Stuck in the Mud - HELP

[Yazoo]

My parking pad for my rig is on a bed of stone and very solid. My problem is getting to and from it I have to drive across the yard. I have a section that gets rather soggy when we have a lot of rain. Twice this year I have had to cancel my reservations because I could not get hooked up because I was sinking into the mud with my truck, even though I have 4-wheel drive. I’m looking to dig up the soft area and add some drainage then fill it with stone. I’ve been looking at a product called grassypavers http://www.grassypavers.com/ and wondering if anyone has had any experience with this product. My other concern is to not loose too much of my yard. Any other suggestions? What else have you done?

[LonnieB]

Yazoo, I haven't had any experience with this product, but it looks like it would do the job quite nicely. The soil under the pavers needs to be fairly stable before they are laid, not necessarily compacted, but dry enough to support your vehicle, and the area would need to be able to drain. I've been trying to decide what to do in my own yard, and this looks like it may fit the bill. Thanks for the link, and the idea.

[BillyRay]

How far back is it? Can you put a gravel driveway to it? That's what I did. It doesn't look as nice, but I filled it with stone, let it selltle and drain, packed it good, sloped it just slightly and put rubble over the top. I have some money into it, but I have a perminent spot with no problems. Stone is one of the cheapest solutions.

[capn chris]

Yazoo-Don't keep mine on my yard, but I buried the Monty and TV in a friend's yard this fall. No fun re. wet areas. Good suggestions above...gravel then pavers. Gotta get to the rig if you want to get out!!!

[LonnieB]

At $2.00 per sq. ft., Billy Ray is right, stone or gravel would be less expensive, unless you live in an area where gravel is not readily available, then it too starts getting pretty high. It doesn't grow grass very well either, lol.

[lightningjack11]

Just built a large patio out of pavers. Mine was New England style. They are about 3 inches thick and would make an excellent drive path. In fact some of the new homes uses pavers inplace of cement for driveways.

What you do is lay down a fine leveling sand that you can get by the pickup load from a rock and sand company. After you lay it down thick you get some metal conduit and lay the conduit(2) in parallel for the length you want. Level the conduit. Then take a board and lay it on the conduit and smooth the leveling sand much like you would with cement. If you make a mistake just start over. When your done lay the pavers in the pattern you want. I recommend a 3 inch deep of leveling sand under the pavers and that will give you excellent weed control. After put a cement border around the pavers. Low so you can't see it. Just enough to hold them from moving. Thats it, pretty simple

Down here in Florida I can get a 2700 lb pallet of pavers for about 250. The leveling sand runs about 15-20 a truckload. Never have to worry about a cracked driveway again. Just replace a single paver.

[HamRad]

Yazoo,
Those pavers should work well. Some years ago I was looking to re-do our driveway and considered this sort of thing. Of course you need to make sure you have a good foundation. But I think you're on the right track. Good luck. Let us know what you end up doing.

HamRad

[richfaa]

Well I don't know about paver's depending on what part of the country you live in. If you live where the ground is subject to freezing and thawing causing the ground to heave and buckle paver's may not be the best idea.We had a patio of paver type blocks and after time it buckled. Paver's may work fine in Tuscon, Az but not in Northern, Ohio.

[Wrenchtraveller]

I love cement and I have poured a 70 foot long by 12 foot wide pad to store my Monty on. If you put steel mesh in concrete, if it cracks the
cracks stay tight. My main concrete driveway is 28 years old and still looks decent.

I would pour two 18" wide concrete strips to allow you to back on to the pad.

If you really like the look of pavers , we have contractors around here that do concrete stamping and coloring, looks like pavers at a much lower cost.

[Sweetfire]

A couple questions; Do you have a septic tank? If so, are you crossing the leaching field or the tank? If so getting stuck in the mud may be the least of your worries. If not, and your ground has any slope to it you may be able to put in a French Drain. This is a trench, filled with gravel, through the wet area taking the water away from where you want to drive. It may be a cheaper fix than concrete.