Gravelling front lawn

aka_Ciaran

Folks the time has come...my front lawn is wrecking my head so I've decided to gravel it and make off street parking. I have an idea how to go about it so just looking to see if I'm doing it right. It's 31 ft long by 19 ft wide, which is 55 square metres. How I intend to do it:

- remove 6 inches topsoil (been told there's no need for mipex layer to stop weeds as 6 inches filing will be enough to keep them down)
- insert 4 inches hardcore filling (I think about 11 ton for 55 sq m)
- use whacker to pack down hardcore
- insert 2 inches gravel (I think about 5 ton for 55 sq m)
- level off gravel

Just wondering if this sounds ok? I've included a pic to give an idea of size. Some questions:

- does 6 inches depth and the amounts of hardcore/gravel seem correct?
- how much work is involved in removing that amount of topsoil..do I need a mini digger or would 2/3 blokes with pickaxe/shovels/wheelbarrow do it?
- is gravel messy i.e. will I constantly need to be sweeping it up? If so will I need a border (bricks/paving) around it?
- anything else I need to be aware of?

I'm thinking of buying hardcore/gravel from roadstone retail. They quoted me €170 for 11 ton hardcore and gravel starting at €100 per ton. Does this seem reasonable?

Thanks very much and have a great weekend!

Cheers,
Ciaran.

conleth

Ciaran,

I'm actually trying to get rid of a good amount of gravel which would certainly do very well for your hardcore. Let me know if this is of any interest.

Con

slumped

Thanks for posting this Ciaran. Started laying a small garden feature last night, digging up sods etc. then raking it smooth.

Was planning on gettin it hammered down, then laying down some gravel, pounding it again, then laying pebbles on top.

My garden wont have heavy traffic on it, so I'm not overly worried about the bottom layer as long as its packed fairly tight.

Would like to hear other peoples opinions on Ciarans issue though.

S

aka_Ciaran

No problem slumped...it's a big job and could easily go wrong given the volume of hardcore and gravel involved.

Con, do you know how much hardcore you have? I think it might be awkward transporting it, whereas roadstone come and deliver it all in one go. If you had a way of transporting it and I knew how much there was maybe it could be a runner.

conleth

Ciaran,

I reckon I have about 4 cubic metres, I took it off my back lawn which is about the same size your front lawn.

I don't have any way of delivering it, but it's yours for free if you can get somebody with a trailer or van... I'll even help you load it!

Let me know.

Cheers,
Con

aka_Ciaran

Hi Con - maybe you could take a picture of it over the weekend? If I had a look at it I'd have a better idea. Having said that I don't know anyone with a trailer or van...probably cost as much to hire one!

conleth

Hi Ciaron

Pics attached.

Con

aka_Ciaran

Hi Con - thanks for the offer but can't see how I would transport it, and would probably take a couple days as well, so will bite the bullet and fork out to roadstone.

Thanks again,
Ciaran.