Driveway repair advice

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Saltlick

Saltlick

Well-Known Member
Posts
1,082
Location
Taunton, Somerset
OK, so not landy related except that I drive/park my landy on it ;) but hey ho..

My drive needs some attention as it's starting to look like a very short green lane!
There are 4 or 5 holes that range from 2' around to 3'x6' and about 2"-4" deep.

There's a gravel/hardcore base and a thin top layer which is sort of tarmaccy, but very rough, mixed with gravel in and on top. I've no frigging clue exactly what it is, but the holes in it are doing my tits in and need filling with something that is bonded/fixed to the driveway, as gravel gets washed away quite often - the drive is mostly flat, but hilly next to the house so floods wash through regularly and remove the gravel.

I should probably get a few photo's of the surface, but I was thinking I could possibly concrete the holes and top with the same dark gravel as the rest of the driveway top surface so it blends in. What would you lot suggest?

The drive gets a lot of traffic from big lorries as it's a horsey place and there are lots of horsey trucks driven in and out, so it needs to be a sturdy repair, so I'm not sure a bag of the old tarmac drive repair shizz is going to do much good! :D
 
Saltlick said:
OK, so not landy related except that I drive/park my landy on it ;) but hey ho..

My drive needs some attention as it's starting to look like a very short green lane!
There are 4 or 5 holes that range from 2' around to 3'x6' and about 2"-4" deep.

There's a gravel/hardcore base and a thin top layer which is sort of tarmaccy, but very rough, mixed with gravel in and on top. I've no frigging clue exactly what it is, but the holes in it are doing my tits in and need filling with something that is bonded/fixed to the driveway, as gravel gets washed away quite often - the drive is mostly flat, but hilly next to the house so floods wash through regularly and remove the gravel.

I should probably get a few photo's of the surface, but I was thinking I could possibly concrete the holes and top with the same dark gravel as the rest of the driveway top surface so it blends in. What would you lot suggest?

The drive gets a lot of traffic from big lorries as it's a horsey place and there are lots of horsey trucks driven in and out, so it needs to be a sturdy repair, so I'm not sure a bag of the old tarmac drive repair shizz is going to do much good! :D
Click to expand...

Small hard chippings packed into the hole with a rammer will probably do the job for least cost.
If you can get it, bit of asphalt mixed in will bind it better. Melts and sets in the sun on a hot day.
Concrete is ok, very expensive and hassle, and you will probably find the concret patches will stick up proud after a few years.

No easy way, I am afraid, we have 2 miles of gravel lanes to maintain here. We just keep at it filling the holes with whatever we can get.
 
Saltlick said:
OK, so not landy related except that I drive/park my landy on it ;) but hey ho..

My drive needs some attention as it's starting to look like a very short green lane!
There are 4 or 5 holes that range from 2' around to 3'x6' and about 2"-4" deep.

There's a gravel/hardcore base and a thin top layer which is sort of tarmaccy, but very rough, mixed with gravel in and on top. I've no frigging clue exactly what it is, but the holes in it are doing my tits in and need filling with something that is bonded/fixed to the driveway, as gravel gets washed away quite often - the drive is mostly flat, but hilly next to the house so floods wash through regularly and remove the gravel.

I should probably get a few photo's of the surface, but I was thinking I could possibly concrete the holes and top with the same dark gravel as the rest of the driveway top surface so it blends in. What would you lot suggest?

The drive gets a lot of traffic from big lorries as it's a horsey place and there are lots of horsey trucks driven in and out, so it needs to be a sturdy repair, so I'm not sure a bag of the old tarmac drive repair shizz is going to do much good! :D
Click to expand...
Something like this? Not used it myself but there are other similar products around.
 
^^ That stuff above is your easiest option with reasonable results. I'd always heat it up with a torch ( gas, not battery ! ), especially this time of year. Use a whacker to press the gravel in, preferably a petrol one, but a manual tamping device should suffice.
 
dont employ this guy :eek:

B7leHTnIIAAByTk.jpg
 
The holes are probably forming where water can pool. My first move would be to put some drains in to those areas. Then, whatever you put in stands more chance of remaining solid and staying there.
 
