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Cathryn

Ground protection grids for car parks

Can I ask the hive mind please? We are looking at covering the car parking area outside the house with interlocking plastic grid. Has anyone used it and could recommend a particular brand?
chez

I have been investigating for wheelchair paths. There are some on Amazon that look quite good - lots of different reviews. The ones that come in squares and click together, and you back fill with pebbles or soil.
Nick

Bet OMB has the answer.
chez

Because they Access All Areas?
Nick

Because they Access All Areas?


No. because he's probably laid various types.
Cathryn

This looks like it might be the stuff

http://www.terram.com/products/porous-plastic-pavers/bodpave-40-porous-grass-gravel-paving-grid.html

or this

http://gridforce.co.uk/gravel-stone-plastic-grid

I will contact them both and let you know but you probably need something a bit less rugged for a wheelchair.
dpack

grasscrete is the only one i know anything about.

seriously heavy duty car park/roadway stuff, holes for soil n plants in a concrete grid, poured on site around a former.

linky

i have seen it done on a couple of sites and it seems easy to do, lasts well going by other places i have seen it in situ and will take very heavy stuff like wagons if necessary.

it might be overkill but if you ever park a stock wagon, tractor/ full trailer, etc etc it might last better than plastic stuff.
Mistress Rose

The plastic stuff seems to be adequate for even long term parking of things like cars, but probably not for stock trailers. A garden centre we sometimes visit has the plastic stuff under part of their car park, and it still seems good after several years. The concrete stuff is rather permanent and takes longer to grow in if you want grass over it.
wellington womble

I have some in my back garden (mum used to park behind the gate). It's still there after ten or so years and I have no problems with it. This is more than can be said for much of the work done by my father in law, from which you can draw your own conclusions!
onemanband

Because they Access All Areas?


No. because he's probably laid various types.

No I've never used it.
I've looked into it before. IIRC the conclusion for a heavily trafficked area was that you will still need a proper base, so any cost saving did not outway the potential bad points (particularly of plastic)
I'd also be cautious about plastic grid if using trailers, hooved animals, heavy vehicles or pogo sticks.
Cathryn

Its not about cost saving, its the permeability that we felt would be useful. It will be on a level surface with a base but the house is at the bottom of the valley. Rainwater is diverted away but there is always a risk that water could come straight down the drive if some of the drainage channels get blocked. We have altered the landscape profile so it might not be an issue.

There are times when there might be a tractor parked on it and occasional heavy vehicles will use it. I will keep that in mind when I discuss it with the companies. Mostly it will be used for parking two or three cars on.

I have seen preformed concrete grids in use but haven't yet found a company that sells them. I'm not good at google searches.
Treacodactyl

Try googling "Concrete Cellular Paving" dpack

iirc the stuff i saw put down had a roadstone bed which not only gives some drainage but forms a stable sub layer

pour on site or precast sections will both need a decent base layer.

there is a technical section in the linky to the grasscrete folk which should have some details for their stuff ,drainage and loadings etc etc .
Cathryn

That's great! Thank you both! nora

Hi Cathryn,
There's a company who have been going a while in Hebden Bridge who make it out of recycled plastics, I haven't used them but they may be worth a look
https://ecopaving.co.uk/
onemanband

Its not about cost saving, its the permeability ....

In that case try searching 'permeable paving'.
There's a lot of new products out there since the driveway planning permission changes.
e.g.http://www.marshalls.co.uk/homeowners/driveways/permeable-paving
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