Need Ideas

[B7510HSD]

I have a short 80' roughly long driveway I need to do something with..it is for the most part grass at one point it did have some gravel under it ,it appears....now with the wet weather this winter it has a few really bad mud ruts..the soil is for the most part sandy here at the beach...My plan is to get my tractor down here and remove the sod and possibly lay railroad timber along the edge to hold the gravel...Any other suggestions looking for low dollar fixes not wanting to asphalt or pave at this time..

 

[greasemonkeyok]

There are various brands of grass-pavers you might want to consider if the price is in your range. Here is just one:
Grassy Pavers Grass Paver

 

[nike]

I like the idea of the Grassy Pavers......looks good and it is something Worth considering for a long term solution. Doing it once, the right way always makes sense.

 

[B7510HSD]

Those are very interesting I am going to get a price I like the idea of leaving it grass but not the mud!! :thumbsup:

 

[Western]

Are the Grassy Pavers designed for vehicle traffic? I've seen concrete designed to allow water through. Similar design , but structurally stronger.

I think the RR ties would help keep the gravel to the inside, but if your sandy like we are, they won't stop the gravel from sinking into the sand over time.

A large rock base with gravel on top works good.

 

[B7510HSD]

Are the Grassy Pavers designed for vehicle traffic? I've seen concrete designed to allow water through. Similar design , but structurally stronger.

I think the RR ties would help keep the gravel to the inside, but if your sandy like we are, they won't stop the gravel from sinking into the sand over time.

A large rock base with gravel on top works good.

Thats what I fugured I would do!!

 

[theboman]

I think your best bet would be 10-20 tons on #1 limestone. 'Round here that's gonna be $350 or so.

 

[handirifle]

I live in central coast of CA, down here the common thing is decomposed granite. Not sure of price of DG itself, but I have 6" (compacted) of on my driveway and, in my opinion, it's better than gravel or hard paving. It lets the rain get through, easy to repair should a hole or rut develop, very durable and once compacted, when damp, it's like walking on concrete.

If you ride a motorcycle, you can flip the kickstand out on compacted DG, try that on gravel. I've had fully loaded dirt dump trucks, and fully loaded cement trucks drive over it (when dry) and not even leave tracks, where the DG is 6" thick. Thinner drives and cement trucks will leave grooves, if the soil under is soft.

 

[adjusterr]

Unless you want to lay gravel on the ground before installing the RR ties, save your time and money. I used good creosoted ties to surround my raised bed garden, within two years they had started to rot. If you note, the RR lays the ties on a lot of gravel that allows the water to drain past the tie. I would strongly suggest you use stone pavers or something similar.

 

[Grayson Klassen]

Gravel will eventually get pushed down into the mud when mud is an issue, you may way to lay road cloth down first. It lets moisrure through but keeps the gravel from sinking. Last time I priced it out it was about 1200 bucks for a 20 wide by 300 foot roll. You may be able to buy a part roll from a road contractor.

It does make your roads last longer.

 

[B7510HSD]

Thanks for all the great ideas I will have to do some studying now and find what is best that I can afford!! :thumbsup:

 

[Iplayfarmer]

...Any other suggestions looking for low dollar fixes not wanting to asphalt or pave at this time..

Low Dollar = Dump gravel on top of the grass. Spray roundup later.

If you start with a larger rock like road base and gradually over the years add smaller rock as the bigger stuff gets packed down, you'll end up with a good packed driveway. In the mean time your rocks may be a little loose to begin with, but you won't have the mud.

 

[EddieWalker]

Low Dollar = Dump gravel on top of the grass. Spray roundup later.

If you start with a larger rock like road base and gradually over the years add smaller rock as the bigger stuff gets packed down, you'll end up with a good packed driveway. In the mean time your rocks may be a little loose to begin with, but you won't have the mud.

For 80 feet, I'd start with a single load, which should be about 25 to 27 tons of road base gravel. That will give you a good, solid four plus inches of rock.

What you want to do is send the water off to the sides and away from your road as fast as possible. Digging out the top soil is only needed if you have a layer of organic material that you want to remove. Such as top soil. If it's sand or clay, then there is no reason to remove it.

When road base is 4 inches thick, or thicker, it will lock together when compacted and becomes a VERY GOOD road. It will hold water and it will shed water. It's up to you to get the water away from the road and not let it get under the rock. If it does, it will wash out under the rock and you will wear thinn real fast.

NEVER drag a box blade over a compacted gravel road. All you do is break up the rock, make it thinner and ensure a faster failure rate.

How much rock you buy depends on how high you need to build up your drive to get it to crown and send off the water.

If you buy any sort of paver, you still have to give it a solid base underneith. Lots of places pour concrete under pavers to give it a solid base. You don't do pavers to save money, you do them because you like the look enough to spend extra money to have them.

Good luck,
Eddie

 

[B7510HSD]

Great ideas I was planning to skim the sod off and bring in a load of bigger gravel for this year and maybe hit with some smaller gravel next spring after it settles in...The soil isn't all sand but it does have alot of sand in it!! :thumbsup:

 

[EdC]

I second the idea of geotextile fabric as underlayment. It has done a fantastic job keeping the gravel up on top in a boggy area my drive goes through. Try Craiglist to look for sections left over from bigger projects.