I love the concept I am thinking of using it at home it's a fantastic idea but your application is not the correct solution to your problem. Your problem is that a water course is trying to cross your road this solution will just move the soil erosion and silt deposition to a different spot. Your best bet would be to put a ditch and culvert pipe either side of the road you could still do this dig a small channel and run a culvert pipe along the side of your mesh grid. As I said I love the idea but not quite the correct application 20 years as a landscaper and I've never seen this before.
if you don’t cut all the way through the pipe and alternate each side it will leave a tab on each one connecting them together and use zip ties to connect them group too occasionally.
Think like a "Slinky". Slice 80% of pipe diameter. Only one lil piece connecting as you fold the pipe to the right, slice 80% open, then fold left, slice, fold, slice.... On and on, forever. 😂
I like it, though you'd need to flip 180 or turn the pipe 90 degrees for each cut, which might get tricky on a long piece. I am sure I would mess it up too and end up with a 3 dimensional pyramid of rings instead of a flat mat.
nice. i did my whole driveway 1500 square feet using old carpet for the cloth (free) and plastic pallets that i cut the feet off ($3 each) and connecter to each other with stainless steel zip ties. whole project with stone and gravel $720. 5 years later still working great . the only maintenance is to do a little weed killer each summer. BTW i actually got a permit and had it inspected and passed. they wouldn't let me have a gravel driveway and concrete and blacktop was way too expensive and required storm drain crap .... anyway they accepted a permeable driveway and i even made a brochure presenting the pallets as a commercially available product. they bought it LOL !
i love this guy! would love to see this packaged up and sold... a bunch of bags of gravel show up with a 20' hose, a hacksaw, and a cassette with this voice over.
I've used the recycle tire method a few times. On driveways that are real really sandy very muddy we keep one side to hold the material but drill holes in it for drainage and cut the other side put down tires open side up and fill full of rock
Pure genius. Thank you for this. We've been looking for a cheap alternative to make a passable road on our property in the mountains of OK. This is just the ticket!
years ago, someone used tires, and stone, and $5 landscape fabric. They cut the sides off the tires, then covered with stone in the driveway. Working for 10+ years without any drama. Near their garage, where they were unloading cars. You cannot even tell where the soft spot was. They had previously just been dumping more and more stone every year, but it was not firming up. At the time you could get 2 ton of local stone, for $20-$25. They powerwashed their old stone, and put it back, then topped off with new stone.
We used old carpet for a geotextile fabric. It worked great, even at the barn entrance over a cattle panel. Totally stabilized the soil, no more deep mud pit from cows and horses walking through
I've just used scrap carpet underneath 'weed membrane' before mulching to solve a weed problem. Now I know how to create an adjacent parking area, using. . . MORE scrap carpet of which I have an unlimited supply! This video and resulting Comments have inspired me!
I found the same type of thing on my farm from guessing about the 1950's. It was made up of 8" long sections of old clay tile forming a large half circle and was where the entrance to a long ago demolished barn sat. Took me a while to figure out what it was but it apparently solved the water problem back in the day.
An area near where I live, Troutdale Oregon, does this for cheap trails, pathways, alleys, and sidewalks alongside French drains or other drainage ways. There are areas there that have very poor soil stability. On managed forest paths they'll even sometimes do this, but most of the time they use natural materials that build better soil when they break down. The construction workers here do use the store bought methods when they're on a tight schedule, but use your method when on a budget or needing more structure, like a stable, high drainage base for pavers or heavy traffic wear.
@@toritori5835 Logs and living root system methods are what I've seen. They place cut logs in vertically, cover with layers of dirt and gravel; sometimes use a retaining wall of cob, logs, or rocks; then plant native trees and bushes along the sides. By the time the logs decompose, the roots move in to fill the gaps and hold the soil, while the soil mix is made to have good drainage.
Even better would be mixed grade, aka crush and run. The fine powder of crush and run helps lock it together. The pipe pieces would help stabilize it for your conditions.
Ahhh this is excellent! I have heaps of this drainage pipe that I picked up for free. I was only planning to use the good pieces for drainage but now I can use the rest to stabilise my yard/drive/parking and garden path. Can’t wait to try it! I love reusing waste materials and solving problems :)
@@marielindsay4720it worked for me, that pea gravel is still in the same place 2 years later. It’s not all loose and wonky as before. We even washed the soil off the old pea gravel and added new as needed. One thing I learned is not to go nuts and start digging to the center of the earth. Just use a good quality flat blade shovel to remove grass and don’t disturb the soil or you need to compact it. But for a walkway with foot traffic it is fine.
Mate! I'm from New Zealand and I can say without a doubt you'd fit in here easily. You're a practical genius with this little solution. I'm going to use it down the back of my property, can't wait to try it :)
I'm thinking it would be perfect for the side of the house where we keep the bins. The mud and grass make it annoying to take out the trash. Crushed granite would look nice.
