fines. But the lower base seems like it was clean 1" sharp edged stone that has been down since 1961; thus, I assume the cause of the high content of soil in the stone and weeds.

We are in SE PA, cold winter and hot summer.

The tractor is a sub-compact. Unfortunately, no attachments beside FEL/BH. Neighbors have big tractors and attachments but reserve favors for when really needed. So I would like to try to stay within what my equipment can handle.

Since we are expanding the area with new stone, should we exclude felt under that stone too?

How deep should the new stone be in a parking area?

Thanks much-

 

[MarkV]

I am with the others, use what you already have. Fabric is great for mud control but if you only have 2 or 3" of stone on top of it, it will become a problem. I would take the moneys you were going to spend on gravel and buy a 4' boxblade. Stir up the existing and grade it smooth. In the future use round up for the weeds or there are soil sterilizers out that will keep the re-growth down for several years.

If you don't anticipate a mud problem in the new area I would scrape out the vegetation, add 6" of crushed stone with fines and skip the felt.

MarkV