Cheap Gravel for driveway

Waterlily24

Hi

We are after some gravel for a driveway and patio. It's a large area so we need quite a lot. I wonder if anyone has any idea where we can buy this cheaply. Hubby looked at at crushed bricks but wasn't impressed would have been much cheaper though.

J_J_Carter

Wickes do pea shingle for about £40 for 850kg delivered which should give a decent depth over 16sqm. You don't want to be walking regularly on anything much bigger than pea shingle, 20mm+ is really only for decoration.

scbk

Are you fussed what it looks like? What about recycled type material from a roads contratcor?

Rotor

I disagree with JJ there. Pea shingle (10mm)moves and migrates more easily than 20mm which makes it harder to walk on and car wheels push it out of the way more.
I used 'Witherly Central' for 20 ton loads of 20mm which is good for about 200 sq m. It was about £18/ton ( about 2 years ago)
They may do 10 ton loads- not sure - less than that and you are probably best to go to builders merchant /wickes

ukjoel

If your up for moving it yourself check out ebay - people often are giving it away as they need to clear it from their drive.

bottleblonde

And watch out for smaller shingle getting stuck in the soles of people's boots or shoes. My ex has small gravel on his drive and constantly moans about the marks on his tiled and wooden floors when visitors come in the house. It has caused quite a bit of damage (ooops! )

asbokid

bottleblonde wrote: »

And watch out for smaller shingle getting stuck in the soles of people's boots or shoes. My ex has small gravel on his drive and constantly moans about the marks on his tiled and wooden floors when visitors come in the house. It has caused quite a bit of damage (ooops! )

Are you sure that wasn't your stilettos, bottleblonde?

What about those quartz chippings you find on graves, waterlily? Would they look nice?

gardenroute

I agree with rotor/disagree with JJC. Pea shingle is not the best gravel for a drive. On a drive you want an angular gravel that the tyre can bite into rather than push around.
You also want to avoid having a "decent depth" - the actual depth depends on the gravel but generally about an inch or two; anything more and the car/your feet will sink into it - this is especially true with pea shingle.
Gravelling a drive also needs a firm base underneath, power steering and accelerating/braking on the same spot will create holes/ruts in the soft ground underneath. You need a substantial concrete/MOT Type 1 base down before gravelling a drive or you're wasting your time/money (IMHO).

Rooklands

have you had a look to see if there is a local quarry near by. I have one about a mile away from me and they sell gravel, sand, stones, bricks etc, lots of different types. Do a check on google and see if there is, they normally deliver too

It's also normally a lot cheaper as it does not have a mark up added like when you buy at wicks or one of the other garden/diy places

Waterlily24

Thank you for the replies everyone.

Rotor wrote: »

I disagree with JJ there. Pea shingle (10mm)moves and migrates more easily than 20mm which makes it harder to walk on and car wheels push it out of the way more.
I used 'Witherly Central' for 20 ton loads of 20mm which is good for about 200 sq m. It was about £18/ton ( about 2 years ago)
They may do 10 ton loads- not sure - less than that and you are probably best to go to builders merchant /wickes

Crumbs that sounds cheap, the places I've found on line want over £80 a ton, mind you I'm not very good at looking for stuff lol. Don't use the right phrases I think. Thanks for the info.

Rooklands wrote: »

have you had a look to see if there is a local quarry near by. I have one about a mile away from me and they sell gravel, sand, stones, bricks etc, lots of different types. Do a check on google and see if there is, they normally deliver too

It's also normally a lot cheaper as it does not have a mark up added like when you buy at wicks or one of the other garden/diy places

I'm not sure if it's a quarry but there is definitely a big site that sells the stuff,
.I'm off to do a googls. Thanks very much.