I need to widen my existing driveway. Unfortunately, my budget isn't going to allow that to happen this year. I've got deep, muddy ruts on the edges of my drive where my wife drives off the cement every day getting past my truck, and I was looking for the best thing to fill them with.

I was thinking gravel, but figure that gravel will be a PIA when it comes to digging up to have the cement poured (hopefully next year). Pea gravel may work, or I was thinking grey slag (like I've used under brickpaver patios). My thought is to dig about 12 inches wide by 4 deep the entire length of the drive and backfill.

What do you all think? What would be the best fill for these ruts to get rid of the mud, be economical, not look like ****, and not be a PIA when it does come to actually widening the drive?

Thanks,
K

 

Any thing you put down will end up being a pain when it is time to dig it up again. The problem with putting down a bunch of one type of material (rock, pea gravel, sand, etc..) is that it often wont compact well and will continue to shift everytime you drive over it. I put down road base on my park strip, it is a mix of sand and rocks (larger aggregate all the way down to pea gravel) it consolidates extremely well, it is cheap, but if I ever want to dig it up to put down concrete I will be better off getting a backhoe. If it is just going to be temporary, pea gravel would probably work, because you can use it can be used as a good base when you level everything else later.

Longneck

 

I have a 150' long driveway, and could not afford to pave it. I used a very fine, sharp gravel and after 2 years, it's starting to compact well. Pea gravel is round and will not lock togrther...so says my contractor.

 

If you're just doing a short stretch where your truck is parked, how about bricks, patio stones or concrete squares like you use for a walk. The concrete pieces are only a couple of inches thick, but you could stack the two deep. Should be easy to remove when you finally do the additional paving.

 

3/4" and down Limerock. It dusts quite a bit at first, but the more you water it the better is sets up.

And you never know...after it does setup (since it's white) you may never need to remove it.

Check into it, see if it's available and then ask where there has been a job done to see how it looks.

 

Use class 5, it is a mix of larger aggregrate down to dust, and it is what the county uses for gravel roads, water and roll on it few times and it is as hard as cement

 

If you want a permanent fix that you can use as your base when you get ready to put concrete down, try this: First you will have to de-muck. Remove all the "moving" mud. Anything added to the top of moving earth will move also. You will eventually end up with a bigger mess than you have now. Next lay down a layer of underlayment fabric. This is a black poly/nylon fabric that Amoco developed years ago that helps prevent potholes in roadways. Add GAB (ground agregate base), or what is commonly refered to as "crush and run" on top of the fabric in six to eight inch layers. Wet each layer and let water soak into the GAB for about fifteen minutes then roll it to compact it with whatever you have (car, truck, anything heavy). It should almost feel like you are walking on a paved surface when it is right. Add layers, water, and compact till you get even with the drive concrete. This stuff packs hard as concrete and is permanent by itself. If you decide to lay concrete down later, scratch off GAB down to the level you want and put up your form boards. Use metal stakes cause wooden stakes will mushroom trying to get them down in this stuff. Sounds like a lot to do, but you could really get it down in a weekend or so. Your biggest expense will be the GAB.

 

Thanks for all of the suggestions!

K