Decades ago i saw an article in Popular Science or Popular Mechanics showcasing a grid product that had just been patented. You could tamp the grid into your lawn and drive over it without rutting the sod. I guess eventually it was called geo-cell. I like yours better...😁😁😁
Very smart my man . Something that is attainable. I follow you because I live in an area near the Arkansas River in Arkansas and the soil is sandy . Whenever I try to dig a trench to move water it collapses and fills back with soil. Thank you for giving your expertise. Most appreciated
Great video - I've been looking for an alternative to the pre-fab grids and this a nice alternative and something that provides greater flexibility in non-straight designs. Though, not sure this is cheaper. 100ft of this piping covers 33sq ft at $120 (homedepot), and GeoGrid covers 53sq ft for $127. However, if you stagger and space the piping elements 4" apart, then you essentially double the area, and in that case, it does become cheaper.
dude... CHUCK... you are the man! your DIY ideas are just outta this world, man! thank you for teaching me yet another valuable DIY skill as rain season quickly approaches and I anticipate some drainage issues on some freshly regraded terrain
One beach we stopped at in FL had similar soil erosion solution: geogrid. It was actually a diamond shape plastic/poly screen all one piece stretched to fit the area and cut like a chain link fence, ok geo-grid as you mention. Now I need it to work on a hill too. Thanks for sharing your idea.
I came up with an idea like this several years ago for the front of the stairs outside. Leveled ground, heaviest plastic, chicken wire, gravel (decorative stone because it was on clearance) pack down. It's never moved and its been at least 5years😊
Heres your 100 percent recipe w gravel. 1 inch pea gravel. 4 inches track rock. 1 inch sharp 1 inch clean rock. Followed up by 2 inches of quarter or 5/8ths minus. Compact and enjoy a life long gravel road
Folks might also consider old used carpet (free from carpet places) for the underlayment , I have had same carpet on my driveway 30 years for erosion control. but the drainage pipe cuts are genius ! I'm in FL also and one might check on ground concrete for filler...
Dear Mr. Chuck, first just wanna say thanks for all your videos. My used house I bought three years ago was built over an old rice field so I wrapped the house in footer drains cuz our crawl space can get up to 80-90% humidity in the worst months. Anyway, just watched your DIY Geo grid and wanna say bravo! I might do this for my BBQ area. :
Here in Australia we have a perforated concrete panel product that is built for farm gateways and the ground around cattle water troughs and other places that get boggy and pugged easily. The holes through the panels allow permeability and infiltration and the grass can grow through whenever there's less traffic so the whole thing is very self stabilising. Also there's no plastic involved so you don't have all those plastic shavings in your work area from sawing through plastic, and you don't end up with a whole lot of plastic slowly disintegrating in your soil.
Good stuff, creative solutions. I found to save even more In Missouri I've used old carpet that people throw away as an underlayer on top of the super soft clay soil, and it stops the gravel from sinking and it's surprisingly tough and it's last 5+ years so far on a heavy trafficked driveway(occasionally add a little gravel in puddles; I'd guess I used half what you did in the same area of gravel and no pipe. Just throwing that out there.
Hello from the Big Bend. Looks like N. Florida. I will be using your idea around my new shop. I brought the geotiles for use at my current house. Works good but a couple hundred dollars for a 10x20 area.
Wow, thanks for the Idea! Have been shocked at the cost of these grids in my search for something to sit a plastic shed on besides heavy concrete pavers. I may cut mine smaller though and also drill two holes into each tie wrapping each to one another to make square grids for a 6X4 shed pad. Thanks again!!!!!!!
You can make porous concrete by mixing gravel with cement and no sand, it binds the gravel but leaves holes for water to pass through. It is super cheap and easy to do. Try it.
I’ve got a noisy 12 inch miter saw that I keep around for drain pipe work and I could probably do this super quick ,just put a clamp for a 4 inch stop and then just bang those pieces out one at the other
I read thinking judo how relaxing it would be to crank out those 4" pieces as long as I had a jig.. I would cut all day with my tunes going.... 😊day 2, we'd have a driveway!
Absolutely good job great idea and for 67 you get around way better than I do and I’m half your age. I just can’t stop picturing you going in circles in your driveway with your trailer on the back 10 times. Lol so funny but thanks for the good edited video. Great information.
Florida must have rubber crumb? Ever known a tyre to stay embedded? It looks good, no crunch, keeps on muscling it's way to the surface and never wears away. Even using your grid, it'd work out. I used it on training rings for race horses. After the 1st install, I couldn't keep up. And helps keep the dumps free of non-bio's...
Roman roads were dug down 4 to 6 feet, rock slabs were laid on the sides. 4 inch rock was laid in bottom 2 feet. 2 inch rock next foot. 1 inch rock to surface. Everything tamped. Next peagravel with tiles on top. Your side slabs would be just above surface. Sand dribbled between tiles.
