Quick Driveway fix?

jil101ca · #1 03/20/09, 09:22 AM

Last fall I mention to my landlord that the driveway needed some gravel. His response was to go take it off the road. The driveway needed alot more than a couple of buckets. We were going to put some down at our expense but could not find any local to us. I said the driveway would fall apart come spring but being a woman what do I know... Well guess what? The driveway is falling apart as the ground thaws. By mid afternoon the driveway is over a foot deep of mud. It is like trying to drive through a plowed field. It doesn't help the fact that hubby missed part of the driveway plowing the snow and we are now driving on the lawn. What can I put in/on the mud and to fill the really big sink hole as a temp fix until we can get some gravel or something on there?

titansrunfarm · #2 03/20/09, 09:34 AM

I'd say you need gravel and you need to get on your landlord to take care of his property, doubt there is a quick fix for this one.

PhilJohnson · #3 03/20/09, 05:45 PM

Quick and cheap, I would suggest seeing if you could get old railway ties. Sometimes you can get them for nothing. There was a fella I knew that got a bunch, he asked the railroad company if he could have them. They didn't have a problem with it and he loaded up his pickup full. It won't look pretty but it'll keep you from gettin stuck, good luck.

rambler · #4 03/20/09, 11:48 PM

Here in MN it is typical to just have to park out at the end of the driveway for about 3-5 days as the ground thaws out in spring. Not much you can do about it, it just turns to soup there for a short bit.

There are no quick fixes. You can spend a whole lot of money to put in a real roadbed, but that is terrible expensive....

Gravel will help, but not _now_. Now it will just sink away. Need to do that once things firm up a little, and then it will help for next year. But still, it only helps, it doesn't make a real road out of it.

--->Paul

o&itw · #5 03/21/09, 07:54 AM

In frigid areas, in the spring, the ground thaws on top first. The water that is frozen int he top part of the soil (or gravel) can not drain because the ground is still frozen below. The result of this is you have a "pond" with gravel or soil in it, and like was mentioned above, no matter how good of a drive, it will be "mushy" for a few days untill the soil below thaws and allows it to drain. Of course the less gravel that is in the road, the worse the problem is. On the other hand, as soon as this happens, it is a good time to put on a load of gravel, as it will get forced down into the road-bed better. In most places, though, it is better just to park at the end of the road and walk (or take the tractor)

jil101ca · #6 03/21/09, 08:30 AM

I was thinking about old railway ties. The landlord was in yesterday with his car and remarked about how muddy it was. He said that it will dry up and be good again. In the meantime we deal with the mud and the sink hole. My hubby thought woodchips or shaving but I think it would just make the driveway worse.

DaleK · #7 03/21/09, 08:45 AM

It's spring in Ontario. By the time your landlord spent the money to keep it from happening, he might as well forget about renting you the house and leave it empty. With as little profit as there is in renting out these farmhouses, he'd be further ahead.

Milk truck is leaving ruts 8-10" deep in the driveway the last week or so... not much to be done about it here without spending $20,000 on it.

PhilJohnson · #8 03/21/09, 09:11 AM

At my old place I lived in pretty much what could be called a swamp. The ground stayed muddy until early June. There are ways of fixing it permanently with out spending a fortune. I spent 600 bucks total (including having the guy come out with a bobcat). I never had a problem getting stuck again. Pouring more gravel on the ground will result in muddy gravel. I put down a bunch of road sand then I put down fist sized rock. I never got around to putting a final layer of gravel on the top but it would have added maybe another 150 bucks to the cost. If you really wanted to make it tough putting down a layer of road felt down first and then putting the materials on top of it would definitely beef it up a bit. Maybe if the land lord didn't want to spend too much money he could make something at the end of the driveway where you could park your cars. A sort of spring parking lot.

jil101ca · #9 03/22/09, 07:57 AM

When the snow has gone we have a place to get free sand and the rock they use under railway tracks, all we can haul for free. I guess we will put up with it for now. There is no where by the road to make a parking spot, the property is uphill from the road with a 5' ditch inbetween. Hubby cleared some snow and made a small drain to help get the water off so that may help.

rambler · #10 03/22/09, 11:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PhilJohnson

At my old place I lived in pretty much what could be called a swamp. The ground stayed muddy until early June. There are ways of fixing it permanently with out spending a fortune. I spent 600 bucks total (including having the guy come out with a bobcat). I never had a problem getting stuck again. Pouring more gravel on the ground will result in muddy gravel. I put down a bunch of road sand then I put down fist sized rock. I never got around to putting a final layer of gravel on the top but it would have added maybe another 150 bucks to the cost. If you really wanted to make it tough putting down a layer of road felt down first and then putting the materials on top of it would definitely beef it up a bit. Maybe if the land lord didn't want to spend too much money he could make something at the end of the driveway where you could park your cars. A sort of spring parking lot.

I have a 700 foot driveway & a turnaround in the yard. I spent $900 & $500 just for 3 inches of gravel to cover it, I did the touch-up spreading of it myself with my tractor. It improved the driveway, but didn't make it spring-proof.

$150 would get me one load of gravel delivered & dumped.

We talked about the rocks, then gravel, but really didn't feel it would pay. Would need to start over, build a roadbed with deeper side ditches (my phoneline & electrical is burried along the road....) and clay it, pack it, rock it, and deep gravel it.

Nothing else really makes a good roadbed in these deep freeze, heavy snowmelt, spring rains areas.

It woulda been pretty close to the $20,000 mentioned.....

$600 wouldn't even put a layer of gravel on the drive. Not sure where you are or how short your driveway is, but not real practical advise for other locations or longer driveways? A good roadbed in a cold climate that holds up to spring melt week costs bucks.

--->Paul