 | Home > Off Topic > How to level out my lane? |
 
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| Likeomg Member Since: 29 Jun 2012 Location: Lake District / Newcastle Posts: 2626  
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Does anyone have any suggestions for surfacing and levelling this?
There's two parts, about the same in length, once you get to the end of here (picture) you take a right its slightly downhill; to my garage, it's not too bad in the summer but in the winter months it get's a bit muddy... we have a new car coming which has a very low carbon splitter, as you enter the lane theres a few big pot holes in the concreted it's not very smooth.. i'd like to level it out the outside of our garage is concrete'd is it worth trying to concrete the whole way? do i just buy 10 ton of gravel and hope it lasts? any other suggestions?  Click image to enlarge |
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6th Nov 2017 12:12am |
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| lambert.the.farmer Member Since: 11 Apr 2012 Location: harrogate Posts: 2006  
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A quick and dirty repair would be to cut the edges of any holes back so they are about 50mm deep into a fairly reasonable existing substrate then fill them in with road planings, most stone quarries will probably have a pile you can buy from in a quantity to suit usually less than 15quid a tonne, and tamp them solid. A more substantial repair would be to remove the existing and replace with concrete or resin bonded gravel. Rhubarb and custard let fly with their secret weapon.
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6th Nov 2017 6:25am |
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| JOW240725 Member Since: 04 May 2015 Location: Suffolk Posts: 7873  
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I think the answer is how much do you want to spend? Top end probably is concreting or tarmac, the lower end is gravel. I think you'll find without repairing the potholes the latter will just wash out again. I don't know but the base looks OK just potholed? I'd, therefore, imagine tarmac top layer would be cheaper than a full on concrete track.
There are companies that have special machines for re-grading just that type of driveway. It pulls up the surfaces, crushes the material and relays and compacts flat and level. Typically used on farm tracks, but I'd imagine relatively expensive for a relatively short run. You might want want to look at recycled tarmac planings, it's what we have on our driveway now for 14 years and still good and never done anything with it. The bitumen in the tarmac helps them bind together to help it stay put. I'm personally not keen on pea shingle as I've found it gets picked up by tyres and shoes. If you do go down the concrete or tarmac, you'll need to sort out the drainage too. I'd imagine any of the above will be a relatively low cost in comparison to your new purchase   James
MY2012 110 2.2TDCi XS SW Orkney Grey - http://www.defender2.net/forum/topic43410.html MY1990 110 200TDi SW beautifully faded Portofino Red - https://www.defender2.net/forum/post743641.html#743641 MY1984 90 V8 Slate Grey - https://www.defender2.net/forum/post744557.html#744557 Instagram @suffolk_rovers |
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6th Nov 2017 4:15pm |
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| gilarion Member Since: 05 Dec 2013 Location: Wales Posts: 5084  
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I used self-binding gravel on mine the type The National Trust uses. It was the cheapest alternative to tarmac. Once compacted, it is like concrete. The water drains off it and as my track was very uneven the self binding gravel filled in the dips and I now have a level track. It has been down over two years and still looks as good as the day it was laid. It does not pick up in tyre treads. For those who like Welsh Mountains and narrow boats have a look at my videos and photos at..
http://www.youtube.com/user/conwy1 |
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6th Nov 2017 5:17pm |
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| Rashers Member Since: 21 Jun 2015 Location: Norfolk Posts: 3337 
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What ever you choose, watch your levels as it looks, from the photo, that the lane tilts towards the house
You definitely don’t want to be encouraging water towards the house |
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6th Nov 2017 5:22pm |
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| alwoodley72 Member Since: 14 Mar 2010 Location: salisbury, wilts Posts: 719 
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Drainage and vegetation (weed growth) are the enemies of a decent driveway. The puddles created by poor drainage attract dirt from tyres etc, this attracts leaves which mulch down, weeds grow and attract more leaves etc etc.. any gravel will ultimately exacerbate that as it all happens in between the particles, and it won't sit in a pothole.