The geogrid purchased panels and layering system is 2" high, and costs $08.29 per square foot. Using the 4" perforated pipe, which I would cut myself with a fence on my band saw table at 3" length instead of 4", because this is engineered to be a layered system. Run permeable after clearing and compressing the soil to be filled, roll out and stake down the fabric (Tyvec is the strongest at $.09 per SF) and layer 2: of 3/4" crushed gravel 2 or 3" thick and compacted, then lay out the grid material, and fill it with 1/2" and smaller gravel, to which I would add 50% mix of the recycled asphalt material (cheap and strong) and finish over the plastic grid with 2" of this prepared gravel asphalt mix at about a minimum of 2" over the plastic grid and plate compact and roll this to a hard compacted level surface and it will fill at about 7" at a cost of around $5 per square yard, and be a easy maintenance surface that can be cleaned up and resurfaced every few years with a Bobcat and minimal added surface material. I have a gravel sloped driveway that has has a rain runoff problem and it's a multitude of mixed evils every year. The one thing I think I'll try there is to take the perf pipe and wire the pieces together with tie wire of zip ties, just to reinforce them from side movement when it gets wet and heavy traffic in the winter. I'm 74 and getting tired of the mess and the exhausting road work out here every year.
Thank you so much for this idea!!! I have a 10x20 shed to build and extend my patio pad to make a screened in porch out of it for my cats. I was going to buy the geocells. But instead of gravel, I am going to pour concrete. That way, I really don't need rebar. I am really grateful for seeing this video!! 🙏 thank you.
why won't you need rebar?... just checking that you understand pouring concrete into this make shift geocell will be weaker than solid concrete or concrete with rebar. You would end up with isolated cylinders of concrete that are not joined together. What he did with the tubing sections and loose gravel is perfectly reasonable.
@unionse7en the cylinders are not solid. I planned on using 2" tall geocell in my 4" concrete pad pour. The holes/slits in them allows the concrete to bond together. Instead of having isolated cells, as you suggested. If I am not mistaken, concrete just needs a fibrous type of structure to bond with. Heck, you could just pour it on top of grass if you so desired. I am no comment expert. I have a Naval mechanical background. But I see your point, I will research further. Thank you.
@Jay_the_Caffeinator a 10x20 pad will need fiber reinforced concrete mix, or rebar or the panels or something to give it tensile strength. Or it will Crack super fast. There's not enough connection through the perforations to give the concrete strength. There just no point if you're going to pour a pad over this geogrid type of thing. This is a system to keep the gravel from sinking or migrating laterally. And to drain water. None of which you should need under a concrete pad. This isn't a good geogrid anyway cause there's nothing linking the cells together.
Love the idea. Can you fold over the exposed fabric edges before putting down the final rock top layer? Would this be to much fabric and the water would puddle up? Thanks for sharing!!! ☺️
Vevor and Techno Earth also make similar products....looks more like plastic straps weaved into a honeycomb pattern so it ships (and stores) smaller but expands like an accordion.
I had one of those spots on my property. We never could get it filled. Turned out there was an old septic system underneath it that kept the water from seeping out. Simple fix. Hug out the pipe and filled it up. All good now.
Great to see a demonstration on how to resolve such a “pain” every time I’m in the yard. I’ve had to wait all day for the ground to ReFreeze in order to get the Traction need to get unstuck. Lol!
Great idea, Chuck! Can you fill over the top of this with another layer of cloth and then put soil on top of that? I have a hill that is bad for erosion and looking for ways to fight that and still have grass.
Any pipe would do even plastic drain pipe, water will drain at the bottom, not necessary to have the side holes. In the UK we use mot type 1 stone, it is large stones and smaller stones plus dust which all locks up solid when compacted.
Chuck another great video. It was already a low spot, I’m thinking you could probably get away without excavating altogether, that would put you above the flood plane. I will be trying this. Be watching for years, love your videos
From experience, the 80% knitted shade-cloth you are using (the green stuff) is superior to geotextile. It is heavier and lasts longer. I have used it in the past.
I'll add a third option. I just replaced our safety pool cover, which is a very heavy mesh grid, because the seams all went (the thread let go) The fabric is otherwise still in good shape, so I pulled all the seams and now have about 100' by 5 ' of mesh just waiting to be used for for ground stabilization. Depending on your location, I bet there's lots of those covers heading to landfills that could be scavenged from a pool company or similar.
I know this technique as 'Mechanical Concrete', I've used it on footpaths in the British Lake District that needed to be stabilised, and every thing ad to be man-packed to the site.
While this does provide strength, it also collects water and makes it sit until absorbs into the soil below, which will allow the pad to sink. It ould be better to put in a French drain underneath then this on top. The pad to provide strength and allow water to collect and the French drain to get the water out before it can sink in
Considering I sell REAL PERFORATED GEOCELL for 1/6 the price, this makes me laugh. But keep up the innovative thoughts. My calculations resulted in a cost of about $3.00. sq foot without labor and cutting... I manufacture genuine Geocell that is welded strips of HDPE and 4" 30 cell opening Geocell. We sell for less than .50/ sq foot. I will sell you truckloads for .50/sq foot if you want to purchase it...
I have shopped for geocell and found it cost prohibitive. I must be looking in all the wrong places! Can you give me link to your product or where to find the prices you are saying exist?
