This is a special type of hoggin which when compacted down forms a flat surface on which light traffic can be driven. It always has a dusty surface and is quite often used on golf courses and public footpaths. Typical brand names you may hear are Breedon Path Gravel or Coxwell Path Gravel. Please call our sales team if you are interested in this item and we can provide you with more details.
As gravel/chippings are naturally occurring products, they can change colour/shade even from the same quarry. Having said that, it is rare for a quarry to have a dramatic change in colour. If possible it's always best to bring a sample of your gravel to one of our depots to try to match it from our sample range.We try to make the website pictures as accurate as possible but if in doubt, please come and visit us. Please remember that once gravel has been down for some time it tends to lose its ‘shine’ so getting an exact match will be difficult.
When ordering gravel try to get it all from the same batch so you don't get a variation in shade.
Again it's personal choice, but as a guide avoid Cotswold on a driveway – it's quite soft and tends to crush down. If you want a buff colour driveway then you could consider South Cerney gravel or an Old English Chipping.
20mm flint gravels tend to be hard wearing, good value and are ideal for use on a driveway.
It's personal choice but small 10mm gravel does tend to move around more and get stuck in tyres. We tend to advise people to use a 14mm or 20mm stone on
driveways. If laying chippings around pipes, people tend to use 10mm stone and when building a soak away people use a 40mm gravel sometimes referred to as reject gravel.
First measure the length, and width of the area to be covered and then decide how deep you would like the chippings to be. From the measurements work out your cubic meterage. Below are some good ‘rule of thumbs’ for how much material you will need by weight (we sell most of our materials loose by weight).
Again a good working ‘rule of thumb’ is that if you put down gravel 1.5 – 2 inches deep, 1 tonne will cover approximately 12m²
Typically for a pathway, you would dig the area out to a depth of approximately 5 inches. A base of 3 inches of scalpings would then be laid and compacted. A weed control membrane is often laid over the scalpings and then the chosen chippings are laid to a depth of 1.5 – 2 inches.
With a driveway, a compacted base of scalpings is laid to a depth of 5 inches. A geotextile membrane is sometimes laid before the scalpings go down to suppress weeds and prevent rutting in the drive. Gravel is laid to a depth of about 2 inches. If gravel is laid deeper than this, cars tend to sink in leading to wheel spins.
For those looking at doing a project themselves, these instructional videos should help:
How to lay a block pave pathway
How to lay a block driveway
Natural stone tends to represent value for money but some people don’t like the variation of shades in the colours. If you want a consistent colour, then you should consider a concrete or a porcelain paving. Apart from value for money, the beauty of natural stone is that if you look after your paving, the colour you get on day one is the colour you will keep for a long time. Concrete paving unless treated, fades in the sun. Also if you chip concrete paving raw aggregate is exposed, whilst if you chip stone paving, more stone is exposed.
Porcelain paving is a low maintenance option with the product being resistant to black spot and algae. A light jet wash will bring porcelain back to its original state and looking good. A modern clean cut feel may not suit every garden but if you want a contemporary look this is ideal.
RIVAR ONLY SOURCE STONE FROM SUPPLIERS WHO HAVE A STRONG ETHICAL TRADING POLICY.
We supply a product called Joint-It which can be brushed into the joints of a patio to provide a mess free solution. Patios MUST be kept wet to avoid staining and we suggest you talk to our sales team to discuss your paving/project.
Never let the patio dry out when using Joint-It. Please find an application video below:
A brush in material for porcelain paving is Nexus Rapid Flow, similar to Joint-It keep the patio wet at all times and follow manufacturers guidelines.
Patio sealers provide an effective barrier against ingress of dirt, oil, food or drink spillage to simplify maintenance and cleaning. The original colours of stone or concrete products remain virtually unchanged. Darker tones may be improved or enriched. Helps to provide resistance against formation of efflorescence onto hard landscaping surfaces.
Patio Sealers don't stop the patio going green but help with dirt, etc. getting into the stone and making them harder to clean.
We have a selection of sealers and cleaners for concrete, natural stone and porcelain in our paving sundries section of our online shop.
Be careful of cleaning products that may contain an acid based cleaner. These can effect natural stone especially limestone.
Regardless of the paving and cleaning product being used, we always recommend you do a small trial area before a large are of the patio is worked on.
