Making a Drive, to park caravan on.

Apr 13, 2009
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Hello all. Finally sold the house and bought a bungalow, yippee!. Going to have to construct a drive on which to park the caravan on. Any advices please? Presently a lawn so excavate 6" roll in some 803, Geotextile then 35mm of chippings. But is this the cheapest and above all suitable for using the mover on to park up 'van? Maybe slabs on 803 for just the wheels to go on ?
 

JTQ

May 7, 2005
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A problem I have had with chippings is that they "stick" to the tyres when the van has stood for a while and get grunched into the movers rollers..
Where my van stops I use paving stabs.
 
Oct 30, 2009
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hi Terry, I'm with JTQ on this one, maybe a bit cheaper, but you have to think ahead a bit as it is going to be a perminant fixture. gravel will allways be loose and it gets everywhere plus there is the problem of jacking the van up if you need to same with putting two runners down where the wheels go and leaving it grass, as you have to keep moving the van to cut it,
personally I woud take my time dig out the area and lay block paving or slabs on a concrete base,
"oh and as after thought" I would also arrange while I was at it, to fix a post at the fence side at the back of the van !! and install a EHU point and outside water tap,
 

Damian

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Mar 14, 2005
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The main downsides to gravel have been stated, it goes everywhere, gets stuck in tyre treads nd mover rollers, and all over the surrounding areas, and, in addition, makes a great cat toilet!!!

Block paving is probably the best but whatever you choose with relatively new regulations it miust be a permeable surface to allow rain water to soak away into the ground.
Check with your local council on what you can and cannot have.
 
May 7, 2012
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We replaced a chippings drive with a flagged runway about six years ago with a brick paviour one. It looks a lot smarter but the drive is starting to have some minor sinking where the wheels travel over it which I think is inevitable with time. Whatever you get make sure it is done properley as there are a lot of cowboys doing this work.
As Damian says check with your local authority as to what is allowed in your area because it can vary. You may also find that they require a new driveway to have a turning space so that you can drive in, turn round and drive out forwards. this may depend on the type of road you emerge onto.
 
Mar 14, 2005
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Greetings,

And, while you're 'at it', how about digging out for a 'Drop Down' security post to add yet another layer of security to hinder the
thieving scumbags who take delight in stealing our pride and joys.
 
Dec 30, 2009
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emmitdb said:
Greetings,

And, while you're 'at it', how about digging out for a 'Drop Down' security post to add yet another layer of security to hinder the
thieving scumbags who take delight in stealing our pride and joys.

And if the van can be stored "towball first", put in a hitchpost to lock the front to. This, together with the other post at the rear of the van, (and the wheel lock, of course) will really put off any casual thief.
 
Oct 17, 2010
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The points about cowboys are very true, When we bought our Bungalow the area just off the drive had been block paved, it looked great, and was ideal for storing our van, until this wet summer, thought van going to visit my sister in Australia, blocks had been laid onto a layer of sharp sand ontop of soil. Relaid it myself couple of weeks back. Block paveing is by far the best for looks, if layed properly should last for years.
 
Apr 20, 2009
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Terry 6" of 803 is no where near sufffiecient for a drive, recommended at between 10" and 12"
What is the area you intend to excavate?.
First off take a look at this thread Driveway your opinions
Then have a look here Paving expert there are calculators on there which I used and to be honest they are not far out.
Another tip Terry if you are from Ivybridge as your name suggest use the Quarry in Ashburton to deliver your 803 loose, about half the price of builders merchants dumpy bags.
Oh and another must is locate all services before starting,hire a cat scan machine,
I learnt the hard way and cut through the gas main
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When vibrating the 803 it is also recommend to go up and down 12 times and then across 12 times and then it will compact down properly. and the membrane goes down first with 803 on top.
 
Apr 13, 2009
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Wow ! pretty comprehensive answers Guys, thanks. Cost is going to be the deciding factor here i'm afraid. I guess I'll have to dig a trial patch to see how far down the topsoil goes? Its mainly lawn at the moment and the drive would be up to the bordering wall on one side of the garden. I'd use a good quality treated Barge board to edge the other side. I appreciate block paving is likely the preferred route, but my budget wont go that far. I reckon 40 sq mtr x depth for the drive will do it, so I'll get on with getting the various costs of DIYing it. Keep you posted.
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Aug 24, 2012
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Some of these posts and driveway advice column's make out that you can't use concrete anymore. That's not the case, and you can still self mix and lay concrete quite cheaply. But you need to make soakaway provisions.
I believe the main issue with concrete driveways is if the water that hits them just gushes out on to the road. It's easy to put a slight camber on concrete and put in soakaways and draiange channels for fairly low cost.
My personal choice is for avoiding block paving. It just reminds me of Sainsbury or Tesco car parks
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Damian

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Mar 14, 2005
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Quote " Some of these posts and driveway advice column's make out that you can't use concrete anymore. "

No one has mentioned concrete, its use or not.
All thathas beensaid is that whtever medium is used it has to be permeable.
How that is achieved will vary depending what is used and the layout of the site.
 