I hate to say it but Home Depot sells Geo grid cheaper than this project. They sell it for $1.53 per sq ft but that’s still cheaper than doing this at about maybe $3 per sq ft and you still have to cut and place it all.
My drive is dirt/gravel from 20 yrs ago, and yes, I'm in N. Florida. Also on a slope dropping down and back about 600 ft. on the property. There's sections that have dropped from level on both sides of the drive to about 2 ft down. I have a section in the front that was clayey and it was monstrous to drive on when wet. We got a bunch of broken up concrete and piled it on. It has sunken down about a ft over the years but it is hard with that much concrete buried down in that section. What do you recommend for filling up the 1 and 2 ft drops so that mowing the edges doesn't involve trying to keep the zero turn from falling over sideways? I'm really intrigued by what you have accomplished. I'm a 72 yr old widow - lost the love of my life when he lost the 10 yr battle with stage 4 colon cancer. I need to fix this driveway without it costing an arm and a leg. You've approached your issues and love to hear what you think could work. Thanks in advance.
Thank you for sharing this video/idea! However, I am confused. Can I do this myself and what percentage of cost will I save? Is it difficult? Could anyone do this by themselves?
Absolutely one of God’s favourites! 🤷🏼♂️. I know you know what I mean! You are doing a real good job when folks reuse your work. I compliment you and see how generous you are by including US when you say, “ remember if you think of something, You Can Do It!” Thanks again n stay well!
One of the Projects to solve Driveway Drainage! Seriously! Less than $50. Little bit of Labor, But I Promise it WORKS!
The real test will be when you do the whole driveway.
I love the concept I am thinking of using it at home it's a fantastic idea but your application is not the correct solution to your problem.
Your problem is that a water course is trying to cross your road this solution will just move the soil erosion and silt deposition to a different spot.
Your best bet would be to put a ditch and culvert pipe either side of the road you could still do this dig a small channel and run a culvert pipe along the side of your mesh grid.
As I said I love the idea but not quite the correct application 20 years as a landscaper and I've never seen this before.
Do you think this system would work here in North east Florida we have sandy soil?
Well.... it was basically free for you because you used existing materials. Well done, you!
Isn't it tronger than that geocell ? That stuff is a thin plastic foldable product.
if you don’t cut all the way through the pipe and alternate each side it will leave a tab on each one connecting them together and use zip ties to connect them group too occasionally.
That's a great idea
Excellent!!!
i don’t get it and really want to understand!
Think like a "Slinky". Slice 80% of pipe diameter. Only one lil piece connecting as you fold the pipe to the right, slice 80% open, then fold left, slice, fold, slice.... On and on, forever. 😂
I like it, though you'd need to flip 180 or turn the pipe 90 degrees for each cut, which might get tricky on a long piece. I am sure I would mess it up too and end up with a 3 dimensional pyramid of rings instead of a flat mat.
nice. i did my whole driveway 1500 square feet using old carpet for the cloth (free) and plastic pallets that i cut the feet off ($3 each) and connecter to each other with stainless steel zip ties. whole project with stone and gravel $720. 5 years later still working great . the only maintenance is to do a little weed killer each summer. BTW i actually got a permit and had it inspected and passed. they wouldn't let me have a gravel driveway and concrete and blacktop was way too expensive and required storm drain crap .... anyway they accepted a permeable driveway and i even made a brochure presenting the pallets as a commercially available product. they bought it LOL !
Which type of plastic pallets did you use?
I'd love to see a video of that
That is hilarious about the pamphlet. That is a real Costanza move I love it
Could you please send info or pictures of plastic pallets?
Thank you
@@sailorjohnboysame here hahaha 😂
i love this guy! would love to see this packaged up and sold... a bunch of bags of gravel show up with a 20' hose, a hacksaw, and a cassette with this voice over.
Perfect! I was just looking at those textiles of grid for RV pads! It's like 3K for a pad. You just cut my cost drastically!! ❤ it. Thank you
Being a womble, living in a muddy quagmire 8-9 months of the year, I absolutely love this idea! Thank you for this video!
I have seen a similar idea but for a complete road. They used old tyres instead of pipe.[ they cut one wall off the tyre to make it easier to fill ]
I've used the recycle tire method a few times. On driveways that are real really sandy very muddy we keep one side to hold the material but drill holes in it for drainage and cut the other side put down tires open side up and fill full of rock
Good idea!
Awesome your still a beast at 67. I sure wish I had 30 minutes of your time for questions
Pure genius. Thank you for this. We've been looking for a cheap alternative to make a passable road on our property in the mountains of OK. This is just the ticket!
Some developing countries cut the side wall off of old tires then fill with road base then either concrete or regular gravel.
years ago, someone used tires, and stone, and $5 landscape fabric. They cut the sides off the tires, then covered with stone in the driveway. Working for 10+ years without any drama. Near their garage, where they were unloading cars. You cannot even tell where the soft spot was. They had previously just been dumping more and more stone every year, but it was not firming up. At the time you could get 2 ton of local stone, for $20-$25. They powerwashed their old stone, and put it back, then topped off with new stone.
