Gravel border around slab

Garandman · Jul 30, 2015

The home inspector we used expressed concern that the W side of the house had dirt right up to the trim on the dide of the house. He recommended grading it out away and putting some gravel down for drainagae.

When I started digging it out I discovered there was gravel for a few inches away from the house. But the owner let it fill with dirt and grass grew up over it.

How wide should I make the apron? The house has minimal roof overhang. How deep?

The soil is pretty sandy and slopes away other than this one area, so I think it will drain OK without any piping.

Ed of all trades · Jul 30, 2015

My mother in laws house had a similar problem. She ended up with termites all through the house. Not fatal damage but widespread. The ground sloped toward her house on that side as well and when the exterminator did his inspection he came out with mud on his knees. We built a swale just out from the house to drain water away and dropped the grade next to the house as much as we could. We also had the man spray the termites. That said, get at least 8" if you can, more would be better. We settled for 2" or 3" because of the grade and because Mom would have had a cow if we had done much more than we did. I guess when you are 80 change is hard and that is the way dad built it and he was never wrong. Hope all goes well and do have the house checked for termites. You might be very glad you did. Ed

Mysfyt · Jul 30, 2015

My wife wants to do something similar. How do you keep dirt from accumulating and eventually the weeds that will follow?

Deere Dude · Jul 30, 2015

Mysfyt said:
My wife wants to do something similar. How do you keep dirt from accumulating and eventually the weeds that will follow?

We pitched the grade away from the house about 2-3 feet out and put in a plastic border edging sticking out of the ground 3" and then laid plastic down. We then and then four inches of decorative 1-2" stone, called river rock.. If dust and dirt in the air lands on it and stays over the years, then we spray with weed killer.

dave1949 · Jul 30, 2015

I have 1" minus spread about 2-3 inches deep over two layers of 8 mil black plastic. Some grass, tree seedlings and weeds will grow in that but they pull easy enough since the roots can't reach dirt.

You for sure want some gap between the siding and the ground. Carpenter ants would be my concern in this area. You can use boric acid or some other ant killer at the edge of the slab.

EddieWalker · Jul 30, 2015

I used 30 lb roofing paper to set how wide to make my gravel bed. I just unrolled the paper and put the rock on top of it.

RobS · Jul 30, 2015

Are there gutters and downspouts? If so, you can reduce the "buffer zone" of gravel. If not, I'd tend to go overboard just to make sure the water drains away well.

dmccarty · Jul 30, 2015

Mysfyt said:
How do you keep dirt from accumulating and eventually the weeds that will follow?

I see people spend quite a bit of time and money preparing a yard to grow grass. You want to grow "grass" put down gravel.

:laughing: We spend quite a bit of time removing weeds from the gravel around the house and we have to mow parts of the driveway and parking areas that we do not use much. We mostly hand pull the weeds but this year we put down tarps to kill the weeds and I also put down some chemical that was supposed to prevent weeds/grass from growing but I am not sure it worked. In the past, we have sprayed Round Up and one year I tried to burn off the weeds. We have one weed that is VERY hard to pull by hand and it will NOT burn. :shocked::confused3:

We have edgers that do a good job of keeping grass growing INTO the gravel and it keeps dirt out. Keeping the weeds under control is a never ending battle. We have geotextile or landscape fabric under all of the gravel.

Later,
Dan

Garandman · Jul 30, 2015

RobS said:
Are there gutters and downspouts? If so, you can reduce the "buffer zone" of gravel. If not, I'd tend to go overboard just to make sure the water drains away well.

The gutters and downspouts are on the N and S sides of the house.

Of course I don't have the picture I need but it is the left side I'm concerned about.