Will I regret a gravel driveway?

[Becauseyouaskednicely]

This is my house. I have a tarmac driveway and then paving slabs closer to the house. It’s all very tired looking and needs sprucing. I plan to create a flower bed the whole width of the downstairs window and paint the side gate black. Also need to tidy up the front garden. I would looove to add gravel to the tarmac and paving slabs closer - I think it looks so lovely and almost every other house on my street has gravel. I would do this myself using gravel grids as I’m on a budget. But I’m worried I’ll regret it! Can’t afford to otherwise re-do the drive. So please let me have your thoughts:

1. Option 1 - cover the tarmac and paving slabs with gravel.
2. Option 2 - jet wash the paving slabs and use tarmac refresher paint on the gravel but otherwise leave as is, you will regret the gravel.

It does look very good and fresh! Amazing how paint does wonders isn't it.

You'd still need something to retain any gravel even if it's the most economical option and that'll push price up. Gravel will still also slip and slide if laid on top of tarmac! I think refreshing the tarmac will do wonders and you can test that with ai too!

If it's in good condition, I would keep the tarmac and refresh it. It'll be much less maintenance but I do agree, not as easy on the eye!

I'd leave your drive alone and spend your budget on plants.

Definitely NOT gravel. We have a long drive, it used to be gravel, the gravel moves with vehicles going over it, you have to top it up and cover the vehicle wear regularly and the weeds are a nightmare. In winter when heavy rain is followed by frost or snow ice settles into the gravel. We replaced it with tarmac, best thing ever.

Gravel and deciduous trees are not a good combination. Ask me how I know.

That is lovely. So much warmer.

I honestly can't see much wrong with your drive. The manhole covers are unsightly, but whatever you do you need to keep them accessible. Gravel grids look naff and without them the gravel will go everywhere. It'll be a maintenance nightmare. I can't see it looking better, just different. My neighbour filled in every little hole in his tarmac (with the right stuff not cement!) and then painted the tarmac. It looks smart but it sort of draws attention to itself in a way a nicely weathered tarmac doesn’t. Only really recommended if you haven't got anything better to do with your time.

You’ll need far more than £500 of gravel for that space I’m afraid. We have a small front area that needs new gravel and that will be about £300 foot a 1.5m x 11m strip.

My neighbours have gravel driveway, it makes a hell of a noise every time someone drives over it. Meanwhile the gravel in my garden is awful for weeds.

I hate gravel.

Gravel looks a right sight even when it's weeded often and staying where it is supposed to be. It never stays where it's supposed to be, and dandelions and thistles are persistent little fuckers.

The tarmac looks fine. Save the gravel money for redoing the drive with something better in a few years.

I have gravel, looked fabulous at first and then all the trees and plants shed their leaves and it just looks a mess, the hours I have spent trying to get leaves out of gravel and then there are the weeds to contend with on top, if I had realised it was going to be such high maintenance I would never have had it.

Gravel is a pain in the arse because:

It gets full of weeds no matter how hard you work - it is not low maintenance. You have to weed it and rake it, and getting layers of wet autumn leaves off it is not easy.

Cats like to use it as a litter tray, and children like flinging fistfuls of it.

Rolling your wheelie bin or pushing a bike/buggy/wheelchair across gravel is a nightmare.

Walking across gravel in high heels is quite tricky.

The stuff gets dragged out into the road so you are forever losing it and having to sweep it up.

Unless it has been properly graded using the right size of hardcore and then compacted gravel on top by contractors who really know what they are doing, it goes all lumpy and you get tracks in it.

Done properly, it is not as cheap as you'd expect.

If you are going to decide on that option, then at least have a solid path for foot traffic to your front door and only have the gravel from the roadside to you garage doors.

I’m team gravel all the way (I love the look of resin bound, but gravel crunches in an intruder-unfriendly manner), but I would visit a local gravel merchant to check prices for what you want and confirm how much you need - it might be more than you think!

I don't think gravel on top of tarmac will work, it needs to bed in a bit.

My experience of a gravel patio (also done to try and sorice things up on a budget) was that people were forever walking gravel I to the house.

I also think it needs an "edge" against the road/pavement or you'll lose your gravel i to the street every time someone drives over it.

Re cost, I used chatpgt to calculate costs based on the size of my drive and it came up with £250 to £500. Maybe it’s way off but you’re also all putting me off it! I’ve ordered some patio cleaner for the paving slabs and will see if cleaning them helps.

Chatgpt is rubbish at estimating! I asked it how much central heating was to fit and it said £3000 - £5000. The cheapest quote came in at £8000!

Pros: Protection against flooding.
Cons: Every moggie in the neighbourhood will poo on it.

I do love the gravel look and sound as you walk or drive on it...However i am considering going to tarmac at the moment. I am constantly picking weeds on the gravel - you need to re order gravel every year or 2, not for the entire quantity you initially order but will need to be topped up, its not ideal if children want to play on bikes in the driveway or if anyone visiting use a wheel chair... I personally would keep it as you have it.

Do you like nice shoes/heels? You'll ruin them every time you walk to your car.

We had a gravelly, broken tarmac area that identified as a drive.
The gravel pieces kept being carried into the house stuck in shoes and scratched our wooden floors, or just fell out and got carried into the hall.
We now have block paving but it was expensive. Still have to deal with weeds though as weed seeds drop into the cracks.

I love my gravel driveway because I can hear people approaching the house (handy as son works in a pub and comes home late at night!). A little weeding once a year; my driveway is 2 cars wide so not really a massive commitment.

I do however have to sweep stray bits off the pavement every few weeks just to tidy things up.

how did you make the image if you dont mind me asking!

What depth of gravel would that be?

Our inherited gravel doesn't seem to travel much but we've been here two years and it's balding. And needs constant weeding. So it looks scruffy. It's not top priority to have money spent on it though. I can imagine wanting it if I didn't have it, but now I have it, I'd happily get rid of it!

Team gravel!

Ours was tarmac, we then got quotes for resin bound, and hot bitumen and gravel. Resin bound was ridiculous! The gravel is power rolled in to the tarmac and new edging was placed all around. The house looks prettier, it makes a noise when people walk towards the house and is good for security.

I echo what most others have said.

I inherited stones (a bit larger than gravel) and am forever clearing them from the pavement or re-distributing them where they've migrated or been moved by cars driving across, cats & dogs digging in them, kids dragging their feet through them on their way past, etc.

And I've given up trying to keep on top of the weeds.

Neighbour on one side also inherited gravel and it's the same problems there.

The added problem with gravel is that it's small enough to get stuck in the treads of shoes & trainers and car tyres - so not only does it get re-distributed everywhere, you often end up walking along with crunchy shoes!