Doing your own driveway is totally doable, and with careful planning it can be achieved relatively quickly (within days even).
The process is straightforward, and a great way to bring a fresh look to your home, and add some value too.
All you need to do is organise your tools and skip hire, prepare the ground and lay your new drive.
To help, we’ve broken it down into lots of easy-to-follow steps:
Tools required to do your own driveway:
shovel, sledge hammer, wacker (plate compactor), aggregates, weed blocker membrane, gravel mats, gravel, sand, hand saw, a skip (we recommend a 6 yard skip or an 8 yard skip).
Stage 1 Preparation:
Before you begin, make sure you have your tools to hand, and your skip ordered!
- Dig it up. Shovel and level out the base layer.
- Dig up any old concrete and remove any rubble or soil underneath. Continue until the ground is smooth and at you are happy with the level of your base layer.
- Lay out your weed blocking membrane (also known as porous membrane). These are available at garden centres and DIY stores.
- Order aggregates. These can be ordered from your local aggregate supplier or builder’s merchant. MOT Type 1aggregates are best for a driveway. These are made up of different size pieces of aggregate and ideal for forming a solid base suitable for heavier loads.
- Lay your aggregates out.
- Hire a “wacker” from your local tool hire company, or even better burrow one if possible.
- Get your “wacker” out! And be prepared for dust (lots of dust) and noise (we’re talking very loud).
- Once you have achieved a level you are happy with, you are ready to lay out your new driveway.
Stage 2 Laying:
- Spread out your sand evenly across the driveway. Use a piece of timber to level it all out.
- If you are trying to achieve a level driveway, and don’t want to end up with gravel everywhere, then we recommend laying out gravel grids. These are honeycombed shaped with little pockets that hold the gravel evenly and neatly.
- Slot the mats into place (you may need to cut some pieces to get them to fit). There are little slots at the edge of the mats to allow them to be locked together.
- Finally, spread out your gravel, then stand back, and admire your beautiful new driveway.
Thank you for reading our blog on how to do your own driveway. For more ideas and tips on tidying up your garden, check out our gardening tidy-up series.