Homeowner self-lays driveway to add kerb appeal to stunning farmhouse refurb

Damaged driveway

After years of hard work to refurbish the red-brick farmhouse, one of the final tasks for the Dicksons was to upgrade the driveway and parking area to the front of the building. The 485 square metres of tarmac was in poor condition, cracked with some sections missing and weeds growing through it. To add to the challenge, the surface was uneven in places, undulating between different levels.

One solution would have been to rip up the tarmac and start again. However, that would have required a significant investment in time, equipment and materials, along with the logistics and cost to dispose of the tarmac.

Having decided quite early that laying gravel on top of the damaged tarmac would be the best solution, the Dicksons spent time researching what was available on the market. “We did a lot of searching for a suitable product to use as an overlay on an existing tarmac driveway and finally settled on the Gravelrings product,” says Daryll.

Four reasons

There were several reasons why Beauxfort's Gravelrings system got the job, according to Daryll: low build-up height, its built-in mesh, the flexibility of the rings and ease of installation.

With a ring height of 25mm and then a 10-to-15-mm covering of gravel above that, the maximum depth added by the Gravelrings system is 40mm which meant that the new level of the drive remained well below the damp proof course of the house and didn’t interfere with the entrance to the property. The built-in mesh at the bottom of the rings was a plus for Daryll because it prevents migration of gravel which can lift the rings over time.

Flexibility was important due to the uneven surface. This allows the rings to be adequately pinned without overloading parts of the rings, making them susceptible to breaking. Gravelrings are made of HDPE, which is both strong and flexible. They come in 500mm square gravel grids that are clipped together, increasing the system’s ability to accommodate surfaces that aren’t perfectly flat.

“All the other products we tried had either hexagon patterns or squares which adjoined each other, and this created a very rigid structure that would not easily flex to follow the surface contour like the Gravelrings do,” says Daryll.

One-week job

Daryll reports that he and his wife were able to complete the whole upgrade of the driveway in seven to eight days. They used a Hilti gun to pin the Gravelrings into the tarmac, cutting them to fit at the edges of the area with a handheld cordless four-inch angle grinder with a cutting disc. They then added the gravel and compacted it. Job done.

The result is an attractive driveway that enhances the appearance of the farmhouse. And, with the works being self-delivered over such a short time period, the cost of creating it should be less than the value it will add to the property.

Achieve the perfect gravel driveway with the Beauxfort Gravelrings system. For more information about the Beauxfort landscape systems, design inspiration and to request a free sample, or talk to our friendly team about your project by contacting us on 0330 055 2599 or info@beauxfort.com.