We used old carpet for a geotextile fabric. It worked great, even at the barn entrance over a cattle panel. Totally stabilized the soil, no more deep mud pit from cows and horses walking through
was that with rock over?
I've just used scrap carpet underneath 'weed membrane' before mulching to solve a weed problem.
Now I know how to create an adjacent parking area, using. . . MORE scrap carpet of which I have an unlimited supply!
This video and resulting Comments have inspired me!
I found the same type of thing on my farm from guessing about the 1950's. It was made up of 8" long sections of old clay tile forming a large half circle and was where the entrance to a long ago demolished barn sat. Took me a while to figure out what it was but it apparently solved the water problem back in the day.
1850s more like
All natural materials, no plastic, and still there and still working after all that time.
I agree - more like 1850s for that style of construction.
Great info. Ty.
I'm giving a thumbs up for having real cut-offs.
Florida, mannnnn...
An area near where I live, Troutdale Oregon, does this for cheap trails, pathways, alleys, and sidewalks alongside French drains or other drainage ways. There are areas there that have very poor soil stability. On managed forest paths they'll even sometimes do this, but most of the time they use natural materials that build better soil when they break down. The construction workers here do use the store bought methods when they're on a tight schedule, but use your method when on a budget or needing more structure, like a stable, high drainage base for pavers or heavy traffic wear.
What natural materials do they use?
@@toritori5835 Logs and living root system methods are what I've seen. They place cut logs in vertically, cover with layers of dirt and gravel; sometimes use a retaining wall of cob, logs, or rocks; then plant native trees and bushes along the sides. By the time the logs decompose, the roots move in to fill the gaps and hold the soil, while the soil mix is made to have good drainage.
I wish you long happy healthy life . Thank you for spreading the knowledge, Sir.
Even better would be mixed grade, aka crush and run. The fine powder of crush and run helps lock it together. The pipe pieces would help stabilize it for your conditions.
Ahhh this is excellent! I have heaps of this drainage pipe that I picked up for free. I was only planning to use the good pieces for drainage but now I can use the rest to stabilise my yard/drive/parking and garden path. Can’t wait to try it! I love reusing waste materials and solving problems :)
Would 2 inch sections work okay for a walkway? I want to make a pea gravel walkway from my driveway to my back deck stairs.
@@marielindsay4720it worked for me, that pea gravel is still in the same place 2 years later. It’s not all loose and wonky as before. We even washed the soil off the old pea gravel and added new as needed. One thing I learned is not to go nuts and start digging to the center of the earth. Just use a good quality flat blade shovel to remove grass and don’t disturb the soil or you need to compact it. But for a walkway with foot traffic it is fine.
Mate! I'm from New Zealand and I can say without a doubt you'd fit in here easily. You're a practical genius with this little solution. I'm going to use it down the back of my property, can't wait to try it :)
Same here bro just what I need
Saaame! Definitely some kiwi ingenuity here
I'm thinking it would be perfect for the side of the house where we keep the bins. The mud and grass make it annoying to take out the trash. Crushed granite would look nice.
Yep... yep super boggy in NZ. Am pondering doing it for my Mum's unpaved driveway.
Decades ago i saw an article in Popular Science or Popular Mechanics showcasing a grid product that had just been patented. You could tamp the grid into your lawn and drive over it without rutting the sod. I guess eventually it was called geo-cell. I like yours better...😁😁😁
Super work. I have been working in the same idea. Now my work won't be a test. You be well.
Very smart my man . Something that is attainable. I follow you because I live in an area near the Arkansas River in Arkansas and the soil is sandy . Whenever I try to dig a trench to move water it collapses and fills back with soil. Thank you for giving your expertise. Most appreciated
Florida is a mix of sand and fine silt, plus what is there is very shallow and sandstone just under it which has .lots of ground water and springs
I'm so glad your channel was recommended! An incredible DIY idea and executed supremely. Looking forward to seeing more videos, old and new!
If you live in Florida do yourself a HUGE favor and do this project in Winter.
In Florida is only 2 months. January and February.
Just wait till I hire you to do a 24' X 200' driveway for me back in Flagler County cause I like that idea so much LOL!!!!
Excellent. thanks for sharing. Would be great to see an update after a few months of use.
Thanks again.
-- Frank
Loam is a type of soil. Loom is a device for weaving cloth.
Great video - I've been looking for an alternative to the pre-fab grids and this a nice alternative and something that provides greater flexibility in non-straight designs.
Though, not sure this is cheaper. 100ft of this piping covers 33sq ft at $120 (homedepot), and GeoGrid covers 53sq ft for $127. However, if you stagger and space the piping elements 4" apart, then you essentially double the area, and in that case, it does become cheaper.
dude... CHUCK... you are the man! your DIY ideas are just outta this world, man! thank you for teaching me yet another valuable DIY skill as rain season quickly approaches and I anticipate some drainage issues on some freshly regraded terrain
I want to try this in my 8'X56' outside dog run as a floor. ❤
One beach we stopped at in FL had similar soil erosion solution: geogrid. It was actually a diamond shape plastic/poly screen all one piece stretched to fit the area and cut like a chain link fence, ok geo-grid as you mention. Now I need it to work on a hill too. Thanks for sharing your idea.