Al2O3 said:
The holes are probably forming where water can pool. My first move would be to put some drains in to those areas. Then, whatever you put in stands more chance of remaining solid and staying there.
Click to expand...

Yes, water in the holes is a problem, the wheels scour out more stones by hydrauilic action, and the pit rapidly grows.

Land drains are difficult under a hard surface though. We just fill the holes slightly proud, and try and ditch at the sides to take the water off.
 
Thanks for the replies chaps - I've got a couple of pics of the area:
As you can see the bigger holes are on the right, (full of water/ice today) which is actually a corner, so they get the most wear.
Sorry the pictures aren't that great, it was -5c this morning and I was shivering and teasing my frits off out there :s

WP_20161130_08_17_40_Pro.jpg




WP_20161130_08_17_52_Pro.jpg
 
That looks like the result of the turn circle entering and leaving that concreted parking area ???
If it is I think you will be chasing your tail and throwing money away with temp repairs on it.
 
Sort of - that's a open ended barn which only gets driven into/out of once or twice a week by a little Terios. The drive curves around the side of the barn, though these holes are in front of it and the drive curves slightly there, the corner is just out of shot (bottom left) like this:

upload_2016-11-30_12-37-46.png


I'm guessing I'd need to dig out the holes a bit so that there are defined edges for the repair to butt up to, rather than just filling and leaving with a thin, feathered edge to chip/break away over the next year or two.

The driveway really could do with re-laying but there just isn't the money to do it, and the rest of it is in ok condition. The other issue with the holes is that to the right of them is a gravel/mud base and I don't know how far this goes or if its down to the mud at the edge of the holes. I'll just have to get the tools out and have a look!
 
Other option is run some kind of tractor mounted scraper over the lot of it and loosen it all off and fills the low points. Then whack/roll the entire surface. We do that at my in-laws shared drive which is very similar to yours. Its on going maintenance though and needs doing every 2/3 months. Like you, the alternative repairs are too expensive.
 
Hmm... that's an idea, we've got a tractor so I could tool around with the bucket for a bit - it just seems like adding something to bind all the loose shizz might be a good idea before getting a whacker plate on it..
 
Saltlick said:
Hmm... that's an idea, we've got a tractor so I could tool around with the bucket for a bit - it just seems like adding something to bind all the loose shizz might be a good idea before getting a whacker plate on it..
Click to expand...
let me know what you come up with to bind it. Then I'll see you on Dragons Den and I'll be your first customer.:p
 
Saltlick said:
Sort of - that's a open ended barn which only gets driven into/out of once or twice a week by a little Terios. The drive curves around the side of the barn, though these holes are in front of it and the drive curves slightly there, the corner is just out of shot (bottom left) like this:

View attachment 111785

I'm guessing I'd need to dig out the holes a bit so that there are defined edges for the repair to butt up to, rather than just filling and leaving with a thin, feathered edge to chip/break away over the next year or two.

The driveway really could do with re-laying but there just isn't the money to do it, and the rest of it is in ok condition. The other issue with the holes is that to the right of them is a gravel/mud base and I don't know how far this goes or if its down to the mud at the edge of the holes. I'll just have to get the tools out and have a look!
Click to expand...

With pits like that, we would first put in some big bits of hard stone, take some of the volume out of it, then we would top up with scalpings or fine chips, leaving them slightly proud, then ram in or drive over it.

The other problem you have is the road is very flat, try and dig some ditches or low spots at the edge, and whether you reapair or resurface, try and build it either cambered, or sloping slightly side to side. It is extra work, but will repay many times in the long run, it is the water in the pits causes the problem.

Just looking for a few pics of our lane, it may take a minute or two to find em.
 
Here we go, this will give you an idea, the whole lane is about 2 miles! :( Resurfacing would be tens of thousands just for the materials, so we just keep at it with recycled material.








You can see there is almost nowhere to ditch at the sides, so a lot of the lane is acting as a drain as well as a road.
 
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