DIY Gravel Driveway - Ultimate How to Guide

If you're thinking about laying your own DIY gravel driveway, then this beginner landscape gardening project is for you! We'll talk about the preparation and also the pros and cons of a crushed stone driveway. Includes YouTube video to follow along.

Let me take you back to the start. When we first moved into our bungalow, we struggled to park 2 cars and a camper on a part grass and cracked concrete driveway.

We also had a lot of conifers and paid someone to excavate them with a digger.  And while he was there, he ripped up much of the concrete, laid down broken bricks and we could then start using it.

But it wasn't long until it looked a complete mess as he'd not put down weed control.  And after a year of ugliness, I decided to single-handedly try to do my own DIY gravel driveway.  How hard could it be?

Jump to:

• ✅Why Choose Gravel?
• ❌What are the Cons of Gravel Driveways?
• ⚒️Tools & Materials
• 📋Instructions
• 👷‍♀️Maintenance
• ❓Which Gravel for my Driveway?
• 💡Top Tips
• 💰Cost to Build a Gravel Driveway
• ❓FAQ
• ➕More Beginner Landscape Garden Projects
• How to Lay a Gravel Driveway
• 💬 Comments

✅Why Choose Gravel?

Before creating a gravel driveway, I recommend getting some driveway quotes from tradesmen to compare the prices of resin gravel, tarmac, patterned concrete and block paving etc.

We were given prices between £3.5-5k ($4-6k), and with the desire to save money, I opted to build a gravel a driveway because it was permeable for rainfall-runoff, meaning I didn't need to apply for planning permission, unlike some others.

Overall, it resulted in the cheapest do-it-yourself driveway solution and I particularly like how it is great for security, because walking or driving on gravel is noisy, alerting us of any potential intruders.  It's also an easy DIY driveway method if you don't mind getting a bit sweaty!

❌What are the Cons of Gravel Driveways?

There are a few things you should be concerned with when laying chippings, but most can be rectified with the right pebble driveway preparation, which I'll talk you through.  These are:

• Weeds can appear
• Gravel can move
• It can sink
• Aggregate can start mixing with gravel
• You can spin car tires on it
• Some may get stuck in your car's tires
• If you drop something small on it (like an earring), it can be REALLY hard to find!
• It can get stuck in your shoe's treads and end up in your house
• Needs raking from time to time
• Autumn leaves can make it look like a dirt driveway
• Can get dirty after driving on
• If you're heavy-handed with grass seeds nearby, they love to grow here
• Bird sometimes flick them around, displacing them
• A piece of aggregate once got caught in our lawnmower and broke one of our windows

⚒️Tools & Materials

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• Spade
• Shovel
• Concrete breaker
• Skip hire or Hippo Waste collection bags
• Weed control fabric
• Weed killer & sprayer
• Plate compactor or tamper
• MOT Type 1 Subbase (aggregate)
• Wheelbarrow
• Golden gravel
• Garden rake

Other Tools to Consider

If you're wanting to install gravel edgings to retain a gravel parking area, or have other obstacles on your drive, you may need to consider the following things I used:

• Manhole cover
• Handsaw
• Spirit level
• Wood preserver
• Railway sleeper pins
• Sleeper angle brackets
• Rubber mallet
• Combi drill
• Builder's square
• Cement mixer
• Frostproofer (if working with cement in the Winter)
• Concrete gully or gully cover
• Cement
• Sharp builders sand
• Alternative path edging or
• Treated railway sleepers

📋Instructions

Preparing a driveway for gravel

One: Dig up approx 5-6" of topsoil with a garden spade and throw it into a skip or use it elsewhere as a raised garden sleeper bedding for veg patch.

or: Break up old concrete with a sledgehammer or concrete breaker (or digger), but you need to be careful in case you come across any cables, gas lines or water pipes.

Two: Gently dampen the ground with a hose and tamper the ground to compact throughout.

Tip: To save money hiring a skip, you could try giving either material away on Facebook selling groups or websites.

Laying Weed Control

One: The next key step is to roll out a weed control membrane directly on top of your compacted soil and make sure they overlap and slice with a Stanley knife.

Two: Use pins to secure around edges to prevent it from being kicked up and exposed from time to time.

Tip: If you're tempted to use a cheap gravel membrane, then I recommend double layering it. Or, add one layer here, then another on top of the sub-base (next step).

Spreading Sub Base

One: Now you'll need to work on laying your driveway base layer.

I'm not going to lie, digging, shoveling, and raking is sweaty work and so try and get the family involved.

Two: When raking it as evenly as possible, aim for a 2-3" thick sub-base layer.

Tips: To save manual labour, ask your delivery driver to crane over your garden wall or fence and slice the bottoms of the tonne bags.

Installing Gravel Drive Edging

As mentioned before, the problem with gravel is that it can go astray. So to make sure your chippings stay tidy, there are a few borders and edgings you can lay.

• Fit a gravel driveway wood edging (as above)
• Lay a simple block paved edging
• Install a gravel to flower bed edging, such as EZ Borders or similar
• Set concrete path edgings between a path and your driveway

Other things you may need to do now (if you plan to later), is:

• Update gravel boards and garden fence
• Change your manhole cover to one that holds gravel or block paving
• Lay gulley surrounds around drains
• Set a metal tube in the ground for a gate's drop bolt

Compacting the Subbase

One: Dampen your base layer with a hose, or wait for some rain.