It was actually used first for hills to keep from washing away!
I came up with an idea like this several years ago for the front of the stairs outside. Leveled ground, heaviest plastic, chicken wire, gravel (decorative stone because it was on clearance) pack down. It's never moved and its been at least 5years😊
Heres your 100 percent recipe w gravel. 1 inch pea gravel. 4 inches track rock. 1 inch sharp 1 inch clean rock. Followed up by 2 inches of quarter or 5/8ths minus.
Compact and enjoy a life long gravel road
If he had used any amount of gravel, it would not have been as bad, but I did not see any. Maybe he is not allowed to use lots of gravel ???
Drugs are bad@@DocScience2
Folks might also consider old used carpet (free from carpet places) for the underlayment , I have had same carpet on my driveway 30 years for erosion control. but the drainage pipe cuts are genius ! I'm in FL also and one might check on ground concrete for filler...
Brilliant! I love the Apple Drains channel.
Dear Mr. Chuck, first just wanna say thanks for all your videos. My used house I bought three years ago was built over an old rice field so I wrapped the house in footer drains cuz our crawl space can get up to 80-90% humidity in the worst months.
Anyway, just watched your DIY Geo grid and wanna say bravo! I might do this for my BBQ area. :
Your money saving ideas for the DIY’er are some of the best Chuck!
Thank you!
Ya dont look a day over 50 Navy! Keep up the great videos Chuck. We are all so appreciative!
Here in Australia we have a perforated concrete panel product that is built for farm gateways and the ground around cattle water troughs and other places that get boggy and pugged easily. The holes through the panels allow permeability and infiltration and the grass can grow through whenever there's less traffic so the whole thing is very self stabilising.
Also there's no plastic involved so you don't have all those plastic shavings in your work area from sawing through plastic, and you don't end up with a whole lot of plastic slowly disintegrating in your soil.
I'm in your neck of the woods do you know the name of the product you mentioned, TIA
So what is the name of this panelling?
brilliant! I have tons of scrap! TH-cam at its best! Im amazed you used had tools! Everybody i know thinks they need a tractor these days.
Great video. Just what i needed for a place in my yard and a driveway extension. Thank you!
Good stuff, creative solutions.
I found to save even more In Missouri I've used old carpet that people throw away as an underlayer on top of the super soft clay soil, and it stops the gravel from sinking and it's surprisingly tough and it's last 5+ years so far on a heavy trafficked driveway(occasionally add a little gravel in puddles; I'd guess I used half what you did in the same area of gravel and no pipe. Just throwing that out there.
Your imagination is gold. Hat's off to you Sir.
Hello from the Big Bend. Looks like N. Florida. I will be using your idea around my new shop.
I brought the geotiles for use at my current house. Works good but a couple hundred dollars for a 10x20 area.
I got this same exact problem in MS. Thanks for the info!!
What a great idea! Thank you for showing this!!!
Chuck, you should do an update video on this and how it’s doing
Nice idea! To help to keep the plastic tubes in position and the gravel too I would use a thin flexible copper wire through all the tubes in line.
I'd be concerned with any metal breaking over time & rising up to puncture tyres.
Awesome! Thanks for sharing! I'm gonna solve my waterlogged driveway problem this way too! Thank you!
You can also attach the tubes with hog rings using a handheld hog ring tool.
nicely done. well thought out. simpler and cheaper 2 pockets cement mixed into the soil at same depth . that would stabilize the soil.
If you have a bigger area to cover; more stability needed for heavier vehicles, you can use tires as well.
I had thought about that before as well. Even connecting them together with stainless steel bolts.
on mining roads they lay down used tyres, tie them together and fill with gravel. the tyres stop the gravel spreading sideways
I’m going to do this on patches of my farm gravel road. Thank you! Great video
Old tires work well also , on a much larger scale. It does look good.
That's a awesome idea. I'm going to use this for my driveway
Ive seen the same with old tires. Cut the sidewalls off and put short stainless bolts to connect them.old tires are free.
Wow, thanks for the Idea! Have been shocked at the cost of these grids in my search for something to sit a plastic shed on besides heavy concrete pavers. I may cut mine smaller though and also drill two holes into each tie wrapping each to one another to make square grids for a 6X4 shed pad. Thanks again!!!!!!!
You can make porous concrete by mixing gravel with cement and no sand, it binds the gravel but leaves holes for water to pass through. It is super cheap and easy to do. Try it.
Would you pour that into this geogrid? Or are you suggesting it as an alternative?
@@Tonisuperfly It is an alternative to using the expensive plastic.
@@murraymadness4674 thanks. Any particular ratio?
@@Tonisuperfly Just google porous concrete
Genius solution for a long-standing problem!
I’ve got a noisy 12 inch miter saw that I keep around for drain pipe work and I could probably do this super quick ,just put a clamp for a 4 inch stop and then just bang those pieces out one at the other
I read thinking judo how relaxing it would be to crank out those 4" pieces as long as I had a jig..
