I've recently seen what appears to be self-bonding sand used at the edge of a road to fill in the waterlogged ruts on the grass verge caused by people driving off the carriageway. When it's compacted it bonds itself together. I'd like to get some to fill in the sludgy ruts at the edge of the grass verge outside our house. Does anybody know what it's called? I've googled for "self-bonding sand" but it didn't come up with anything.
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L\'escargot.
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I can't think of any proprietary products. What colour is the stuff you have seen - is it a light sandy yellow colour? Have you looked at it close up, is it actually sand or is it larger particles?
What it sounds like is crushed limestone in a "4mm to dust" or similar grading. When compacted with a roller or whacker plate it knits together well and can provide a fairly hardwearing surface. Could last a long time if its not subject to too much abrasion eg. tyres turning on it, but quality of surface is dependant on how well it is compacted and the quantity of "fines" in it.
Sand with a small cement or lime content would harden and is sometimes used for road subgrades but I'm not familiar with it being used piecemeal for verges. But I'm not fully up to speed on civils matters.
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Cut some thick turf from somewhere else, if you have a source.
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Yes, the right sort of turf should be available from outside another house nearby :o)
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Yes, the right sort of turf should be available from outside another house nearby :o)
Or come to Leeds and lift a few Yorkshire stone paving slabs-everybody else does,or so it seems.
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What colour is the stuff you have seen .........
It's builder's sand colour. I assume it contains a bonding agent, perhaps a resin. It doesn't seem to go rock-hard, but it definitely sticks together.
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L\'escargot.
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Just found this one (but not found a UK supplier): www.iss2500.co.za/sas.aspx
Comes in 200kg drums which is okay for the local authority but not so good for domestic use..
Fosroc make construction chemicals but I can't find anything on their website. Another company is MBT Feb, but their website doesn't seem to be working (www.mbtfeb.co.uk).
Found something called polymer sand or polymeric sand, goes hard but remains water permeable, but can only find references to joints in block paving: www.pavingexpert.com/point02.htm
www.engnetglobal.com/c_new/c.aspx/ROA001/products
www.ascinfo.co.uk/
Rich.
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Sounds like PVA mixed with sand. You can use this to stabilse the sand and put loose soil on top to grow grass on. The PVA sand will stick soak up water, but won't turn into a quagmire. PVA is £10/5 litres at Wickes, so not very economical, maybe you can water it down.
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Sounds like PVA mixed with sand. You can use this to stabilse the sand and put loose soil on top to grow grass on. The PVA sand will stick soak up water, but won't turn into a quagmire. PVA is £10/5 litres at Wickes, so not very economical, maybe you can water it down.
Thanks Ashok, that seems to describe it exactly. I'll have a go down that route.
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L\'escargot.
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Would be interested to hear how that goes L'escargot, will you report back your findings?
cheers,
Rich.
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Would be interested to hear how that goes L'escargot, will you report back your findings?
I'll probably have to wait until the ruts aren't waterlogged.
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L\'escargot.
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I've now had a closer look at the stuff and (apart from the orange sandy colour) it certainly fits Rich 9-3s suggestion of "4mm to dust" crushed limestone.
The next questions are ......... is it available in relatively small quantities (say, 25kg bags), and where can I get some?
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L\'escargot.
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Try a decent Builders Merchants that has loose stockpiles of material. At our old local one you can take your own sack and shovel some in. If they have not got 4mm to dust, try to get 20mm to dust crushed limestone hardcore. It needs to have sufficient "fines" in it for it to knit up when compacted; on the other hand you dont want it *too* dusty or it may not knit up very well either.
To compact it you could drive your car over it a dozen times... I would probably hire a rammer or wacker plate, because I like playing about with bits of plant, but this would probably overdo it!
Rich.
P.S. It appears in some areas they sell "scalpings" (never heard of this before) but this seems to have 40mm stone in it and a clay content, which I dont think would be as good as limestone.
I have just found this: www.rivarsandandgravel.co.uk/Sheets/potholes.html
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