My Driveway: questions...

[millipede]

Anybody know much about driveways, especially an uphill driveway?
I'll try and post a picture at some point... It's quite a long uphill driveway and though I wont be doing anything to it immediately, I really need to be thinking of what to do with it. The bulldozer guy suggested getting gravel brought in... true it would help with drainage and such but between the time, effort, and most importantly money, it might not be such a good idea, to me at least... At first I was thinking of just leaving it grass but was mentioned to me, by several people, that when it rained it would turn to mud... makes sense... But I'm thinking if my tires are only so wide, why bother with such a wide driveway... I was thinking about bricks and other options that I could possibly use to make two lines up the hill a bit wider than the tires so I could still have grass in other places such as the middle of the driveway... That would save on time and money etc... I was just thinking a little while ago, just thinking because I really have no clue yet, that I could take cinder blocks, lay them up the hill, fill the holes half way with gravel and the rest up with cement/concrete... something like that. I don't think cinder blocks cost toooooo much and that work could be done really easily by myself... There's almost enough rock there already(naturally) that it's almost like a gravel drive, but not quite... I have a lot of work ahead of me and need to be thinking about some of it... anyone have any ideas or thoughts... I need to have something of a driveway because it's a hill but I really need to do something cheap and easy...

 

[Menagerie]

That sounds like a lot of work! I currently have to park on the street. Sorry, I am not much help.

 

[TankGirl]

The only kind of cinderblock that would work for this are the ones that are solid, about 2 1/2" thick. They would be like paving stones, but they are not cheap! If you got a good compacted sand bed for them they would work.

I also think for a driveway with a grade like that gravel would not be a good choice because it would tend to wash down and out into the street. The only thing I can think of would be to pave it, but that is not going to be cheap.

You can get paving stones and do the job yourself, but I would go to an online DIY forum (doityourself.com is a great one) and post about it there, to get good advice about the best way to do it right. I currently have a gravel drive and I really hate it - the bits of gravel are getting into the house in spite of my best efforts with bristly doormats, and I am very anxious to get it paved.

Or, you could just get a 4-wheel drive vehicle...

 

[fishfreek]

Gravel is the best course of action.

Blocks will deterate and crumble over time causing maintance problems, you definatly want something more than just grass as over a short period of time the grass will be killed from being driven over so much and you will end up with a dirt road and that will turn into mud and probably big ruts. The briks are ok of an idea but unless they are properly anchored they will proably come lose very quickly. If you lived in the north the freeze thaw process would do enough harm to make it a PITA.

a nice small gravel will go a long way expecailly if you can have it rolled when its put in place. Put some water breaks a few points aswell. This is where you cut a small diagonal in the road way so water is taken off to the side. THink of it as like a gutter for the drive.

 

[William]

Gravel is the best course of action.

Blocks will deterate and crumble over time causing maintance problems, you definatly want something more than just grass as over a short period of time the grass will be killed from being driven over so much and you will end up with a dirt road and that will turn into mud and probably big ruts. The briks are ok of an idea but unless they are properly anchored they will proably come lose very quickly. If you lived in the north the freeze thaw process would do enough harm to make it a PITA.

a nice small gravel will go a long way expecailly if you can have it rolled when its put in place. Put some water breaks a few points aswell. This is where you cut a small diagonal in the road way so water is taken off to the side. THink of it as like a gutter for the drive.

True, bricks deterioate over time.


However, if its done right. Milli, nor Milli's children will really have to worry about that

The problem is, Doing it right. Which may be a long and irritable chore for a first timer.


Brick is most likely the longest lasting and most durable drive way you can do, I know of brick roads around me, as well as driveways and parking lots, that have been in use for a, perhaps a century or more.

and their still there today, taking the punishment of modern lives heaviest vehicles and their still standing strong.



This situation is like anything else.

The cheapest method will cost more in the long run, and the most expensive will actually be cheaper in the long run.

 

[millipede]

Thanks for the replies so far... keep em coming... I'm not even in the house yet but seriously need to think about this. We had some rather unusually large amounts of rain for this time of year and it wore away a tiny amount of the driveway but more so on the actual dirt road. There's so much rock there it's almost like gravel throughtout the yard... If I wanted to take a LOT of time I could just collect gravel from the yard and have more than enough for a driveway...
After doing some reading I'm thinking one of the more practical/cheaper/quicker ways might be to have some crushed rock dumped there. It will pack a lot nicer than regular gravel... My thoughts on brick or even concrete or something like that was that I might as well just do two strips up the hill... either brick or concrete... I'd make each track wider than a tire but why bother with the whole width of the car... then where the care doesn't actually come in contact with the ground I could still grow some good turf grass to minimize runoff... I've been doing some reading on buffalo grass and I think that at least some parts of the yard this would be a good choice... at any rate, between time and money, if I did use concrete or brick I wouldn't make the normal width driveway but if I went with the crushed rock they would just dump it and I would probably spread it myself to save money... money is a HUGE issue... unless people want to donate to the "millipede's new house fund"...
I may try calling around to find some prices on crushed rock... either that or get myself a screen and start collecting all the rock in the yard... no exaggeration there is more than enough laying around already

 

[millipede]

feel free to post any other thoughts anyone has... it will be a while before I do much for the driveway, but not too long I guess... If we get many more rains like we did this past weekend it could cause serious problems in the future

 

[Bearfan]

Bricks are cheap...yes...but you need to build a good sub base for them to last. That's where it gets pricy. And it takes forever to compact a large area.