I would cut all day with my tunes going.... 😊day 2, we'd have a driveway!
Thks & I still trying to figure-out a way to interconnect the short pipes into a grid
Old tiers cut in half also work well. Easter to cut the side wall out thought. Then bolt them together.
That sounds great as well Mr. Erik. 🙏💯
Chuck, this was fascinating. I had never heard of geo gridding. Great job! Be well. Elaine in NJ
Thank you
This is genius! My garden pathway just got more doable!
Absolutely good job great idea and for 67 you get around way better than I do and I’m half your age. I just can’t stop picturing you going in circles in your driveway with your trailer on the back 10 times. Lol so funny but thanks for the good edited video. Great information.
Looks like some time has passed. Will this hold the heavy weight of a propane truck?
Florida must have rubber crumb? Ever known a tyre to stay embedded? It looks good, no crunch, keeps on muscling it's way to the surface and never wears away. Even using your grid, it'd work out. I used it on training rings for race horses. After the 1st install, I couldn't keep up. And helps keep the dumps free of non-bio's...
Thank you 🙏🏻 for sharing your knowledge and experience with us 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
how about an update since its been 7 months. I'd like to see how its holding up after the fall, winter , and spring.
Roman roads were dug down 4 to 6 feet, rock slabs were laid on the sides. 4 inch rock was laid in bottom 2 feet. 2 inch rock next foot. 1 inch rock to surface. Everything tamped. Next peagravel with tiles on top. Your side slabs would be just above surface. Sand dribbled between tiles.
Roman roads had base of straw. This kept them from sinking. Do a little more research on construction! Thanks for your comment
would be great if you had a follow up about this video. i would really like to know what it looks like after a year and a rainy season.
The geogrid purchased panels and layering system is 2" high, and costs $08.29 per square foot. Using the 4" perforated pipe, which I would cut myself with a fence on my band saw table at 3" length instead of 4", because this is engineered to be a layered system.
Run permeable after clearing and compressing the soil to be filled, roll out and stake down the fabric (Tyvec is the strongest at $.09 per SF) and layer 2: of 3/4" crushed gravel 2 or 3" thick and compacted, then lay out the grid material, and fill it with 1/2" and smaller gravel, to which I would add 50% mix of the recycled asphalt material (cheap and strong) and finish over the plastic grid with 2" of this prepared gravel asphalt mix at about a minimum of 2" over the plastic grid and plate compact and roll this to a hard compacted level surface and it will fill at about 7" at a cost of around $5 per square yard, and be a easy maintenance surface that can be cleaned up and resurfaced every few years with a Bobcat and minimal added surface material.
I have a gravel sloped driveway that has has a rain runoff problem and it's a multitude of mixed evils every year. The one thing I think I'll try there is to take the perf pipe and wire the pieces together with tie wire of zip ties, just to reinforce them from side movement when it gets wet and heavy traffic in the winter. I'm 74 and getting tired of the mess and the exhausting road work out here every year.
Thanks for sharing (I'm in Florida and this will be very useful for dealing with low spots on the family farmstead). 🤔👍
Thank you so much for this idea!!! I have a 10x20 shed to build and extend my patio pad to make a screened in porch out of it for my cats.
I was going to buy the geocells. But instead of gravel, I am going to pour concrete. That way, I really don't need rebar.
I am really grateful for seeing this video!! 🙏 thank you.
why won't you need rebar?... just checking that you understand pouring concrete into this make shift geocell will be weaker than solid concrete or concrete with rebar. You would end up with isolated cylinders of concrete that are not joined together. What he did with the tubing sections and loose gravel is perfectly reasonable.
@unionse7en the cylinders are not solid. I planned on using 2" tall geocell in my 4" concrete pad pour. The holes/slits in them allows the concrete to bond together. Instead of having isolated cells, as you suggested.
If I am not mistaken, concrete just needs a fibrous type of structure to bond with. Heck, you could just pour it on top of grass if you so desired. I am no comment expert. I have a Naval mechanical background.
But I see your point, I will research further.
Thank you.
@Jay_the_Caffeinator a 10x20 pad will need fiber reinforced concrete mix, or rebar or the panels or something to give it tensile strength. Or it will Crack super fast.
There's not enough connection through the perforations to give the concrete strength. There just no point if you're going to pour a pad over this geogrid type of thing. This is a system to keep the gravel from sinking or migrating laterally. And to drain water. None of which you should need under a concrete pad. This isn't a good geogrid anyway cause there's nothing linking the cells together.
Love the idea. Can you fold over the exposed fabric edges before putting down the final rock top layer? Would this be to much fabric and the water would puddle up?
Thanks for sharing!!! ☺️
I use old tires with the sidewalls cut out. Tire shops love to give them to you for free. Works well on embankments as well as roads.
Thanks for sharing your idea! Well done.
Vevor and Techno Earth also make similar products....looks more like plastic straps weaved into a honeycomb pattern so it ships (and stores) smaller but expands like an accordion.
