ᐅ Paving stones have settled after one year (carport wheel track rut).

Bookstar schrieb:

No, that will never work; the rut is way too deep for that. And oddly enough, it’s only on one side... well, they should be able to get those few stones out, maybe 3 hours of work 🙂

Not in a million years will it take just 3 hours. First, there’s travel time there and back. Then, pulling the stones out somehow. It’s not enough to fix just the rut; you’d have to remove 20–30cm (8–12 inches) to the left and right as well. At minimum, it should be the width of the compactor.

Do you have gravel or sand? With gravel, it tends to keep shifting, and it takes time to find a spot where you don’t create a hole the size of a fist.

He will either have to remove all the gravel and then add recycled material again, or just refill with gravel and then compact the paving surface. In my experience, however, this usually ends up more uneven than it was before... But I’m quite an amateur.

I assume it wasn’t properly compacted. You’re supposed to compact in layers, but often this isn’t done precisely to save time.

danixf schrieb:

Not just 3 hours of work. It starts with the travel time. Then you have to somehow get the stones out there. It’s not enough to just remove the wheel track; you should take out 20-30cm (8-12 inches) to the left and right as well. At a minimum, it should be the width of the compactor.
Do you have gravel or sand? With gravel, it often keeps shifting and it takes time to find a suitable spot where a fist-sized hole doesn’t form.
He will either have to remove all the gravel and then put in recycled material again or just refill with gravel and then compact the paving surface. In my experience, that usually makes it more uneven than it was before... but I’m quite an amateur.
I assume it wasn’t properly compacted. You’re supposed to compact it in layers, but often this isn’t done very precisely to save time.

Yes, you’re right, it will probably take a whole day’s work. Would you accept that or not?

Most likely, the work was done just like it has been in some houses in our neighborhood. The dirt is roughly leveled, 20cm (8 inches) of mineral material is thrown on top, and then paving stones are laid.

I would definitely insist on corrections.

I’m generally not a fan of paving stones laid on gravel, because I have seen many installations that have settled unevenly in some areas after a few years, and not just on the driveway.

At that time, we had a 1.5m (5 feet) wide access path in front of the house concreted and later paving stones were laid on top of it. This still remains unchanged today. Next to it, a large area of paving stones was laid on gravel directly on natural ground and compacted as much as possible. After a few years, you could clearly see the edge where the concrete strip is—the ground on both sides had slightly settled without any load at all.

No matter how much you compact, if the soil underneath isn’t truly stable natural ground, there is always a risk of settling under such conditions. Therefore, I am almost certain that ruts will eventually reappear there, even if repairs are made now.

Gravel is generally not a problem at all. The subbase must be properly prepared, followed by 3-4 cm (1¼-1½ inches) of gravel, then the paving.

Unfortunately, cost is often cut here, and compaction is done with inadequate garden plate compactors. That simply doesn’t work.

If installed properly, this should not happen. Proper subsoil, geotextile, frost protection gravel, and paving. Build up at least 1cm (0.4 inches) higher and then compact to the final height using a plate compactor.