BORDER FOR STONE DRIVEWAY

[SCOTTO]

Has anyone used treated landscape timbers to hold a stone driveway "together"?
I just built a new house and am looking for the best way to border a 200 foot long driveway. I am trying to keep the stone from moving. I am leaning toward landscape timbers . Whats the best type to use? How should they be anchored? I would appreciate any input. Thanks...

 

[tdenny]

You could easily border your driveway with landscape timbers and you would most likely anchor them by driving rebar or other types of stakes through holes predrilled in them. At least that's what I've done in the past. 200 foot driveway means alot of treated timbers and those things aren't cheap. It seems to me that you could make a concrete "curb" type thingy that would outlast the timber, cost less, and would probably be much easier to do. Just a suggestion. Good luck.

 

[pajoube]

Scotto,
I used railroad ties (hardwood) to line my driveway and it worked very well. I drilled holes on both ends and used 1/2-inch rebar to anchor into the ground. It was still in very good shape when I sold the house 6 years later. Went by there the other day and it still looks great (10 years).
PJ

 

[Thomas]

I'm not sure what means of snow removeal in which you use..but you may want to think about timber damage when plowing etc.

 

[Stonewall]

I would use RR ties. They are heavier and don't seem to mind an occasional bump from the snow blade. There is a "Tie company" in town and some of the ties are cheaper than the new treated timbers. I think we will all be sad to see the treated wood go away at the end of the year. Maybe we should have written our congress folk sooner.

 

[beenthere]

<font color=blue>"I think we will all be sad to see the treated wood go away at the end of the year." <font color=black>

Not sure what you are meaning to say, but all treated wood will not go away at end of the year. CCA treated wood will, and I agree with you that we should have tried to stop it. But when EPA gets its notion that they need to add something else to their annual list of "cannot have anymore", they can steam roll it through, no matter what common sense says.

RR ties are not likely treated with CCA, but are usually treated with creosote. Landscape timbers (not ties) are sometimes treated with CCA, but will be treated with some other chemical in the future.

 

[em14]

I think we will all be sad to see the treated wood go away at the end of the year.
I am of the opinion that while CCA treated wood is going away it is now being replaced with a mat'l that is as good as CCA without the Arsenic ... and that there was no more CCA being supplied to the retailers ... did I miss something?

 

[Carl_NH]

Scott,

Depending on what is bordering the drive - grass, plantings etc. getting the RR ties or PT timbers to conform to curves and such is not easy. If you want a simple solution use a 2x4 PT on edge then every 6' or as needed to follow curves drive a 2x4 stake 12-18" into the ground then nail the 2x4 to this then cut off the stake at ground height (since the top is mangled)

The 2x4 and stake can be buried just a 1/2" below the surface of the drive so to be covered with grass, bordered with crushed stone etc and out of the way of plows and nothing to maintain etc..

Good luck

Carl

 

[Stonewall]

I'm glad you guys are more on top of this than I am. I figured that there would be some alternative to CCA but didn't know it was in line to replace it as soon as it is pulled off the shelves. I will be refurbing my deck next summer and didn't want to buy all my framing this fall. Thanks for the update!

 

[dmccarty]

em14,

It looks doubtful to me that the CCA replacement is going
to be as good. Its certainly going to be more expensive. I
keep reading 10-20% more expensive. I just read in the
latest Journal of Light Contstruction that one of the new
treatments has mold growth problems. This is real bad news
for sill plates in house construction. And if a house is being
built in one of the jurisdictions that require all PT wood this
mold issue is going to be REALLY bad news. They better get
a fix ASAP.

The EPA has absolutely NO evidence the CCA wood causes
health problems but they are banning it anyway... The EPA
report justifing the ban was full of "might" and "could" language
instead of "does" and "will".

Later,
Dan McCarty

 

[em14]

Looks like the replacement is not as advertised doesn't it ... That's to bad ... if it is prone to mold there is not going to be to many places that I would want to use it ...

 

[RocketJSquirrel]

It is my understanding that CCA is banned from *residential* uses but will still be made for commercial uses. Now as a practical matter, maybe the producers will just stop making it, I don't know.

And anyway, who would enforce the distinction when it is bought. Everyone would say "it's for a commercial use".

 

[dmccarty]

em14,

I'm sure the PT producers will eventually get things worked
out so that mold is not an issue. But I think they are going
to bump into problems like this for the first couple of years.

/w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif

I have a PT producer that I buy most of my CCA wood. The
next time I'm in there I'll ask him about all of this....

Later,
Dan

 

[i_want_1_2]

If you haven't started yet - how about synthetic lumber - Trex or one of it's competitors? What's nice about it is that if you use the 1x6 stuff( rather than 2x), it follows curves very well. What's bad is that is awfully heavy.

 

[Egon]

There is a special plastic edging made to hold paving blocks in place. Its flexible and is held down by metal spikes or the equivalent. It is placed so the top is below the top of the paver blocks. I have used it with good results.

Egon