Grass protection mesh

[Cobra]

Has anyone used this?
I can't help feeling that it will still "rut" even when down.?

I have a 3m wide drive, next to that is a 1.5m block path.
Next to that is the lawn.
I need to widen the drive by about > 1m, and this seems the easiest quickest and cheapest.

Plan A would be to pull up the blocks excavate a further meter to the side and use the blocks as a base
for the new area. ( The blocks were put down over a solid base, that would remain in place)
And then fill the resulting ~2m with "good gravel".
But with skip hire & gravel its time consuming, and about £400

Plan B would be to use half the block path (width) to sit half the car on, as the grass ruts, pack sand / gravel
into the ruts to solidify the base. (just a few quid)

Plan C would be to get the blocks extended, sideways,
that seems to be circa £100 sq / m for this area.
not a lot of change out of £1000.

Plan D would be to use a ~2000 gsm mesh. (at about £120 for my needs 10x1 meter)
Its quick easy and the cheapest method,
I know that it has to "stand" to "mature" for a few weeks
while the grass binds too it.
Any pit falls from personal experience?

TIA

 

[big soft moose]

we use mesh quite a lot for temporary car parking - it generally works okay without rutting , however onus is on the word temporary , it isnt going to wear terribly well as a permanent solution. you also need to make sure its well pinned down (I'd use steel pins not the crappy plastic ones some companies provide with the mesh) or you can get trip hazards developing where peoples feet catch on the edges of the roll

If you want a green surface permanent solution you'd be better off with golpa type blocks (thats the honeycomb plastic stuff which you lay in tiles then seed over - or you can buy it ready seeded.) Very effective and a good permanent solution widely used in overflow car parks - however it isnt cheap (I think we were looking at £25/msq last time we got quotes - and that will have been ex vat

 

[Cobra]

- however it isnt cheap (I think we were looking at £25/msq last time we got quotes - and that will have been ex vat

Is that fitted I guess not actually?
(if it is its 1/4 of the price of blocks though)
TBH I'm not being intentionally green, just looking for a quick (cheap-ish) and easy solution.

Cheers Pete

 

[big soft moose]

no that was with us laying it ourselves - that was also for the non seeded stuff. Seeded was about £40/msq IIRC Grass crete would probably be cheaper per block msq (thats the diamond pattern concrete block that grass grows through) but tends to need more ground prep to stop it going wonkey so the overall cist isnt much different.

If you arent arsed about a green surface you could also look at ground guards (these are the big 8x4 sheets usually made out of recycled PTFE, generally meant for taking diggers and other plant across soft surfaces) , you can sometimes pick them up cheap from hire placres clearing their old stock. They are a doddle to fit as you just lay them out and pin them at the corners with steel spikes (having made sure theres no utilities close to the surface natch ) - however they can be slippy in the wet , and they don't look great.

When i'm back in the office tommorow i'll look up some contacts in our catalogues if you want

 

[Cobra]

When i'm back in the office tommorow i'll look up some contacts in our catalogues if you want

Nice one cheers
I'll have a quick look round at the ground guards, I think I know what you mean,
and I'm not really that keen TBH.

 

[big soft moose]

like that

tbh I don't blame you - they meet the criteria of cheap and easy - but they are fugly

I meant more that i'd get you the contacts for the geotex and golpa providers we use (who are both national not based in devon)

Course another option would be to dig the soil out and use about 15cm depth of road planings (cheap from the council contractors usually) vibrated down with a plate and then topped over with 5cm depth of decorative gravel also vibrated down. - admittedly thats only cheap if you do it yourself , by the time you've paid a contractor to do it blocks or golpa would have been cheaper.

Another option is concrete - whivch is pretty easy to prep for and lay if you get it delivered ready mixed in a lorry and pumped in - this does assume that your drive is reasonably flat - concrete on a slope is specialist job as it tends to slurp its way down hill

 

[mickledore]

The problem with anything "grass" based is that it will compact down over time. Even the mesh will form ruts. The grass also has a tendency to wear away where the wheels regularly travel. Depends how decent you want it to look.

You can stop it rutting but you need to have a good solid base with not much topsoil depth. That too mitigates against good grass growth.

The sensible solution is hard standing of some sort but aesthetics, cost and effort come into the equation. Also don't local councils now forbid turning grass fronts into hardstanding? Something to do with stopping run off and flooding?

Not a lot of use. Sorry.

 

[Cobra]

I meant more that i'd get you the contacts for the geotex and golpa providers we use (who are both national not based in devon)

I did realise cheers.
And TBH I really CBA messing about digging out packing a base laying concrete,
blocks or anything else for that matter,
I'm just trying to find a quick and easy way and preferably cheap too

 

[Cobra]

The problem with anything "grass" based is that it will compact down over time. Even the mesh will form ruts. The grass also has a tendency to wear away where the wheels regularly travel. Depends how decent you want it to look.
You can stop it rutting but you need to have a good solid base with not much topsoil depth. That too mitigates against good grass growth.
The sensible solution is hard standing of some sort but aesthetics, cost and effort come into the equation. Also don't local councils now forbid turning grass fronts into hardstanding? Something to do with stopping run off and flooding?
Not a lot of use. Sorry.

Cheers
As I understand it, its OK to replace grass with porous,
but not concrete, and last time I looked at the local planning laws, regarding this,
there was also a get out clause
if the "driveway" slopped toward a grass or "garden" area,
for the water to run too,
but it was also something to do with percentages concrete / mud or grass.

 

[big soft moose]

Tbh i'd be suprised if the planners had a major issue with the sort of area you are talking about (it does depend on the council admittedly - some planning depts are staffed exclusively by jobs worth arseholes)

IIRC you need PP for more than 5 Msq if you are laying impermeable surface on your front garden (don't take that as gospel , I'm not a lawyer etc) - IMO PP is not required for any porous surface including permeable concrete blocks or porous asphalt (or gravel or any green surface)

The planning portal website will have the full SP - or if i remember (not guranteed) I can ask our building surveyor who i am seeing tommorow anyway)

 

[Cobra]

- some planning depts are staffed exclusively by jobs worth arseholes)

You do surprise me
I'm only talking probably less than 10% additional TBH

 

[big soft moose]

You do surprise me

One of the many projects ive got on my desk at the moment is building a multiuser path (thats a cycleway to any normal person) - it just less than 1km in length but you'd think I was buikding the M6 extension to see the ammount of paper the planners want (in fact the M6 extension might have ben easier - that'd have had a paving bill). For example because 10 metres of the trail extend into flood zone 3, I have had to produce a 25 page Flood risk assesment :bang: