I need to put some sort of driveway/pad from my current gravel driveway to the doors on my barn. The area is about 20x30'. As I was considering my plans to gravel it I thought it might be best to remove extra dirt and put down a layer of field stones to make a more solid footing. Then i thought why not skip the gravel, and just pave the area with field stones, like a cobblestone street? Any reason why this wouldn't work? I think it could look pretty cool if it turned out right.
Would it work? certainly.
Two questions.
1: Have you ever driven down a cobblestone street?
2: Have you ever tried to walk down one?
If you can stand those two situations, go for it.
It would look cool, but living with it might suck rather badly.
Edit: Unless you built the thing out of stone, then brought it level with crushed rock or similar, so you can see the tops of the stone, but there is something for grip and level.
Loose pavers of any kind need a solid packed base, or they get wobbly in a year or two. Especially with vehicle traffic. You're basically prepping to put a slab in anyway.
Stone, all the way. Take out 3-4" of dirt and back fill with gravel.
besides the time this cost less than $1000 in supplies
gearheadmb said:I need to put some sort of driveway/pad from my current gravel driveway to the doors on my barn. The area is about 20x30'. As I was considering my plans to gravel it I thought it might be best to remove extra dirt and put down a layer of field stones to make a more solid footing. Then i thought why not skip the gravel, and just pave the area with field stones, like a cobblestone street? Any reason why this wouldn't work? I think it could look pretty cool if it turned out right.
Do not plan on putting stone directly on dirt. You need a bed of class 5 ( crushed stone and gravel, tamped down with a vibratory tamper. Then a couple of inches of sand as a base. Field rock requires a great deal of effort to level it in a way that doesn't cause it to rock loose. 3 inch thick minimum paving stone won't require as much work but often take some cutting and fitting to make a decent driveway.
I found paving brick. ( they are twice fired to ensure they don't crumble like regular brick ) that was being dug up to put a freeway in That much driveway will require 4-6 tandem truck loads to do. And laying them took me evenings and weekends for a whole summer to do my driveway. 120'x 25'
Millings? A few truck loads and a tamper/wacker or roller.
lotusseven7 (Forum Supporter) said:Millings? A few truck loads and a tamper/wacker or roller.
That's basically a crushed rock or class 5 in highway speak and will last just as long. ( ie not very long ) A heavy rain will wash away the smaller lighter parts. To get durability you need a way to avoid that. Stone, paving brick, concrete or asphalt.
It's a driveway not an interstate.
I have a feeling cobble stone needs a very sturdy base- having driven on them I wouldn't want that for a driveway. Pavers would be cool but more money.
I'd scrape the topsoil and place some rock.
I'm a big proponent of some sort of smooth, hard surface right outside of overhead doors. It keeps from tracking dirt/rocks into the shop, if you live where it snows it's way easier to clear, and if you need to work on something in a pinch it's better suited for that too.
Roll jacks, jack stands, creepers, etc all suck to use on gravel, pavers, and dirt, and that's before you drop a small fastener or something. If you've already got a pretty solid gravel base, you might be surprised how economical asphalt can be. Pricing obviously varies a ton by location, but I paid just over $2/sqft to have my existing gravel drive graded, compacted, and paved with 4" of asphalt this summer. I'm in rural Indiana and paid cash to a local crew with a good reputation.
chandler said:It's a driveway not an interstate.
How often do you want to repair it? After every heavy rain? Then don't worry about doing it right.
Oh and make sure no heavy truck uses it either. Keep all Garbage trucks and delivery trucks off it.
They tore up my road at the time I built my garage, I saved them some driving by dumping whatever in the hole next to the 5ft. deep foundation. That was topped off with crusher run. My soil is clay. Every 2-3 years I would order more crusher run, they'd back up a dump truck and lay down 2-3 inches all the way down, ~200ft. I tried rolling it by hand, but just driving on it worked.
With a base of 12 - 18 inches, the new asphalt I finally put down hasn't moved a bit! Having worked on how many cars now and shuffled projects in and out, dead motorcycles and a few boat projects, go with a smooth surface. Even expensive patio block looks nice, floor hacks just won't move under load.
frenchyd said:lotusseven7 (Forum Supporter) said:Millings? A few truck loads and a tamper/wacker or roller.
That's basically a crushed rock or class 5 in highway speak and will last just as long. ( ie not very long ) A heavy rain will wash away the smaller lighter parts. To get durability you need a way to avoid that. Stone, paving brick, concrete or asphalt.
Really? That hasn't been my experience. We did a friends parking area adjacent to his garage with 200 tons of millings. He rented a roller and with the skidsteer did a decent job of making it somewhat flat. Once the summer heat hit it, he rented the roller a second time for a day. I swear it reconstituted itself back into asphalt once it got hot because it is now smooth. Maybe he got lucky, but I plan to do the same thing this spring at one of our properties.
frenchyd said:chandler said:It's a driveway not an interstate.
How often do you want to repair it? After every heavy rain? Then don't worry about doing it right.
Oh and make sure no heavy truck uses it either. Keep all Garbage trucks and delivery trucks off it.
My original driveway is eight years old and the most I've done is fill a couple potholes were we turn in the same spot every time. Parked a semi and trailer on it for the first three years I lived here. A few inches of stone is sufficient for most.
Get some 5/8th minus with some decent fines and compact the crap out of it.
With water and plate compactor, you'd be surprised how hard it can get.
I’ve had a driveway beside the garage for close to 30 years, that started with wanting to park the company service van somewhere other than in front of the house. A neighbor had access to a backhoe and removed the topsoil for me, I spread something like 10 yards of crushed stone 8-10 inches deep myself. It worked OK and kept a 1 ton service van from sinking but it did track onto the paved driveway quite a bit.
The driveway and side yard got trashed by the demo dumpster and equipment used on an addition project we did in 2018, I had a landscaper come in at the end. He suggested “dense gravel” instead of more crushed stone. I had them widen and extend the side driveway at the same time, the dense gravel product (looks like a mix of bluestone and some larger crushed stone mixed in) packed and graded out like a paved driveway. It’s permeable when it rains and pretty much stays put, almost no tracking onto the pavement. 2 years now and no need to re grade or add product so far. Not much slope where this is located so not sure how it would hold on a hill.
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