Gravel on top of concrete patio?

Brit_Chick

I don't have much money to do much with my garden at the moment and the majority of it is concrete - I wanted to put coloured gravel down over the top for a different look but have been told that you can't just put gravel on top of concrete. Is this true? If so, are there any alternatives for laying down on top of concrete to cover it up?

wallbash

you can't just put gravel on top of concrete.

You could :rolleyes: but the problem is with the drainage . where is the rain water to go ???

fiddiwebb

wallbash wrote: »

You could :rolleyes: but the problem is with the drainage . where is the rain water to go ???

Ah, but where does it go with the concrete :rolleyes:

If any water drains away from your concrete already then water will drain through any gravel so long as it is open.

If you are driving a car on concrete topped with gravel then I would say no, just because either your car will get bogged down or you would have gravel flying all over the place if you are just walking on it and the gravel is at a sufficent depth then it should be okay.

If the concrete patio is next to the house then to be on the safe side don't take the gravel above your damp proof course.

TomsMom

Next door to my son has done this on her path to front door. It looks OK but constant use means the gravel is always getting displaced and starts to look patcy and very "untidy" very quickly. Raking it back into place soon tidies it up again. I suppose it's personal choice if you want the job of keeping it looking nice or are happy for it to look patchy.

It might be better to save your money for now, start a garden fund, and perhaps do a more permanent job when finances allow.

The house we moved into this year has a small back garden with a path which has red and yellow slabs, reminds me of a Battenburg cake and the first thing I said was that it had to go. However, after renovating the house the path is now at the bottom of the list and it will be quite some time before we can get around to doing that. I don't notice it so much now, it's amazing how you get used to things :rotfl: .

beedeedee

We've put gravel on top of old paving slabs in the sun trap corner of our garden, simply to make it look better - and it does. However you will probably need some sort of edging to hold it in - or you will be constantly raking it back into place. Initially we used old planks set a few inches into the grass surround and then later, a few old bricks (no mortar or anything needed) which we collected as and when we came across them. Very MSE!

Mr_BOOMBASTIC

I have literally just done our rear yard with plumb colured slate chipping and it looks soooo much better than the concrete, as there nice and flat and dont roll under foot like some of the pebble type which can apparently be dangerous a bit like standing on marbles i guess.

This is assuming you will be walking on the chippings.

Drainage is no different than before either so i'm happy

Regards

Canucklehead

Good afternoon: visit the Pavingexpert...best paving site on the net.;)

HTH

Canucklehead

andrew-b

Much of our front garden (except the driveway/path i'd add) has average shingle sized gravel laid on top of landscaping fabric but over earth. It was like that when we moved in and wouldn't be my choice for a few reasons. Firstly i find it hard to walk on (was carrying a bucketful of weeds etc the other day, lost my footing and went for flying lessons with it!), secondly weed seedlings still sprout up if the gravel is too deep or if the landscaping fabric is broken, thirdly a local cat took it to be it's litter tray (really disgusting having to clear it up..tempted to post it through the letterbox of the cat owner if i find out whose it is - i have a suspect but can't be sure!), fourthly picking up leaf litter is a nightmare as you can't sweep it without redistributing the gravel.
Anyway i suspect the same problems are inherent with other smaller sized gravel like pea shingle etc but i really wouldn't lay gravel of any sort directly on top of concrete -if it's only a thin layer it will be lethal as the gravel will slip against the concrete and if it's deep enough not to slip then your going to have the problem of weed seedlings.

Out the back we have a fairly large area of concrete with paving slabs inset . I can't understand what would possess someone to want to lay slabs in the way they have - i think they were trying to create flower shapes! So far we've just lived with it but i can't say i like it so i'm considering at some point digging the whole lot up..what's putting me off is the hard work involved and the large amount of waste to dispose of..it's not a particularly easy job even for the fittest of people (a category i don't fall into but i expect i'll be bashing it with a sledgehammer sooner or later!). If i get my way and can convince family to navvy for me the gravel in the front garden will be removed and so will the weird concrete/paving slab "flower" paving at the back in favour of grass and maybe a few stepping stones to get to the shed.

Andy

gmgmgm

As Canuckle says, go to the Paving Expert web site.

But short answer: no, you can't just stick plain gravel on a solid concrete base. Don't do it. As Andrew-B says, it's surprisingly slippery.

fiddiwebb

gmgmgm wrote: »

As Canuckle says, go to the Paving Expert web site.

But short answer: no, you can't just stick plain gravel on a solid concrete base. Don't do it. As Andrew-B says, it's surprisingly slippery.

True it can be slippery but that depends what depth the gravel is and if it is contained in some way.

Volcano

If you haven't got much money then the temptation will be to skimp on the gravel. If you have an existing patio, then the hight of this will be raised meaning you'll need to have some way of containing this gravel; usually the edging will need to be done properly to ensure it stays in place and does its job.

It sounds to me that you might be tempted to only have a thin layer of gravel (you'd be surprised how little coverage you'll get, even out of a tonne of gravel) and as others have said, could be dangerous.

Not cheap, but can be applied over existing concrete is 'pattern imprinted concrete' that comes in a huge variety of colours and patterns:



Apart from this, covering the area with potted plants and garden furniture might be the only other way to improve it cheaply.