I'd sort out the drainage at one side, and create a batter with some self binding path gravel, rolled to give a smooth surface as Gilarion states. It won't be permanent,but tarmac or concrete on that run would cost a pretty penny if laid correctly... Cheers alex 98 300 tdi 90 project 94 Range Rover vogue 4.2 lse 79 911 sc 08 130 double cab utility |
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7th Nov 2017 12:39am |
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| Likeomg Member Since: 29 Jun 2012 Location: Lake District / Newcastle Posts: 2626
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I was just examining it earlier, its about the same length again once you get to the end, and yes the road is on a slant,
i think the main bit for now is filling the holes as you turn off the main road which will take the front splitter off, it's not a problem in the def, but a low sports car might struggle and its not something i wanna find out the hard way, i think i'll get some road plannings for now smooth it out and go from there in the spring... |
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7th Nov 2017 12:50am |
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| gilarion Member Since: 05 Dec 2013 Location: Wales Posts: 5084
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It all depends on who you employ to do the work, the company I employed sent a surveyor to inspect the track to my cottage, and he had all sorts of equipment, laser levels, hand held devices to measure the length and thus was able after an hour to give me not just an estimate but a firm price, which also included a drainage channel running the whole length that did not drain the water from the track into the cottage drains, but into something caused a soakaway in my bottom field,
I though what, this is going to flood my field but quite the opposite it actually helped drain the field as well. All this work cost eight thousand, a lot of money, but two years down I am glad I spent it, as I have a track that is level free from puddles and a joy to drive on. Oh! By the way my track is about ten times the length of the area your photo shows. I also have the benefit that refuse collectors now drive down it, as do postal vans so no more dragging the wheelie bins to the road or finding a parcel stuffed in the bushes at the end of my track that before I had the work done represented the dark side of the moon. For those who like Welsh Mountains and narrow boats have a look at my videos and photos at.. http://www.youtube.com/user/conwy1 |
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7th Nov 2017 1:12am |
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| JOW240725 Member Since: 04 May 2015 Location: Suffolk Posts: 7873
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Sounds lovely Gilarion, although I'd be tempted to keep the heavy refuse lorry and postman off it to save on wear. I know my parent's driveway its the postman driving in and out at 100mph that causes all the damage!
Likeomg, you can get specialist pothole repair aggregate, like ready mixed in a tub, but it is expensive. Good luck! Still want to see this new purchase   James
MY2012 110 2.2TDCi XS SW Orkney Grey - http://www.defender2.net/forum/topic43410.html MY1990 110 200TDi SW beautifully faded Portofino Red - https://www.defender2.net/forum/post743641.html#743641 MY1984 90 V8 Slate Grey - https://www.defender2.net/forum/post744557.html#744557 Instagram @suffolk_rovers |
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7th Nov 2017 10:08am |
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| Likeomg Member Since: 29 Jun 2012 Location: Lake District / Newcastle Posts: 2626
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To be fair, there is 3 garages serviced by the lane,
Ours being the most used... parking on our street is terrible and obviously the defender is a key target so best to keep it garaged My ls3 project was starting to look like a no go after driving one and not being impressed Started thinking and then ended up with this instead... Click image to enlarge |
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7th Nov 2017 3:24pm |
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| ginjez Member Since: 18 Sep 2011 Location: huddersfield Posts: 1750 
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We live down an unsurfaced lane which is forever wanting repairing and there was only one person who took time and spent money on stone filling the holes because of a similar vehicle in our garage. In the end it was simpler to sell the car and leave the lane to degrade seeing that nobody else wanted to bother. Enjoy the Aston but be prepared for LR build quality. They are afterall both hand built aluminium cars from the Midlands.
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8th Nov 2017 10:41pm |
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| Likeomg Member Since: 29 Jun 2012 Location: Lake District / Newcastle Posts: 2626
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The lanes been needing done for years, we can live with the mud it's just now if the car starts scraping the front splitter etc it's gonna be a big repair,
Actually the build quality is rather better than my defender... we've had a v8 version for 5 years now and the only thing to go wrong was the Bluetooth module |
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8th Nov 2017 10:49pm |
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| AndyT66 Member Since: 19 Sep 2016 Location: Bedford Posts: 148 
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I'd probably start off with a cat 16m grader, one pass should do the trick
Click image to enlarge |
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8th Nov 2017 10:53pm |
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| ARC99 Member Since: 19 Feb 2013 Location: North Yorkshire Posts: 1831 
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If it is in the National Park be careful what you do, I'm aware of someone who sorted out a lane to their house, the National Park didn't like what they had done and they were forced to put it back to the original state even though they had used local stone chippings. Don't make old people mad.
We don't like being old in the first place, so it doesn't take much to  us off.
Richard |
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9th Nov 2017 8:19am |
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