Adventures in Remuddling

OK, not really the driveway, but our 2 parking spaces. That’s my next big project.

We currently have a compacted mound of earth filled with gravel that we use. It’s supposed to be a gravel driveway. For maintenance, the previous owner just dumped pea gravel on the area when needed (or when they felt like it). This spring (and probably every spring), when the ground thawed, the soil “heaved”, and the stones sank into the wet soil. And the cars end up being stuck in a pit of mud.

You can see how far the car sank in the mud as evidenced by the line of mud on the tire.

Continue reading “The Driveway, Part 1 - The Problem” »

So the original plan for our 2 parking spots was to lay down concrete pavers. We got a couple of estimates for work to be done. Let’s just say, we did not want to spend what the contractors were telling us to spend. So we thought gravel would be just fine and plenty economical. And surely, I can spread the gravel out myself.

Continue reading “The Driveway, Part 2 - Digging” »

That’s right. If you did not flinch at the title, let me repeat it. 18 TONS of gravel. EIGHTEEN TONS.

It’s a good thing they delivered it, except that there’s always a hitch. The first delivery of 8 tons came when I was not present. It was scheduled for the afternoon, but they came in the morning instead. So the driver just dumped the stone on the shared driveway, next to the big pit that I had recently dug out. Even if I was around, the pit was not ready for the stone either. I of course had to prepare the foundation.

Anyway, they came and dumped 8 tons of gravel into a mound that was a little less than 4 feet high. I know it does not look very big in the picture - more like a pile of sugar - but really, it’s a lot of gravel.

Continue reading “The Driveway, Part 3 - 18 Tons of Gravel” »

Before the pavers can be laid, a 2″ bed of sand is usually placed and screeded on top of the gravel. With normal pavers, I would have used sand, but we’re using permeable pavers which allow water to pass through the gaps. Course sand is usually recommended for these applications. Course sand is harder to find, so I opted for a mixture of 3/8″ stone and stone dust. I mixed these manually (2 parts of stone, 1 part stone dust). I only used the stone dust to create an easier bed to lay the pavers.

Continue reading “The Driveway, Part 4 - The Pavers” »

One of the last things to do on the driveway is to line the edges with large cobbles. These cobble stones are white granite stones cut to approximately 5″ x 5″x 9″. This size is called “regulation” sized cobbles.

Continue reading “The Driveway, Part 5 - Finishing” »