help picking a gravel

[MossflowerWoods]

The above posts relate to the traditional re-surfacing methods.

There is another alternative for a parking area in what are loosely called "grass pavers". There are many different kinds. For example, see:
Grass Permeable Paver, Grass Porous Pavement, Turf Paver - Grasspave2 drivable grass

greasemonkey,

That stuff ROCKS! Is it outrageopusly expensive?

I'm envisioning a grass floor in my outdoor kitchen/patio, and def grass driveway or parking possibilities.

WOW.

David

 

[EagleTDL]

greasemonkey,

I'm envisioning a grass floor in my outdoor kitchen/patio, and def grass driveway or parking possibilities.

David

I've seen this stuff before, but you can only "really" use it as an alternative parking overflow, occasional use paths, etc. Light duty use only. It's not that the grid doesn't hold up, but in the end, the grass won't! Regardless of the surface/structure below the grass, it you use it too much, the grass will become beat down and eventually die...

 

[greasemonkeyok]

Last time I priced the various brands, it varied widely. Some of it comes in large rolls, others interlocking pieces. We got sidetracked on another project and haven't followed up yet on making a path for the propane truck to get to the tank.

You have to prepare the base for right grass, and install properly to get a good stand of grass. If you do that and alter your vehicle parking location regularly, you can minimize the amount of the grass that suffers. If you don't, Eagle TDL is probably correct.

 

[jrepp44]

EagleTDL - the product you are looking for is "Geotextile Fabric", a Google search will get you some brand names.

 

[EagleTDL]

EagleTDL - the product you are looking for is "Geotextile Fabric", a Google search will get you some brand names.

Well crap! :ashamed: I thought "geotextile fabric" was a generic name?? Thanks for the assist jrepp, will prod Mr Google to divulge some information.

 

[reggiejr]

If you are looking to do this job top notch and don't have a super tight budget.Here is a good general plan

#1 Probably the most important thing is to address is the drainage issue and re-profile the area to have positive drainage away from the parking area so the gravel can drain off in wet conditions.

#2 box cut (dig out) existing soil 12" at least. if budget allows slightly deeper would allow for more good material to be put back and you would get a more stable surface. but generally 12" would work good for a driveway used for cars and pickups and the like.

#3 geotextile fabric definitely works great we use a product called Tencate "marafi paper" often. this material prevents subsoils from working up into your good gravel while allowing your good gravel to still drain out into the sub base.It really helps to stabilize a poor sub base.you may be able to find an excavation contractor in your area that can sell you a left over roll from a previous job. If bad drainage is not an issue and your sub base is solid and you simply have a loamy top surface that gets muddy when its wet out marafi may be skipped but if you what guaranteed success use it.

#4 roll out your fabric over the sub base and If you dug down 12" put down approx 8" of 4" minus crushed gravel over your marafi paper and compact.if paving this area to match into another paved area adjustments in these amounts may be necessary to be at the correct finish grade when completed with the final lift of surface gravel.

#5 There are lots of surface gravel choices out there but a good generic choice here would be 1 1/2" minus crushed gravel to bring you up to finish grade then compact and enjoy a mud free parking area.
your location may be very different than mine so assuming your area is similar to mine this generic system should work well.

#6 if your just looking for a temporary fix to improve this area a little and want to do it cheaply get a load of 3/4" crushed rock and cover over the whole mess.let us know how you make out and good luck to you.

 

[crbr]

good thread