For most patios a medium power jet wash will be adequate for removing green algae and dirt. Avoid getting too close to the slab surface and try not to blast away too hard on the joints especially on old patios. A range of anti algae products can be purchased but we suggest you talk to our sales staff before using them. Sealing your patio can reduce the amount of discoloring, but again please speak to our staff to discuss your potential application.
Blackspot Remover may be the answer to getting rid of the stubborn black marks on your patio. Please find a video below showing the product in action and if you have any questions, please ask our staff.
In the back of many suppliers brochures you will find sample laying patterns for paving. If you purchase your paving from Rivar Sand & Gravel we may be able to help you with a laying pattern – please ask our sales team. You should remember that these patterns should be used as a guide to help you lay the paving rather than an exact fit.
For a PDF laying guide for the four sizes of natural stone used in a Rivar project pack, please click here. Most people use the laying guide as a starting point and move away from it as they get more confident.
Traditionally concrete paving has been laid on a mix of sharp sand and cement in a ratio of approximately 6 sand to 1 cement. For natural stone, landscapers are starting to use building sand to create a wet bed of mortar to lay their paving, again in a ratio of 6 sand to 1 cement. Certainly to get natural stone paving to stick down it seems to be better to use a wet sand cement mix.
With porcelain paving regardless of which sand you choose to use, putting a primer slurry on the back of the slab prior to laying is essential. Primer pays a key role in ensuring porcelain paving remains stuck down.
When pointing in your paving, many people make a mortar mix with building sand with a ratio of 4 sand to 1 cement. This mix is then pushed into the paving joints with a pointing tool.
A new option for pointing is our Jointex product, which is a clean and fast way of finishing your patio.
In brief when laying a patio, you will dig out the area to be paved to a depth of 5 inches. A base of 3 inches of scalpings will be laid and compacted. Getting the base level and compacted so your patio will not sink later is very important. A sand cement mix is then laid on this bed. We recommend that you lay paving on a full bed of sand and cement rather than on spots. If you are laying natural stone it is essential that you use a full bed of wet mortar.
Some of the latest natural stone paving are best laid using white cement. Please refer to suppliers brochures for which products require this, or call our sales office for assistance.
Remember if you are laying a porcelain patio you much use a primer slurry on the back of the slabs.
When setting your patio level, if you are up against your house try to keep the level of your patio 2 bricks below damp course level. It is also good practice to leave a thin gravel drain between your house and the beginning of your patio rather than pave up against the walls.
If you are looking to lay down a block pave patio or drive, this video may help:
Efflorescence can appear in both concrete products with a high cement content and some natural stone. This white powdery like substance extremely common on both un-laid and laid concrete products. It ranges from a mild bloom which gives the appearance of colour loss to large white blotches on the surface. It's appearance can be very spasmodic and unpredictable but is it not detrimental of the product. It can also show itself as streaks or a mottled or spotted effect. Although most commonly associated with concrete paving products efflorescence can also affect natural stone when it is laid on a full mortar bed. Limestone products can be particularly susceptible. This is a temporary phenomenon caused by the chemical reaction between water and cement which will weather out naturally and does not damage the paving. There are many efflorescence removers on the market, but we recommend it is left to weather out naturally to avoid any damage to the surface of the paving. Efflorescence is not a fault of manufactured natural stone.
You will need to have
Dig a hole to the size and depth of your tub. Make sure it is level in the ground. The metal grid then sits over the top of the tub. If you have a large stone you need to add extra support to the grid by putting blocks or bricks underneath it near the centre. Again check the grid is level. The stone is then positioned on the grid with the hose pushed up from underneath. Often the hose will not push up all the way through the stone but ‘locks’ against the sides to form a seal. The other end of the tube is attached to your pump. Give the pump a try before putting down a matting over the grid and spreading cobbles, chippings etc
Remember, that when your stone feature runs the water will splash so your tub needs to be big enough to catch most of this splashing water and re-cycle it otherwise you will always be refilling your feature.
As a general rule avoid limestone and Cotswold. When water runs off these materials they can effect your water quality. Good practise is always to wash rocks, boulders and cobbles before putting them near a pond – if they were quarried in the rain they can be carrying mud etc on them.
When buying pre-bagged cobbles and pebbles, some of them are marked as fish friendly but we still recommend that you wash them before being put down near a pond with fish.
