XSeries-forum

Front of house consists of 75% gravel driveway laid over concrete.  Remainder of front is approx 100 sq ft flower bed. Intention is use existing bed area to be able to park small/med sized car when completed.

I am in process of digging out & neighbour is welcoming deliveries of topsoil.

Materials to hand thus far consist of approx 200 old bricks & various solid concrete & thick/heavy duty old concrete slabs to cover approx 60sq ft (more if staggered).

Plan is to merely make a fairly solid base to lay gravel on same to match pre existing drive.

I had planned to :

1.  Excavate existing bed about 6 inches below existing & adjoining drive.

2.  Roughly level & compress soil base.

3.  Scatter compressed soil with approx 1-2" sand.

4.  Compress bricks into base & cover with dry cement mix. (Reasoning for laying bricks loose & not smashing up as hardcore is due to established ground, heavy slabs & occasional/light intended use).

5.  Lay carefully spaced slabs on top, (gaps not less than a narrow tyre footprint).

6.  Brush over & in between slabs with dry cement before adding gravel, (to reduce ball bearing effect).


N.B. Entire plot is flat. Area to front of new section will remain soil bordered for run off/drainage.



The more I research the more detailed & conflicting advice becomes.

Best end result solution is block pave the lot or get a professional in but funds wanted elsewhere.

I am aware this will be hard physical work  ::)

Any advice/thoughts on above appreciated -  especially perhaps from x555

You need to bear in mind drainage so filling all the gaps with Cement / Mortar might not be the best solution even though you have a small border to the front of the section.

Before you lay the slabs, I would lay a layer of Geotextile on the sand that allows water to penetrate and stops growth coming through. I would then lay the slabs with a 1-4mm gap (you will probably need to buy a few more slabs but what you pay in slabs you save in cement cost). Brush in some silica sand into the gaps between the slabs and then cover over with your gravel.

Doing it this way means the load is always on a slab rather than part slab part cement fill. The integrity will be vastly improved and you will still have drainage.


Turks.

Thanks that's useful..........especially the advice on gaps without dry mix for drainage.

My main concern was whether laying & compressing the bricks was likely to be adequate underside as opposed to smashing them up. I know others use scalpings underside.

I don't have to use the bricks............they are old and many covered in old mortar- given by a neighbour to save him a dump run.

near where we are you can buy crushed bricks 50mm-0 for around £5 per tonne! also put a layer of teram or similar down to stop weeds coming through

I agree with the use of a weed blocking membrane, you will regret it if you don't.
I would either break the bricks or buy suitable hardcore to give you about 4" of base material when compacted, then put the membrane on before graveling the top 2"

Sent from my GT-I9000 using Tapatalk 2

Did you get anywhere with this job?


Turks.

Thanks for asking.

I have done some considerable digging out, still some way to go.

1st day off for a while today but it's raining ::)

Need to purchase some motivation & some more spare time

I am busy for the next 6 months 

Glad to see you're not sitting around

I need to find a good supplier of motivation! 7 weeks of work in Kazakhstan ahead and I really can't be bothered!

Good luck with it - and getting the weather!


Turks.