Hello everyone,
We have recently built a new single-family house and, since the costs were naturally higher than planned, I would now like to install the driveway and access path myself.
For better understanding, I am attaching a section of the original plan. Please ignore most of the scribbles and focus on the area marked as paved. 🙂
The space is quite tight: the driveway strip is 4 meters (13 feet) wide in total, and the path to the front door is 1 meter (3 feet) wide. Both are fenced on the top and right sides.
To avoid waste and keep costs as low as possible, I want to skip the usual gravel strip at the roof edge and cover the driveway and path right up to the house wall with gravel grids filled with 8/16 Taunus gravel.
In the sketch, please imagine extending the paved driveway area all the way to the house wall and replacing the paving with gravel.
Now my question:
Normally, a gravel strip at the roof edge would be filled with about 30cm (12 inches) of loose gravel to allow water to infiltrate calmly at the base.
However, the subbase for the driveway requires 30cm (12 inches) of compacted crushed stone, 5cm (2 inches) of sand, and then 5cm (2 inches) of gravel inside the grids.
How do I combine these requirements? Should I simply lay a drainage membrane (dimpled membrane) against the house wall and place the above-mentioned crushed stone subbase (sloping away from the house) directly next to it, or would it be better to put a little gravel under the grids right next to the house to ensure there is absolutely no water buildup? The gravel would not really compact well, but the load near the house will never be very high.
The same question applies to the narrow path to the front door, where we walk right next to the house more often. Instead of crushed stone here, I would just compact the existing sand subbase, place the gravel grids on top and again separate the edge from the wall with a drainage membrane. Am I risking water accumulation at the wall this way, or does the 1 meter (3 feet) wide gravel surface spread it well enough? The 50cm (20 inches) wide drainage membrane should effectively keep moisture away from the house, or am I misunderstanding that?
I hope my issue is clear and thank you very much in advance for your interest. 🙂
Best regards,
Markus
We have recently built a new single-family house and, since the costs were naturally higher than planned, I would now like to install the driveway and access path myself.
For better understanding, I am attaching a section of the original plan. Please ignore most of the scribbles and focus on the area marked as paved. 🙂
The space is quite tight: the driveway strip is 4 meters (13 feet) wide in total, and the path to the front door is 1 meter (3 feet) wide. Both are fenced on the top and right sides.
To avoid waste and keep costs as low as possible, I want to skip the usual gravel strip at the roof edge and cover the driveway and path right up to the house wall with gravel grids filled with 8/16 Taunus gravel.
In the sketch, please imagine extending the paved driveway area all the way to the house wall and replacing the paving with gravel.
Now my question:
Normally, a gravel strip at the roof edge would be filled with about 30cm (12 inches) of loose gravel to allow water to infiltrate calmly at the base.
However, the subbase for the driveway requires 30cm (12 inches) of compacted crushed stone, 5cm (2 inches) of sand, and then 5cm (2 inches) of gravel inside the grids.
How do I combine these requirements? Should I simply lay a drainage membrane (dimpled membrane) against the house wall and place the above-mentioned crushed stone subbase (sloping away from the house) directly next to it, or would it be better to put a little gravel under the grids right next to the house to ensure there is absolutely no water buildup? The gravel would not really compact well, but the load near the house will never be very high.
The same question applies to the narrow path to the front door, where we walk right next to the house more often. Instead of crushed stone here, I would just compact the existing sand subbase, place the gravel grids on top and again separate the edge from the wall with a drainage membrane. Am I risking water accumulation at the wall this way, or does the 1 meter (3 feet) wide gravel surface spread it well enough? The 50cm (20 inches) wide drainage membrane should effectively keep moisture away from the house, or am I misunderstanding that?
I hope my issue is clear and thank you very much in advance for your interest. 🙂
Best regards,
Markus
bauenmk20206 Jan 2023 22:30The sketch looks familiar to me. Your photo is a bit unclear as well. The blue part in your picture is the base wall. At the foot area, it consists of a 30cm (12 inches) block + insulation board + render + paint. The render was applied down to the finished ground level, while the foundation slab / frost protection edge was already surrounded by backfilled material. That’s why it looks uneven.
We applied a mineral waterproofing layer on the base wall (meaning on the render) and extended it down to the XPS insulation board. Then we installed the dimpled membrane against it and backfilled with gravel, which was compacted.
I also added some crushed stone under the insulation boards – as a capillary-breaking layer / drainage and to minimize voids there. However, you should check if this is advisable in your case.
According to the sketch and the implementation, the foundation wall is equipped with a horizontal damp-proof course. The insulation board and render are as well (as a DIY measure on your part). Therefore, water cannot penetrate from the side. From below, moisture could potentially rise, but that area is filled with frost-resistant material (gravel) or crushed stone.
We applied a mineral waterproofing layer on the base wall (meaning on the render) and extended it down to the XPS insulation board. Then we installed the dimpled membrane against it and backfilled with gravel, which was compacted.
I also added some crushed stone under the insulation boards – as a capillary-breaking layer / drainage and to minimize voids there. However, you should check if this is advisable in your case.
According to the sketch and the implementation, the foundation wall is equipped with a horizontal damp-proof course. The insulation board and render are as well (as a DIY measure on your part). Therefore, water cannot penetrate from the side. From below, moisture could potentially rise, but that area is filled with frost-resistant material (gravel) or crushed stone.
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