Question
Kevin
I am in Halifax. I would like to widen my driveway where the car pulling in has damaged the lawn. I would like to lay decorative beach stone or something similar in price. What steps and what materials would I need to take to prepare the area for the beach stone. I would like to extend the width by 2 feet and the driveway is about 30 feet long. How many 20 kg bags would I need of the beach stone.
Thanks,
Scott

Answer
Hi Scott. I am from Hammonds Plains ( white hills area ), what a small world.
Buying that product in bags from a store could cost you considerably more money. Stone and landscaping supply yards sell these materials in bulk quantities by the cubic yard.
30ft times 2 ft = 60sq ft.
60 sq. ft. divided by 27 gives you 2.22 cubic yards. (This is pretty close to the amount that would stuff a regular 6 ft half ton truck box)

To prepare the area you may want to use a sod cutter (remover). this will make it way easier to prepare the area for a base. (Half day rental may cost you around 40 or 50), but worth it.
Digging up sod and grass roots is a pain in the butt.

You will be driving over this so I would suggest about 6 inches of packed in stone for you.(More won`t hurt)

once you have excavated down you can put down a landscape fabric to help control the weeds that are going to want to make a new home on your strip. Industrial strength Polypropylene fabric is recommended for this application. You still will get the odd weed, but this will lessen the amounts.

Now we deal with the rock. Because you are going to be driving over this rock, it will have to be packed in very tightly. This is going to require the use of a plate compactor. Again, you can visit your home depot in chain lake for this. They are easy to run and use. (Pack in 2 inch layers for better compaction)

I also want to mention about the rock. Mechanical bond is what we consider the ability of the material to naturally hold itself together. Jagged broken edges have mechanical bond, while round river rocks do not. Round river rocks will slide and move around when driven over and become displaced. I would recommend using a crushed decorative rock so you dont have this problem. Sometimes being practical comes before looking good, but I am sure you will be able to find something appealing that will work for you.
Good luck Scott. I hope I have helped.
Visit my site if you like. I have a video from u-tube on using sod cutters in my patio project. Have a great long weekend. Kevin www.dream-yard.com