Gravel-Lok - Garden Path Installation

welcome to Celtic today we're going to learn an installation of a garden path I'm using gravel lot on our website you can find a CAD drawing that explains two details of a garden path the first step select your stone and clean it most people want to just hose off a pile that doesn't work very well we've taken a plastic wheelbarrow drilled eighth inch holes in the bottom like a spaghetti strainer fill it with gravel then wash then we lay the stones out so they can dry then we remove all vegetated debris in the area we're going to build our gravel lock path we're following the CAD drawing so we're just going to s-curve 8 2 inches deep we're gonna frame this job up like you would concrete using two by fours as our edger make sure it has proper grade and form it up grandma lock is porous so you need to have grade on the subgrade away from all structures install Geo textile fabrics this is an SF 20 that all sides are wrapped and you have no soil touching where you're going to install gravel ah now you're ready to mix gravel lock make sure all stones that you pre-washed are dry we measure these out by using 5 gallon buckets so we can get a ratio gravel locklear is recommended for all paving surfaces mix 16 to 18 ounces per 5-gallon bucket mix it like you would concrete then it's ready to use gravel lock is similar to concrete you dump it in place trowel and flat be sure to compact it with a trowel and get the smoothest surface possible you can use geogrids to increase the strength of garden paths it is easy to install and fairly inexpensive it's like the wire that you put in concrete except it's a plastic product celtic geosynthetics applies all these products there's some areas on this job that need to be built up a little bit so we're going to use a washed clean stone to build it up so we can only put down 2 inches of gravel lock wash off the gravel compact making sure you get all corners areas and up against foundations now you're ready to install 2 inches of gravel lock spread out the gravel lock along our wood form we want to make it a little thicker so when we remove it we have a nice strong edge to keep things level I like to use a screed this allows me very quickly to make things level and flat as you're working along be sure to fix any areas that you don't like making them as flat as possible after screeding about a foot or so we are ready to trowel flat we wipe a little acetone on our trowel so no pebbles stick to our trou this allows you to pack and smooth the surface to its flattest finish as possible the person that's installing this part should be somewhat like a concrete finisher you'll want to tamp down the surface making sure no stones are sticking up while putting the final finish on try to apply a little pressure now you're ready to continue the process again and again until you reach the end and notice how I have a paint roller pan with a little rag in it this is easy for hold acetone set your trial in and you will need that for the final process which we call a roll coat I prefer plastic roll pans over metal ones in larger areas poles make it easier to get a large level surface add a little gravel lock pull the pole up and adjust to the level that you're looking for be sure to fill a little gravel walk around the pole so it doesn't slide when you're applying pressure this is the same method contractors use to screech sand to apply brick pavers the screed pulls adjuster right make for a more accurate installation there'll be times you'll need to slide the pole down what we do is we pull the pole down reach out fill it full of gravel and trowel it flat we try to do this so we don't have to walk on gravel lot because it gets on the bottom of your shoes then you end up stepping on somebody's paver driveway deck concrete sidewalk and then it's extra cleanup so I'll grab some extra cardboard that we can walk on so we don't have this problem but if you have to leave the pole in place you can use small pieces of cardboard 2x4 something to walk on so it does not get on the bottom of your shoes now when I bring gravel up up to a brick edge I'm going to make sure I have a little bit more than two inches of depth up against the edge of the brick to give it some extra strength allow 24 hours to cure remove all forms two by fours stakes anything that you were using to form up the edge now if you notice it didn't stick to the edge because we left the fabric on the inside now you're ready to backfill there are several ways you can do this one way is the back fill with soil if you do this you will need to leave the Geo textile there this prevents soil weeds roots from infiltrating into the system which would slow down the water flow through the system I'll use a piece of cardboard so we don't kick dirt onto the system the second way you can do edging is using concrete we mix concrete in a wheelbarrow then we're going to pull fabric away from the gravel lock and install concrete right up against the gravel lock wishing it in to the gravel our gravel lock has the same structural Integrity's of asphalt so the concrete's going to give the edge a stronger reinforcement the third way you can reinforce the edge is use masonary cement type in type and cement is the same cement they used to mortar down natural stones so what we're going to do is this is we are going to smear it along the edge pushing it into the gravel lock kind of the same way you part a foundation of a structure of a house and remember we were applying this right up on the gravel lock installing it as close as we can to the top edge once it's pushed in you're just going to reach out and give it a nice smooth finish and remember it is very important not to put the Mason cement on the Geo textile for this we'll just pull away from the gravel lock if done this way it's done in proper now all three ways I just described are acceptable for any gravel lock system you can use snap edgewood ties or brick borders if you want while the edges are drying it is now time for a roll coat a roll coat ensures a double bond on the surface this gives the top surface a really strong bond it's similar to painting cars if you put 1 to 2 to 5 coats on a car the paint will last longer you should apply about 1 gallon per hundred and 50 square feet of surface if you decide to put more than one coat allow dry time of a 24 hours between coats and remember if you drip this on anything acetone will remove it while it's uncured when the surface is dry you can backfill a scrap piece of cardboard makes it a lot clean and neater throwing dirt all over the surface of a brand-new job isn't what you really want to do because dirt will infiltrate this and slow down the porosity if you get some on the surface just simply blow it off with your leaf blower and thanks for your time

Channel: Gravel Lok

Views: 3,798,019

Keywords: Gravel-Lok, Gravel, Aggregate, Paving, Pavers, Landscape, Stone, Construction, Tips

Id: Dbsc-v_jTb4

Length: 8min 51sec (531 seconds)

Published: Mon Sep 24 2012