.. to build my own driveway?

[lnsufficientFuns]

Have been told by several local driveway people that there’s a years wait 😳

I really need to extend my driveway .... at the moment it looks like a Somme reconstruction and we’re smearing mud all over the joint. We can’t fit our cars on the Lilliputian driveway....

So.. why can’t I just do it myself? Gravel grids on top of a membrane and fill it all in? Compact down?

Anybody tried this?

No. I'm an engineer and I'd still leave it to the experts because I couldn't be bothered doing the calculations.

Those mud mats are most certainly not as good as someone's claimed them to be either.

Yeah those mudmats are for horses not cars... I’m definitely giving them a swerve 😂

@dunkaccino

I've just looked at the mudcontrol site - the 'before' pics are winter, and the 'after' pics are late spring/summer which is when everything dries up anyway. And then the last photograph is on frozen ground.....

Doesn't seem a very honest way to advertise!

If I could upload photos I would show you some honest before and after pictures winter 1 to winter 2. Winter 1 was pretty dry in comparison to winter 2. They more than held up and definitely worth the money. EVERYONE of my friends who have bought them have said the same thing. But hey we must be wrong 🙄

@lnsufficientFuns

Yeah those mudmats are for horses not cars... I’m definitely giving them a swerve 😂

They are not just for horses! 🙄

You asked for solutions to your problem and are now rubbishing one without doing any research apparently! More fool you!

You’re the fool, stop embarrassing yourself

I ride and know plenty about those mats, it’s not the same thing at all.

Huge difference between mud mats for horses and grids to contain enough gravel to support a CAR
😂

My husband works in hard landscaping and driveways (SE) and they are hugely booked up at the moment! They occasionally get cancellations or clients pushing the jobs back which they will then fit other jobs into…is it worth booking in with a firm that you like on this basis? Laying your own drive is absolutely possible if you like the idea of the project but getting a firm in will mean the job is completed much faster, with a guarantee and will mean you (presumably) don’t have to hire machinery or tools to complete the job. I’m firmly in the camp of outsourcing where possible!

But agree with PP that gravel grids will be the better choice over mud mats.

@lnsufficientFuns

You’re the fool, stop embarrassing yourself

I ride and know plenty about those mats, it’s not the same thing at all.

Huge difference between mud mats for horses and grids to contain enough gravel to support a CAR
😂

Ahh well! As they say you can lead a horse to water.... clearly I'm mistaken in that they won't hold up. The fact that we have 2 tractors a mower and baler all living on some of ours means nowt.

Just well as they sold out last winter because they are so good and we want another lorry load!

@lnsufficientFuns - husband asked to post the following for you in case it helps you complete the project -
‘If you’re looking to do shingle drive then you will have to dig out 8 inches from your finished height then lay a ground stabilising membrane. Infill up to 6 inches with either type 1 crushed concrete or scalpings (sp?!) this is your sub base and will stop your drive sinking and most important to get right. Don’t worry about gravel grids unless you’re on a slope as they’re only designed to keep the gravel in place, not to stop the drive from sinking. Shingle depth should be 1-2 inches at the most, so as you drive on the downward pressure of the drive compacts onto the base and not around your tire, this is the main thing people get wrong when laying shingle drive - it doesn’t have to be deep just covering the surface area. You can put a retaining block or edging around to maintain the area - I’d do this on concrete. Depending on sub base you can put a weed suppressant membrane down but if you do the sub base correctly you shouldn’t need to. I do this every day and wouldn’t dream of digging out by hand as it’s bloody hard work and soil is difficult to get rid of at the moment as most places (SE) won’t take it. Skips/grabs are an option but expensive. I’m always happy to give advice as I see and end up repairing a lot of bad jobs where people don’t realise that it doesn’t matter what it looks like on top as the base is done correctly. I’d steer clear of sharp sand as a base product as it washes away with rain/flowing water and also ants! When we lay block paving we use a 6mm limestone grit as it’s permeable and can’t be removed.’

I hope you find that useful! DH says if you’d like any further clarification he’s happy to answer any questions!

Oops - forgot to mention compacting the base with a whacker plate as mentioned previously or a hand operated road roller.

DH is a Which trusted trader if you want credentials :)

Thanks @Pinkstegosaurus, thanks so your husband - so amazingly helpful. Sorry I only just saw the post - been busy digging 😂

Will avoid the sand then - is MOT the same as crushed concrete? Can I add in broken old flags?

We’ve already dug out about 10cm so getting there - not sure what to go about thick old tree roots that we keep coming across - was going to avoid them and let the weed membrane protect them from the concrete etc - is this right?

We’re extending driveway so need grids as we’re bout digging up the block paving part , hoping it will look seamless!

And yes - compactor is on my list - very excited about using it ! Was going to compact the aggregate then compact the finished gravel just to bed it in x

@lnsufficientFuns no problem! Husband has answered your questions as below -

Will avoid the sand then - is MOT the same as crushed concrete? yes it is, there are different grades of MOT, you want one that is relatively small which will be easier to level out and compact Can I add in broken old flags? yes, if you break them down small enough, you don’t want the pieces any bigger than 150mm

We’ve already dug out about 10cm so getting there - not sure what to go about thick old tree roots that we keep coming across - was going to avoid them and let the weed membrane protect them from the concrete etc - is this right? you can cut them out depending on how far they are from the tree, you can also leave them but bear in mind if they are thick they will continue growing and make bulges on the shingle drive. We would normally try to get rid of as many roots as possible without compromising the tree.

You don’t have to compact the finished gravel as it will settle once you drive on it but it certainly won’t hurt and you’ll get your money’s worth out of the compacted!

Good luck with your digging! Hope you have a nice tipple to recover with later 😊

Thanks so much- am leaping out the door now to continue 💪💪

Just remember whatever you fill your grids with needs to be reasonably thick 8mm to 20mm gravel. If you use pea gravel it just compacts through it.

Have a scour on your local selling pages, DH recently picked up an electric wacker plate for an amazing £30. You can hire them as well though.