Is your driveway starting to look a little aged? Or maybe you’re struggling with surface water which has nowhere to go? Whether it’s poor drainage or just a cosmetic driveway face-lift, X-Grid® could be the answer. With over 90% of the grid being open, filling it with attractive decorative gravels or grass are just a few ways you can personalise your drive to suit your needs and likes. X-Grid® is also permeable so there is a much lower risk of your drive flooding or annoyingly holding surface water puddles! With our online ordering system and fast delivery options, rejuvenate your driveway today!
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Background | Additional Products | The Process | Conclusion
Background
Our domestic customer Mike recently ordered 265 square metres of X-Grid® to fill the driveway of his new build house. Surface water drainage was a very important factor as the house is a new-build and falls under the relatively new SuDS regulations. Due to the permeability of X-Grid®, it is fully SuDS compliant, making it perfect for use in gravel driveways.
Mike did consider just loose gravel for the driveway but as is the case with many gravel driveways, within weeks much of it has migrated to the surrounding areas! However our cellular composition of X-Grid® makes it perfect for preventing gravel displacement while still allowing effective drainage. This can save you time, effort and money when compared to a loose gravel equivalent as it doesn’t require any raking or topping up.
Additional Products
Mike purchased membrane, hardcore and sand as well as X-Grid®. Our Geotextile Membrane is used as one of the many layers when laying a drive, it has been designed to prevent the movement and possible intermixing of materials such as soil and sand. If a drive is laid not using membrane there is a chance any hardcore or sand laid could move when weight is applied from cars driving over. With the membrane installed, the materials are separated so unable to move and mix. Which in turn creates a far more sturdy base for the X-Grid® to be laid upon.
The Process
“A surface is only as good as the base beneath it” is the golden rule when thinking about creating a new driveway. No matter what the top surface, whether concrete, tarmac, block paving or gravel, if the base beneath is not solid the lifespan will be drastically reduced.
We recommend installing X-Grid® on a base of well compacted hardcore which has been laid at a thickness appropriate for the application. More detailed information on the necessary depth of the hardcore layer can be found in our installation guide.
Mike installed his layer of hardcore (MoT type 1) and compacted it using a vibrating whacker plate to ensure that the base was as level and solid as possible. Once fully compacted, Mike covered the area in a geotextile membrane which helps to keep the layers separate, as well as filtering rainwater as it soaks through it.
To ensure the surface is completely level, a thin layer of sand was spread across the membrane and lightly compacted, again using the vibrating whacker. This sand also helps X-Grid® to find its natural level and helps to prevent movement during use.
X-Grid® was then laid on top of the sand bedding layer, with some panels being cut to fit the size and shape of Mike’s driveway, completely covering the whole area. As X-Grid® has an integral slot & peg connection, Mike told us that laying the grid was incredibly quick and simple.
Finally, once all of the grid was down and secured, gravel was then spread all over the grid. Once spread it was raked to ensure even coverage over every inch of the drive. Job done. For a job that would have taken days had it been filled with concrete or block paving, took just one day thanks to our X-Grid®.
Conclusion
Once completed Mike took photos of the finished product, one of which is to the right. When we spoke to Mike he explained how pleased he was with the grid, him and his team found it incredibly easy to lay and it saved them so much time compared to more traditional method. Mike was so pleased that he will be ordering from us again in the near future!
“The finish is great, we are very pleased with it!”
A big thank you to Mike for using our X-Grid® and for taking time out to send in his photos and sharing the story of his project!
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