Putting gravel over flags/concrete

IvyFlood

Hi,

Looking for some advice on putting gravel over the bottom part of our garden which is currently a mash of dated council flags and concrete and I want to make the area look more pleasing as a temporary solution.

Ideally, we want a new patio, but work to the front of our house may impact on the back changing the shape of the area so until that’s sorted we don’t want to spend too much.

I’ve read it’s not advised to put gravel on a hard surface as you get the marble effect but I hadn’t even thought about this and was more concerned about drainage!

Assuming we’d have to cover the existing flags with some form of membrane to stop the weeds coming through?

We do also have a couple of drains, assuming these could be covered with some form of mesh to stop gravel falling in?

Has anyone done it?

Thanks!

FreeBear

I'd fix some timber around the perimeter of where you are putting the gravel to stop it disappearing off the edge. Wouldn't bother with a membrane as the slabs will stop weeds coming up from below. Choose your gravel carefully - Go for crushed stone like granite or slate rather than round shingle. Put down a good thick layer (say ~50mm) and you should avoid the marble effect.

Depending on the size of stone chips and the hole size in the drains, you may not need any mesh over the top of them. Ideally, you want to keep any drain grills exposed so that you can lift them easily for cleaning when the need arises.

NSG666

I've got some slate on flags and its fine as it's flat as opposed to round. The mistake I made was to use the larger of the two sizes - I think was 20-40m rather than the 20mm max (might be wrong on sizes but you get the drift. Got mine in bulk bags then slit the bags open rather than trying to shovel it out of the bags.

Moss5

Here is a couple of ideas: -
https://www.google.com/shopping/product/1?q=gravel+grid&prds=epd:14954691838184379897,eto:14954691838184379897_0,pid:14954691838184379897&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwil1P2f68H5AhUV7rsIHbg8C2cQ9pwGCA4

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/173495048892?chn=ps&mkevt=1&mkcid=28&var=473231587405