Two: Use a plate compactor (AKA whacker) to compress it all down. Or use a hand tamper, but this isn't the best way to compact gravel as it will take a LOT longer!

Tip: When hiring a plate compactor, try to get a large one (I could only get a small one that week). And compare the prices of weekend rates to a day rate.

Adding Gravel

For the final installment, we had 4 tonnes of golden delivered, which my husband and I shoveled and wheelbarrowed endlessly.

I'm going to repeat myself here - consider slicing the bottom of the bags so save your back. And try to rope the rest of the family (and your dog) into raking it level!

Too Much Gravel?
From experience, it's better to order a little less gravel than you think you need. Gravel calculators really do vary and if you order too much, they won't compact as much and you'll need to find a way to get rid of it. Or maybe use it as drainage in homemade planters?

👷‍♀️Maintenance

Raking: As you use your gravel driveway, tread marks from tires will start to appear. So, if you have any guests around, you may want to rake it from time to time to make it level.

Sweeping: Occasionally, you'll need to sweep gravel back to its destination. At one property, I found birds trying to peck through it and flick it on the grass.

Weeding: Despite laying weed control down, occasionally, seeds can still make their way in the gravel from birds, reseeding lawns etc. You'll need to pull them out before the roots grow bigger.

Install Edgings: Laying edges or retaining walls, etc, might be a good solution for you.

❓Which Gravel for my Driveway?

If you want to find out which gravel chippings to choose, I recommend finding someone with a good display like above!

If you don't know where to buy gravel, ask in local Facebook groups to get answers immediately as you can waste a lot of time driving or ringing around. Also, some only sell to trade, not the public.

What Types of Gravel Can You Buy?

Pea Gravel (Quartz Gravel): Pea shingle is one of the cheapest solutions, but isn't very attractive. It's easily picked up in B&Q etc, but it's mostly bought for permeable patio borders next to brickwork or pipe bedding and drainage underground.

20mm Crushed Limestone Driveway: Although this DIY stone driveway is cheap, this was not recommended to me as white tends to look dirty very quickly and will crush down over time.

10mm or 20mm Flint/Gold Gravel: is a warm golden option that's also hardwearing for high traffic for garden drives, paths, etc. I recommend getting one that's a mix of sizes so it will be self-compacting.

Coloured granite: Also very hardwearing and an exceptional choice for driveways, etc, I did a test on how different wet vs dry granite looked and didn't like it.

Plum/Blue Slate: is a weaker, but highly decorative gravel or garden beds that will see light use.

Tip: I've always been advised by quarries to opt for the larger 20mm to avoid getting any stuck in your shoes or car tire treads.

💡Top Tips

• Think about where to store your cars
• Check utility plans before digging in case there are gas pipes, cables etc
• Don't skip weed control
• Use gravel grids to prevent movement
• Ring local quarries for prices as they're cheaper than mainstream DIY stores
• Ask if aggregate will be delivered in bags or tipped (cheaper) as you may need to put sheets down
• Before ordering, ask if they can easily access your property to delivery
• Lots of people suggesting sprinkling cement on top of the hardcore base to help settle it
• You may need a permit for skips or tonne bags to be stored on council grass verges

💰Cost to Build a Gravel Driveway

In total, my gravel driveway DIY project cost around £1300. I purchased the sub-base and railway sleepers from Buildland and the gold gravel from Atherstone Landscapes.

Initially, we were quoted £3.5k for gravel installation by a tradesman and had quotes up to £5k for block paving. In total, we saved ourselves from spending £1500.

If you want more of a pressed gravel driveway, I'd consider looking into resin. Also,

If you still have questions on how to gravel a driveway, please don't hesitate to leave me a comment and I'll try to answer ASAP!

❓FAQ

Here's a compilation of my most frequently asked questions from my gravel driveway YouTube videos:

What size gravel should I choose?
I would always recommend you ask your supplier regarding what your gravel garden is used for. I was recommended a mix of up to 20mm for self-compacting where it wouldn't get stuck in car wheels or shoes.

How did you work out how much top gravel to use per sqm?
I used a gravel calculator which takes into consideration your garden size and suggests how many bulk bags to order. However, they're not foolproof and can vary a lot.

Do sleepers hold as a retaining wall with gravel?
Yes, absolutely! Sleepers are very heavy and once screwed to a wall or setting with sleeper pins, they never moved.

Will laying gravel on concrete work?
I was advised to break my concrete so gravel could set in compacted soil and not spin when driven on. However, on a small footpath with pavers, we have since tried small 10mm gravel on top and it compacted perfectly.

How's the drive looking now? Is there anything you would have done differently? As mentioned in my maintenance section, we only had the very odd weed to pull up. But one thing I would consider adding weed control on top of hardcore to stop mixing and try grid mats to stabilise while driving on.

Can I lay gravel on grass?
If making a gravel driveway on grass, you'll need to make sure it doesn't continuously sink, which you'll need to top up over time. But I think it's best to remove the weaker top soil first, then compact and add hardcore.

➕More Beginner Landscape Garden Projects

• Designing a garden border edging
• Landscaping around a deck while laying patio slabs
• How to build decking
• Building a summerhouse
• How to lay a gravel path
• How to build a wooden gate
• DIY tarmac laying

How to Lay a Gravel Driveway