Road planings on top of existing yard?

[diddy]

Hi all,

Thanks to the excellent advice received on here already, I've decided to resurface my yard/turnout area with road planings. I'm going to do the work myself but am not quite sure how to get started. At the moment, there is already some kind of surface there. It might actually be planings, as some of it drains & some of it doesn't. I could probably scrape some of it off but other parts feel pretty compacted. As a result, there are some patches of standing (stinky!) water here & there - hence wanting to resurface. So, question is, how should I prepare the ground?

- Do I need to get all the existing surface off before I start?
- If I lay planings over what is already there, will this also get wet stinky patches on it?
- Can I create a slope with the planings (so said stinky water will run off) or does the slope need to come from the solid ground underneath (if that makes sense!)

Any help at all would be great as it's going to be a lot of work & a lot of money so I want to get it right

Thank you!

Diddy. x

 

[Honey08]

Water should drain through the road planings, so no need to slope it. Some people will say put a membrane down, but we didn't and ours has been in use for at least five winters now, so I wouldn't bother if it's on a hardstanding already. Just put a good thick level of it down.

 

[Pebble101]

We have had ours down for 10 years now in our field. I would use what you have got as a base and put the planings over the top. Ours is on clay and we have had one top up in that time as it did sink a bit, I don't think we will need another.

Over time it has become compacted and acts a bit like concrete so you can still get puddles.

 

[Cragrat]

Water definitely doesn't drain through our road planings- as Pebble said they become compacted. I wouldn't remove the existing base if it is firm, but I would use a a whacker plate to get a good firm surface, especially in the existing hollows. Not enironmentally safe, but an old trick is to use a spray nozzle on a watering can to spray diesel to help them fuse - it becomes like tarmac. Your watering can will be ruined, and be careful of run off and water courses.
If you can build in a gentle slope, it will obviously reduce standing water, but too much of a slope could erode your surface if not done correctly.

 

[CBFan]

I would scrape back and level what you have, maybe building in a slight slope as you go - hiring a sit on roller to flatten it, then put your new planings on top and roll to flatten / compact

 

[Goldenstar]

On my yard I did not burn the surface I want it kept loose so it's safer in bad weather

 

[popsdosh]

On my yard I did not burn the surface I want it kept loose so it's safer in bad weather

One hot summer and the planings will solidify on their own .

 

[Goldenstar]

One hot summer and the planings will solidify on their own .

Well they haven't after fifteen years so I will take the chance they drain well are safer when it icy but a pain in the bum to keep clean .

 

[FfionWinnie]

One hot summer and the planings will solidify on their own .

We don't get hot summers in Scotland but mine has also solidified in a year with just one horse tramping about on it.

Agree the water runs off rather than sinks in. In fact if its sinky and soft that probably means there's going to be an issue in that bit. A slight slope is better.

 

[popsdosh]

We don't get hot summers in Scotland but mine has also solidified in a year with just one horse tramping about on it.

Agree the water runs off rather than sinks in. In fact if its sinky and soft that probably means there's going to be an issue in that bit. A slight slope is better.

Just a word of warning to people some planings will have glass in as they are now incorparating crushed glass chips into some tarmac mixes to increase their lifespan !

 

[Honey08]

Well they haven't after fifteen years so I will take the chance they drain well are safer when it icy but a pain in the bum to keep clean .

Ditto, mine haven't either, thank goodness. I don't want Tarmac, I like the fact that they're not slippery and they drain. I wonder if we have a different type of chipped nags to the others? I'm ready to top mine up, I am now worryingly ithat the new stuff will be the stuff that sets!

 

[FfionWinnie]

Well they haven't after fifteen years so I will take the chance they drain well are safer when it icy but a pain in the bum to keep clean .

Not tarmac road planings then, perhaps it's crushed stone, such as type 1 or some other recycled aggregate.

 

[Darbs]

Just a word of warning to people some planings will have glass in as they are now incorporating crushed glass chips into some tarmac mixes to increase their lifespan !

Glass has been mixed with asphalt since the 90's to create 'Glassphalt', but it is generally used in the sub-base layer of a road to bulk out the aggregates and its not in widespread use in the UK. It is not generally used in the pavement or wearing layer, and even if it is, the granular size is generally around 4.5mm, so very small....about the size of this... . It has to be of a size where it cannot crack to create a sharp edge or break into pieces. It is the pavement layer that is planed off in most cases. (Its use in pavement surface is also limited low speed roads as the glass increases vehicle stopping distances).

All of this means that you are fairly unlikely to come across glass in road planings. If in doubt just ask your supplier to confirm it doesn't contain glass.

While it may sound concerning that road planings on a yard may contain glass, there was much greater concern voiced in the early days for the situation when it is used in the pavement layer of a road and a motorcyclist slides off at speed over a surface containing glass shards...acting like a cheese grater! (It never happened, it was one of the usual 'new idea doomsday scenarios'!)

 

[Honey08]

Not tarmac road planings then, perhaps it's crushed stone, such as type 1 or some other recycled aggregate.

No it's definitely road planings, I bought it from workmen doing a road and it came straight to me. I already have MOT on another area and underneath the road planings, it cost four times as much and isn't half as good!

 

[Goldenstar]

Not tarmac road planings then, perhaps it's crushed stone, such as type 1 or some other recycled aggregate.

It certainly is tarmac planeing came off the AI about a mile away I have bought and used literally thousands of tons of Tarmac planeings over the years so I do know what I used .
It's you apply planning to your base and dont compact it heavily it always stays loose .
Where it was hard rolled and whacked on the roads it set hard .

 

[wench]

Tarmac is actually a brand name what you are in fact purchasing is bituminous bound material😯

 

[Abby-Lou]

We did our yard with rubble then road plainings on top. I hired a roller to squash the rubble down with. In hind sight it wasn't big enough for the job. In the end we got some heavy duty machines from a drainage company in to flattern and level out brilliant job beyond what I expected. My word of warning would be very careful hiring a roller the one I got was so sensitive I still laugh now but it was worse than sitting to a difficult horse ! literally flew off at warp speed nine if you hit the gas too much. Also the quality of the plainings has a lot to do with will they solidify in hot weather. Ours have been down nearly three years no and the water purposely runs through yes we do get the odd bit of standing water when we get lots of rain but no need for membrane would be a waste of money in my mind. Shop around to get the best price ideally you want to be tapping the road men on the shoulder when they are down the road to get the cheapest option.