You should call around about gravel prices...you could probably get a decent deal somewhere if they are just dumping it.

I recommend blacktop, but it's not the cheapest, concrete will be more expensive.

 

[Sparky]

Where I work there is a road that was paved in bricks back in 1890, that road is still there and used heavily be semi trucks hauling steel to and from our plant. I will post a picture of it soon, I have to bring my camera to work to do it.\

The road is getting beat up a bit now, but it stood for over a hundred years this way. If brick is done right it will last.

Mike

 

[millipede]

I measured the driveway the other day... it's about 250+ feet long, all uphill... At this point it will probably be a while, and I'm not sure I'd be able to afford anything, anytime soon... Who knows... Maybe I'll do a few feet at a time

 

[brndfrb]

I think gravel would be your cheapest route. I mean were i am at you can get a ton of stone for 40 or 50 bucks.

 

[shawmutt]

I really need to do something cheap and easy...

Park at the bottom of the hill and walk up

Here's a site that may help, but no matter what you choose, you're talking big bucks for something that long.

http://homes.mainetoday.com/homecare/040423driveways.shtml

 

[millipede]

that was a helpful link, thanks... It helped me to realize even more that I'll be doing everything myself. Most gravel type places charge less if they just dump it and run... and no, I'm not walking up that hill all the time... sure not going to make my wife or kids walk it either. It will do for now as is... there's so much rock there it's almost like a gravel driveway, gravel yard really. Lots and lots of work ahead of me. If I can find some sort of cheap materials to use I'll just do it a little at a time... I have a few dozen projects ahead of me, none of which I can afford right now...

 

[Sparky]

Here are the pictures of the road at work. This road was put down in 1891 the same year that the plant was built. The Steel mill went into operation in 1892 and is still running to this day. Going through a major upgrade and was the "original" Inland Steel Company.

Anyway, enough of history. You can see that this road has held up very well for as long as it's been there. Heavy trucks drive on it daily.

Mike

 

[bound_for_obx]

You might be surprised at how little gravel actually costs. I filled up the bed of my toyota and it only cost like 6 bucks! I'd think about getting the gravel hauled out to your place and have the drivers dump it slowly as they drive out from your house. Then rent a front-end loader for a day to spread it more evenly.
Good Luck!

 

[smallfry]

This may be a dumb idea...but do you know anyone with a bulldozer (or backcoe? Just have them "skim" your yard onto the driveway area...then the gravel that WAS in your yard will now be in your driveway if you need more, just purchase the remainder. Then have the bulldozer spread the gravel around and run over it a fews times to pack it down. Then tape off your yard and spread grass seed.

 

[millipede]

Well I have yet to call around, nothing in the phone book anyway, as I have many more important things to be doing... but even at low prices the driveway is quite long... around 250 feet or more... and uphill... just about every project ahead of me is going to be tough but will be more than worth it in the end... As far as bulldozers go... they all cost money, and quite a bit. I've considered just sorting all the rocks out of the yard by hand but I doubt I'll actually do that. Some of the larger rocks I would like to use for some short stone walls. "tape off your yard..."? If you mean to keep people off it I don't have to worry about that... my plot is about 5 acres and the adjacent lots are about that size or bigger and it's a narrow dirt road with very little traffic... With all of the things I'll be working on I may not have a lawn for a year or two... we'll see though. I plan on giving buffalo grass a try...
As for the driveway, aside from all the possabilities so far another thing I have to think of is drainage as it is quite a hill. I need to make sure it's not all going to run off down the road and leave huge holes and crevices...

 

[XXFirefighter]

medium to small gravel works. Step father has it on his farm in Pa. Same thing as you. Long uphill. Just dump and drive ALOT on it.

 

[fishfriends05]

I don't know if it will work or not, but I thought I'd throw it in just for idea sake, it just might spur another idea. Loose gravel will just spread all over the place and it will take awhile to compact in and whatever doesn't get packed in will end up in your vehicle, house, shoes and even possibly end up even sleeping with you.
But what if you where to lightly gravel it, then have someone run a thin coat of tar over the gravel to help keep it in place. Over time the gravel should compact nicely without it ending up all over the place. I'd imagine it shouldn't run you too much extra for something like that.

I got the idea from the tar and gravel roofs. If anybody has ever replaced one of them then they would know that once you sweep off the loose gravel, your left with a fairly solid cover made of tar and gravel. It should hold up long enough till you could save funds for an upgraded driveway.

 

[millipede]

One thing I was thinking about recently was how the driveway is setup now... not only does it go uphill, but it goes across the hill so it doesn't have to go straight up... Anyway, when the bulldozer guy cut across the hill he left a nice little trail of dirt on the side... well, try to look at it this way... as you're going up the driveway, on the right side the land continues uphill, on the left it goes downhill... but because he was just bulldozing there is sort of a dirt barrier on the left before it drops down... so my thoughts are when it rains, which it has several times since it's been done, the water can't run across the driveway, it is trapped and can only run down the driveway causing some serious erosion... I'm thinking I'll have to remove a bit of dirt to make things work a little better than that...