Any suggestions?

Dilbert75

Have a pathway leading from the back of the house, along the clothes line to the garden shed. Prob 20 feet long, 5 feet wide, sloped at maybe 1 in 10, with narrow kerbing along each side, sand base, weed block and patio slabs for stepping stones. In between I've poured 1/2" seaside pebbles, nice colours. And it looks lovely. Until the kids get onto it. They run up and down, kick the stones up onto the slabs, inevitably slip on some and come crashing down - the 3yo split his forehead on a pebble that was lying on a slab yesterday.

So obviously its not just a case of sweeping the stones back into shape every couple of days - I need a permanent fix. I'd love to keep the look but "tie" the stones together somehow. Have thought of two options but not sure how they'd work:

- remove all stones, pour in concrete to 1/4" below slab level and pour stones on top while concrete is wet. In theory the stones stay on top, give the appearance but its a solid path

- leave stones where they are, get them smoothed out as they should be and spread cement over them, give a light spray of water and hope the cement dust sets and binds them together....

Is there a third option? Option 1 seems the more likely to be successful, but I have concerns about how I get the concrete level just below the level of the slabs, all along the length. Option 2 seems easy but would it work???

All thoughts / opinions / advice / psychiatric referrals gratefully received. Am at a crossroads and don't know what to do - except I know I don't want the kids to get split open again. Sorry for the long post

davelerave

i know how you feel my kids are around the same age .you're lucky they don't gather them up and put them in your oil tank if you have one

rooferPete

Hi,

I don't have an option 3 at the moment, however option 2 is not really viable because the cement will turn dusty and probably ruin the stone finish as well as covering the smaller stones losing the colour you want to keep.

Option 1 should work but you will need to tamp the stones down as they can become dislodged from a thin coat of sand / cement, it should give you the chance to make sure the sharp edges are below the surface and help prevent future serious accidents.

.

Dilbert75

davelerave wrote:

i know how you feel my kids are around the same age .you're lucky they don't gather them up and put them in your oil tank if you have one

Have the oil tank locked - can't put a padlock on the deck though... :rolleyes:

Pete, thanks for the advice. I feared as much - can't say I relish mixing that amount of concrete: the joy of having a sedentary occupation.