I had one of those spots on my property. We never could get it filled. Turned out there was an old septic system underneath it that kept the water from seeping out. Simple fix. Hug out the pipe and filled it up. All good now.
Nice work. I’ll be copying this one!
Great idea. Thanks Chuck.. I will be doing a similar project in the near future..
Great to see a demonstration on how to resolve such a “pain” every time I’m in the yard. I’ve had to wait all day for the ground to ReFreeze in order to get the Traction need to get unstuck. Lol!
Cool. I live in Florida, so I totally get you.
Using a hotwire cutter or box knife avoids all the micro plastics byproduct. Great project, thanks for sharing! 👍✨
I must've missed something. If you put a tarp under it wouldn't that hold the water kinda like a swimming pool?
it’s not an impermeable tarp, it is permeable material
What a creative solution! Very inspiring. Thank you.
Great idea, Chuck! Can you fill over the top of this with another layer of cloth and then put soil on top of that? I have a hill that is bad for erosion and looking for ways to fight that and still have grass.
Any pipe would do even plastic drain pipe, water will drain at the bottom, not necessary to have the side holes.
In the UK we use mot type 1 stone, it is large stones and smaller stones plus dust which all locks up solid when compacted.
Do a search for 'mechanical concrete'. Use old car tires as geo grid. Old carpet or geo cloth makes it work even better!
Know everything make sense.
Excellent job.
Chuck another great video. It was already a low spot, I’m thinking you could probably get away without excavating altogether, that would put you above the flood plane. I will be trying this. Be watching for years, love your videos
Thanks
From experience, the 80% knitted shade-cloth you are using (the green stuff) is superior to geotextile. It is heavier and lasts longer. I have used it in the past.
Who make the green sun shade material???
I'll add a third option. I just replaced our safety pool cover, which is a very heavy mesh grid, because the seams all went (the thread let go) The fabric is otherwise still in good shape, so I pulled all the seams and now have about 100' by 5 ' of mesh just waiting to be used for for ground stabilization. Depending on your location, I bet there's lots of those covers heading to landfills that could be scavenged from a pool company or similar.
@@travelfeetthanks. I’ve never heard of mesh pool safety covers. Might ask around
I know this technique as 'Mechanical Concrete', I've used it on footpaths in the British Lake District that needed to be stabilised, and every thing ad to be man-packed to the site.
While this does provide strength, it also collects water and makes it sit until absorbs into the soil below, which will allow the pad to sink.
It ould be better to put in a French drain underneath then this on top. The pad to provide strength and allow water to collect and the French drain to get the water out before it can sink in
There is a great French Drain already installed.. this geo cell grid is the best solution and was installed for less than $50
Considering I sell REAL PERFORATED GEOCELL for 1/6 the price, this makes me laugh. But keep up the innovative thoughts. My calculations resulted in a cost of about $3.00. sq foot without labor and cutting... I manufacture genuine Geocell that is welded strips of HDPE and 4" 30 cell opening Geocell. We sell for less than .50/ sq foot. I will sell you truckloads for .50/sq foot if you want to purchase it...
Link please.
I have shopped for geocell and found it cost prohibitive. I must be looking in all the wrong places! Can you give me link to your product or where to find the prices you are saying exist?
Why buy it if you already have the material? Recycling? It makes sense.
I hate to say it but Home Depot sells Geo grid cheaper than this project. They sell it for $1.53 per sq ft but that’s still cheaper than doing this at about maybe $3 per sq ft and you still have to cut and place it all.
My drive is dirt/gravel from 20 yrs ago, and yes, I'm in N. Florida. Also on a slope dropping down and back about 600 ft. on the property. There's sections that have dropped from level on both sides of the drive to about 2 ft down. I have a section in the front that was clayey and it was monstrous to drive on when wet. We got a bunch of broken up concrete and piled it on. It has sunken down about a ft over the years but it is hard with that much concrete buried down in that section. What do you recommend for filling up the 1 and 2 ft drops so that mowing the edges doesn't involve trying to keep the zero turn from falling over sideways? I'm really intrigued by what you have accomplished. I'm a 72 yr old widow - lost the love of my life when he lost the 10 yr battle with stage 4 colon cancer. I need to fix this driveway without it costing an arm and a leg. You've approached your issues and love to hear what you think could work. Thanks in advance.
Thank you for sharing this video/idea! However, I am confused. Can I do this myself and what percentage of cost will I save? Is it difficult? Could anyone do this by themselves?
This is fantastic Chuck, thanks.
Is the fabric even needed? Looks like it would slow draining of the area!
It's weed control fabric for the garden, that's design to allow water to drain through.
Fantastic job brother. Very informative. Thank you. I live in the lowcountry of south carolina. Got the same issues. I'll give this a try!
A spry 67-year-old! Great job. Thanks
Absolutely one of God’s favourites! 🤷🏼♂️. I know you know what I mean! You are doing a real good job when folks reuse your work. I compliment you and see how generous you are by including US when you say, “ remember if you think of something, You Can Do It!” Thanks again n stay well!