This case study comes from Miguel, the Head Caretaker at King’s College School. Between their Rugby and Football pitches, there was a patch of grass used as a pedestrian path and grounds machinery access route that frequently became very muddy. Miguel wanted a solution to his mud pit issue so began researching to find a product to fix his issue.
Project
Miguel began researching online to find an easy to install and permeable paving solution, which is when he came across our website and our X-Grid® (Permeable Paving Grid). He began to read the benefits that our grid carried such as: being lightweight, easy to install, strong (hold up to 420 tonnes per sqm), durable, SuDS Complaint, UV & weather resistant and made from 100% recycled plastic.
Miguel ordered 25m² of X-Grid® along with Lawn Edging the same day and received his items 3 working days later via pallet delivery.
Ground Preparation
Once Miguel received his X-Grid® he could begin creating a solid sub-base on which the grid would be installed.
He began his installation by measuring out the 25m² area and marking it in the grass before removing all of the existing turf and soil in that area down to a depth of around 70mm. From here Miguel compacted the remaining area before laying a sheet of membrane.
Membrane is used to allow rain and excess water to drain away naturally whilst acting as a shield to stop and weeds or plants from growing up and through the X-Grid® and gravel.
On top of the installed membrane, Miguel laid a 20mm layer of sharp sand to create a solid and still permeable sub-base on which the X-Grid® would be installed.
Installing X-Grid®
With the sharp sand base level, Miguel began to lay the X-Grid®. As his grid was delivered by pallet, the grid arrives in squares of 9 panels (1m²). He started in one corner and laid one section at a time simply connecting each neighbouring section together using the specially designed slot and peg system. Laying the full area took far less time than installing concrete would have.
With the X-Grid® in place and secure, Miguel back filled the entire area with 20mm gravel.
We estimate that around 8kg of gravel is required to fill each individual panel (330x330x40mm) so for 25m² around 1,800kg of gravel was required.
Finally, once the area was over filled with gravel, Miguel then compacted the entire area using a machine plate to ensure the surface was solid and level.
Conclusion
A huge thank you to Miguel for using our X-Grid® to solve his access route issue and then for sharing the photos and information of his installation with us to allow us to create this case study.
Miguel told us: “We have a large amount of pedestrian use which would before, turn this area into a mud pit and we had to constantly apply sand to improve it. However it was a waste of time, effort and most importantly money.
Since the X-Grid® had been installed, I can say it has improved this area 100% and to the point that I am now considering doing other sections of the grounds the same.”
If you have photos to share with us of your project or you have any questions regarding any our products then please do not hesitate to contact us.