Aug 24, 2012
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Damian-Moderator said:
Quote " Some of these posts and driveway advice column's make out that you can't use concrete anymore. "
No one has mentioned concrete, its use or not.
All thathas beensaid is that whtever medium is used it has to be permeable.
How that is achieved will vary depending what is used and the layout of the site.
OK if you really want to split hairs. As far as I know concrete isn't and never has been considered to be permeable
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. So you are wrong Damian.
May be I should have said that 'some posts and advice column's make it sound as though you can't use concrete anyore'.
Concrete isn't permeable. When laying driveways and parking areas my understanding of current laws is that you now have to make soakaway provision for rainfall. That doesn't mean that the surface HAS to be permeable! That can be accomplished by using non permeable concrete and putting in drainage and soakway provision, or you can use block paving or gravel or coverings that are permeable.

This is what the Government guidlines to this issue say :-
"There are three main types of solution to creating a permeable driveway:
• Using gravel or a mainly green, vegetated area.
• Directing water from an impermeable surface to a border rain garden or soakaway.
• Using permeable block paving, porous asphalt or concrete.

PLEASE NOTE. It does not say that the surface has to be permeable
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ps. You can get perveous concrete that is permeable. But I don't think the price would be accpetable to the aveage home owner. I'm talking regular concrete.
 
Mar 14, 2005
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before you start this project, have you made sure that you can actually park the van in your drive, their are some properties where within the deeds you are not allowed.
thankfully where i live you are allowed to park your van in my drive, despite certain neighbours voicing there objections.
i started with medium sized pebbles but try tomove the van onto them along with a previous comment the pebbles tend to sick in the treads of your tyres, causing problems with the motor mover.
I have cemented over the pebbles about 2" thick, the van sits nicely on this surface.
 
Apr 13, 2009
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Royston said:
before you start this project, have you made sure that you can actually park the van in your drive, their are some properties where within the deeds you are not allowed.
thankfully where i live you are allowed to park your van in my drive, despite certain neighbours voicing there objections.
i started with medium sized pebbles but try tomove the van onto them along with a previous comment the pebbles tend to sick in the treads of your tyres, causing problems with the motor mover.
I have cemented over the pebbles about 2" thick, the van sits nicely on this surface.
Hi Royston ! why would I want to park my 'van in your drive
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Only joking !
Think I'm going the Chippings way with this drive. Far cheaper than Paviours, and what grade chippings go down on all the Caravan Club hardstandings? Why go to the extra cost for my drive, when i probably use the Clubs sites as much as i do? No brainer i think
 
Mar 14, 2005
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Another option not yet mentioned is to use the type of concrete blocks with shaped holes in them which allow the grass to grow back up though and after a time you get a much less obtrusive parking zone which is also porous. You don't really need more than two tracks plus perhaps a sort one if you park nose wheel in last. There are also plastic versions of these slabs which are moulded in dark green plastic and again look less like a supermarket carpark. The loading of a caravan is really quite modest, and assuming you have a mover fitted traction will not be a problem on a slightly grassy surface.
 
Jan 25, 2013
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I've been employed in this industry for over 40 years and without doubt the most common failure with most paved surfaces is the lack of attention to construction depths and and more importantly compaction.
For a normal driveway a sub base of 150mm of MOT type 1 (803) is more than adequate but more important is the correct type of compactor, whether this be by a wheeled drum vibratory roller or by a plate vibrator really makes no difference, but what certainly does make a difference is the value the compacting equipment gives out. Most compaction equipment available to the DIY market is really incapable of giving out the correct compaction values to achieve a composite pavement. This is why a large number of driveways fail within a short period of time after construction.
There is nothing wrong in using a sub base of 150 mm MOT type 1 with a top dressing of any single sized granular stone which normally would be between 10 mm and 20 mm. Remember, the optimum depth of the wearing course (ie the loose gravel) is between 1.5 and 2 times rhe size of the aggregate.
A relatively cheap option to block paving and more than adequate for the parking of a caravan, oh and by the way you won't need to worry about SUD's legislation as water can percolate through the material with no water run off to worry about.
 

JTQ

May 7, 2005
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A significant failing I suffer from with the gravel section of my caravan's parking spot is that it has become the latrine of choice for the local cat community.
Be warned, it is not at all nice.
 
Mar 14, 2005
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Further to my earlier posting - if you look at www.toolstation.co.uk you will find some plastic 'tiles' with a very high load rating which you can put into your grass as I suggested.
 

Damian

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Mar 14, 2005
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I am not sure about this posting so will give it the benefit of doubt for now.
However, carriage costs from Potugal would make it rather expensive..
 
Mar 10, 2006
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From experience.
Parking on block paving can lead to the blocks sinking under the wheels, so add extra stone or lay concrete to support the bricks. Other areas that sink overtime are just before the garage door due to the car wheels.

In hindsight I should have asked for both drives to be reinforced in these areas, two different contractors carried out the work and it was done to spec.
 
Mar 10, 2006
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If the surface is prepared to support the load there should be no noticeable movement.
You don't see many houses built on rafts sinking do you.
 
Nov 6, 2005
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Houses don't subject the raft to point loadings.
Vehicle traffic always causes gradual sinkage, whether parked or moving - hence the LGV grooves on motorways.
 

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