Gravel Patio Help!

matt1987

Hello all,

So Iv decided to spruce up the garden, where an existing patio was laid. I want to replace with gravel.

initially I was going to lift patio up, lay 50mm of MOT Type 1, whacker, membrane and then 50mm of some nice Cotswold stone Gravel with wooden sleepers as edging.

As I’m lifting up the patio (which is come up really easy) the mortar mix under the patio is solid…. I’m wondering if I’d get away with instead of laying MOT Type 1, getting some gravel grids and laying the grids over the Concrete?

would this work? Iv added a photograph for reference! Would save my back massively doing it this way! Haha!

Any advice appreciated!

 

CliveOfIndia

Are you sure it's solid mortar under there?  Looks like dot & dab to me (the cowboy way of doing it) with some assorted rubbish in between.

You might get away with laying gravel on top of it short term - but it'll look rubbish after a year or so.  It wants digging out and the job doing properly.

For the amount of effort involved it's worth doing it right first time - you'll thank yourself in years to come

ThisIsWeird

Hi Matt.

Why wouldn't that work? If the existing depth of that sub-base is correct - ie, the top of the grid will match the surrounding levels when laid - then that sounds like a perfectly sensible plan to me. I'm all for saving my back too...

Ideally, that isn't a solid concrete base, as it'll allow draining through.

Sounds sensible to me.

Nobbie1967

It’s a patio we’re talking about, so no need to withstand vehicular traffic like a driveway. Think I’d level it off with some sharp sand rather than MOT as the bigger bits will cause issues trying to level it out, lay a membrane and then grids to hold the gravel as you suggest. Might be an idea to put in some edging to hold the grids in place.

Cheslea2010

Grids look awful if they are not level. You would need a blinding layer of sand before laying the grids and judging by the level of your ACO drain you don't have enough depth to do this. Unless of course the ACO is coming up as well. Your damp proof course also looks like it is only a brick and a half above finished level. You need 2 bricks minimum.

ThisIsWeird

Yes, anything looks awful if not level. But I think it's safe to assume that all these 'dabs' of concrete are all level, since they had concrete slabs on them.

The finished level will presumably be similar to the previous, so a good couple of bricks below DPC. Not perfectly 'ideal', but there is also a drain grid betwixt them.

Kis.

matt1987

Thanks for the comments guys!

Yep, the patio was perfectly level prior to lifting. The Aco’s are coming up too (they haven’t really served any purpose as they don’t drain anywhere!!

I thought maybe with gravel the rain will just drain through it into the ground? 

I was definitely going to fill the gaps, but with MOT Type 1…. I suppose I could get sharp sand instead! 

Iv got 100x200mm timbers as edging to separate gravel and lawn. 

FreeBear

matt1987 said: I was definitely going to fill the gaps, but with MOT Type 1…. I suppose I could get sharp sand instead!

You'll find sharp sand will fill the holes, and it has a good load bearing capacity once compacted - If you ever lay block paving, the base if MOT1, and the blocks are bedded down on a layer of sharp sand.

matt1987

FreeBear said:

matt1987 said: I was definitely going to fill the gaps, but with MOT Type 1…. I suppose I could get sharp sand instead!

You'll find sharp sand will fill the holes, and it has a good load bearing capacity once compacted - If you ever lay block paving, the base if MOT1, and the blocks are bedded down on a layer of sharp sand.

Thanks, that’s really handy to know!

matt1987

Finally got it done! Will need a top up with gravel but glad it’s over! That was some slog doing it on my own, first ever project Iv carried out…. Including the pergola! 

ThisIsWeird

That is really nice!