As your family grows older there may come a time where it feels like there are more cars than people in your home. This is what Tony in our case study was finding and since moving into his new home had his car scratched by passing cars when leaving his on the side of the road. To stop this from happening again he took matters into his own hands and decided to extend his driveway to allow all 3 cars space to fit on the drive without any moving around of current cars. Tony was looking for a quick solution to allow him to have a gravel driveway and this is when he found our X-Grid®, read on to find out more;
Jump To:
| The Project | The Work | Conclusion |
The Project
Tony got in touch with us a few weeks ago, after moving into their new house around a year ago they had been struggling for parking space on the drive and risked having their cars scratched or damaged if left on the side of the road. Tony and his family needed space for all 3 cars and for each car to be able to come on and off as they please without any need for car tetris! However, the family wanted to keep some of the front garden, so instead of simply removing everything and concreting over they decided to find a solution that would give them a strong driveway and also be cut down to leave them a slight front garden to decorate. Which is when Tony found our X-Grid® and began to read up on the product and other case studies to see if it would be suitable for them.
Tony ordered on the same day he found our products and did so before 12pm so his order was dispatched just a few hours later and delivered 3 working days later, ready for him to begin installing. Read on to find out how Tony installed the X-Grid® paving!
The Work
The project took a few weeks to complete as Tony only worked on the drive during the weekend.
Weekend One – Tony began by removing the overgrown front garden, it took the full werkend to dig it out and fill bulk bags with the removed materials. He dug down to a depth of around 175mm to allow plenty of room for the X-Grid® and gravel to later be installed. In all 3 bulk bags were filled with excavated materials and taken away to be disposed of responsibly. Whilst digging down Tony discovered a sizable amount of Limestone rocks buried beneath the plants and soil which he recovered and saved for future use, there are rumours that the stone actually came from a local castle many years ago so it would be a shame to needlessly throw it all away.
Weekend Two – With the area now clear it was time to begin installing the X-Grid®. Tony began by laying down a small layer of Hardcore to a depth of around 120mm across the entire area and whacked it down to create a solid sub-base on which the rest of the drive will be standing. Next, with the hardcore down he laid a sheet of GeoTextile Membrane over the hardcore to create a permeable shield over the ground to allow water to flow away naturally and stop unwanted weeds from growing up and through the grid.
Weekend Three – Tony visited us to collect his X-Grid®. “I travel up and down the M1 from Yorkshire to London pretty much every week so a Friday PM collection was a really good choice for me. Service on collection was excellent, and the communication I had with the office was spot on. Collection also saved me the delivery charge, and as a tight northerner that always appeals to me” The X-Grid was then laid and installed on top of the Membrane which was very simple to do, took a few hours to do as some panels needed to be cut down which was simple to do with a standard hand saw. Finally, Tony removed half of the front garden wall and filled the X-Grid® with Yorkshire Cream 20mm Gravel.
Conclusion
Tony was very pleased with how the project turned out, turning a front garden into a fantastic parking space in just 3 weekends is amazing. We are very pleased that our X-Grid® can help people transform their driveways and gardens in no time at all.
“We love the feel the grids give the gravel, its so sturdy and stable. We’ve all had our cars on an off the gravelled area repeatedly and I’m yet to notice any of the gravel being displaced onto the pathway or block paved bit of the drive, the grids really encourage the stones to lock into place. We are now considering taking up the block paving at the front and extending the grids and gravel across the full width of the front of the house.”
We would like to say a huge thank you to Tony for the information and photos of his driveway he sent in for us to create this case study. Should you have any information or photos to share with us or any questions regarding a product or case study then please do contact us.
