Pea shingle on driveway- experiences?

[HeyHeyWhatever]

We're thinking of laying pea shingle on our driveway, but we've had a couple of people warn us that it can be a complete pain - getting in car tyres, and then losing a fair amount by driving it off etc.

Does anyone have pea shingle and could share experiences, either good or bad?

[BluebellsGreenbells]

We did. It gets stuck in trainer treads, car tyres, walked into the house, left all over the path and kerb. Forever vacuuming or sweeping it up. I don’t miss that house.

[TurnipLegsSwedeFeet]

Oooh, no. It will also be a giant cat litter.

Go with chunkier gravel. I also like grasscrete.

[astridforty]

Just no. Ruins shoes, tracked in and damages flooring.

[TheBigApple]

We have it and yes it does get in tyres, shoes and occasionally escape off the drive. However it does compact down over time and this lessens. Biggest bonus for us is it's noisy when walked on. We can hear when people come up the drive and we believe it is a deterrent for burglars on that basis.

[Brunilde]

If you have a drive that leads onto a public pavement don't do it. It's an absolute nightmare and a bit of a hazard as some of the stones slip under your feet against the pavement. People shouldn't have to navigate loose bits of someone's drive when they are walking along.

[BalanceGreen]

Why?
One of the first things we did on moving in was clear the drive of it. Big job and it still turns up everywhere.

[Undies1990]

We have pea shingle and I love it! It looks great and is a great burglar deterrent as it is noisy to walk on. We've had comments about our house and drive having great kerb-appeal!

Our builder laid two lines of bricks, slightly raised, at the end of the drive which stops the shingle from spreading onto the pavement when you drive off. We've never had a problem with any animals using it as a giant cat tray despite being in a rural location.

As for walking it into the house, an outdoor rubber door mat with holes in it allows any shingle to drop off your shoes before you walk inside.

Hope that's helpful.

[Eng123]

Its popular with drug dealers, they can hear the police comming;)

[Alexandernevermind]

If you can afford to, go for resin bonded gravel instead - same look but none of the issues. It makes a really good long lasting and hard waring surface.

[woodlandwalker]

It's messy, treads indoors, disappears so needs topping up and, worst of all, is a cat and fox litter tray.

[Bluntness100]

I have it, it is constantly in the car as it gets caught in our shoes and you drag it in.

You also can’t drag wheeled bags or anything over it because it just drags, and it gets stuck in your shoe treads or you kinda walk a little tip toe in heels, because it would ruin them.

It also goes awol over time so you need to top it up. If you’ve a huge drive it’s cost effective, if it’s a smaller one then I’d go for chunkier gravel. It doesn’t look as nice, but you alleviate many of the issues.

If you do get it you need to put some form of barrier in to stop it spreading everywhere,

[Loofah01]

Had it in my last place and actually quite liked it! Never had it tracked into house but you do have to sweep it off the front of the drive from time to time, nothing major. Always less of an issue if you have slightly larger stone but it's harder to walk on

[botswanabanana]

We have it it's never come into the house!
Sometimes in the car.

I quite like the look, but it's difficult in autumn as you cant sweep up leaves which I long to do.

Garden has to come with a his leaf blower.

[Cottipus]

We had a pea shingle drive when we first moved in- looked lovely. Over time leaves and seeds melded in making a horrible dirty gravelly mess. We’ve just had it all dug up and tarmaced over.

I wouldn’t have one again. It’s a maintenance nightmare if you have any trees around.

[Bluntness100]

@Cottipus

We had a pea shingle drive when we first moved in- looked lovely. Over time leaves and seeds melded in making a horrible dirty gravelly mess. We’ve just had it all dug up and tarmaced over.

I wouldn’t have one again. It’s a maintenance nightmare if you have any trees around.

That’s very weird, I have lots of trees bordering mine, deciduous and the leaves just blow off it, I’ve never had your issue in six years, no maintenance other than topping it up.

Other issues as stated, but certainly nothing with leaves or seeds. Maybe your base was not done correctly?

[ParisianLady]

I love ours: love the soft colour, love the crunch, love that it isn't slippy in icy conditions, like that it's good for drainage.

Don't hugely enjoy the weeds but it's not that much bother. Leaves blow off and we top it up occasionally.

I do find the odd bit in the car but none ever in the house.

[Floralnomad]

It’s a maintenance nightmare , can end up looking a mess and cats use it as a giant litter box .

[botswanabanana]

I have two cats and there are a lot of foxes. Never found shite in it!

[Bluntness100]

IVe never found shit in mine either, and we have cats and foxes round here, they prefer to go in the garden,,,🤣

[Cottipus]

@Bluntness100 you may be right, I suspect the vendors chucked a load of fresh gravel over to make it look good to sell. It’s a cheap and easy fix. The base was just earth, no membrane so it just became a mess over time. The small wet leaves were very hard to remove from gravel.

Whilst it does look very nice, I wouldn’t have it again unless I had a lot of time to maintain it.

[botswanabanana]

I think it makes a difference what's beneath it. We have a hardcore cement base so no soil.

[CrotchetyQuaver]

go with the next size up, it's so much easier to live with