[l008com]

I wasn't sure if this would go better in Stone or Landscaping, but since it's mainly a "driveway" question, I put it here.

I've got this patch of dirt in my driveway. It's directly against the house, and surrounded on 3 sides by driveway. I'm trying to figure out what to do with it. Here's a pic, with explanation after:

The red box is very roughly, about 3' by 6'. That part of the dirt is going to be covered by the stairs and platform once I finish rebuilding it. (don't worry, those new supports are more robust than they look).

The green box is about the same size. It is going to be out in the open, not under any decking.

The yellow box marks approximately where a metal awning is overhanging this dirt patch.

Also the roof of the house does not slope this way, this is the peak side, so other than the awning, no water flows this way. This is also pretty much the 'peak' of the driveway, it falls down slightly in all directions.

Originally, I think this dirt is from a giant concrete slab 'o stairs. Then that slab was removed when the installed the handicapped ramp a few years ago. The stairs you see are the remains of the handicapped ramp. It's all going to be removed, except what is seen here.

So my plan is to rebuild the stairs and platform where they are, after I fix up the siding on the house. This is going to be temporary, but temporary may easily mean 5+ years at the rate things are going.

My first though was that I could line the red box with some landscaping cloth, and cover it with some nice clean gravel. Not much should try to grow through that since it will be mostly covered up. Then for the green box, what I really want is asphalt. I don't think I can get a driveway place to come give me a tiny patch that small, plus I'm super tight on cash. I was thinking about buying bags of asphault patch at home depot or something, but I don't know if you can do patches this big, and i'd have to see how much I'd need and how much that would cost.

My other thought for the green box was simply planting grass that I can mow easily. Of course asphalt would be able to shed water away a lot better than a patch of grass will. There really isn't a problem with water getting in the basement now, there is just a bit of moisture around the floor-wall crack when its we out.

Ultimately, I want to get this whole stair/awning thing rebuilt as a real set of stairs with a roof, and I'd like to get a new driveway that will include this patch. But as I said, I'm working on basically no money so I need to make do for the time being.

And for the hell of it, here's a bird's eye view of the patch so you can get a better idea of what's going on. I have a little 5x8 utility trailer that i'm probably going to try to tuck into that green box corner once everything is all finished.

 

[Bondo]

I was thinking about buying bags of asphault patch at home depot or something, but I don't know if you can do patches this big, and i'd have to see how much I'd need and how much that would cost.

Ayuh,.... Whatever ya decided, Don't use cold patch asphalt, the stuff is Junk,.....

A blacktopper who's in yer area doin' work, will probably pop in, 'n do the job for a fairly reasonable price,....

Or,... Use self-mixed bagged concrete,....

Or plain ole crushed stone,...

Or yer grass idea,....

If ya do crushed stone or grass, put the stone/ dirt in a little high, 'n pitched,....

That way water will flow over it, 'n away, rather than damin' up at the edge of the existing asphalt,....

 

[dd57chevy]

Since money seems to be the key point , it might be easiest & cheapest to buy 4-5 bags of mulch & cover the area . Maybe even get one of those concrete patio blocks to set the wheel of the trailer on .

Being what you call a 'temporary" deal , I can tell you mulch is much easier to remove than rock if you ever want the area to revert back to soil (like a flower bed).

 

[l008com]

Well I just called a paving company and they wanted $800 for the 4.5' by 6' patch. So I'm definitely going to do it myself. So given the DIY options I have (gravel, dirt, planting grass), which of these if any, would be better at keeping water away? Or should I do something like a little brick patio?

 

[l008com]

I suppose another option is that I could mix up my own cement and pour my own little slab there. It will probably look the worst but function the best. Or maybe more a "foundation" slab and do patio bricks on top of that. That's a lot of work but if it's cheap and I can do it myself, that's the most important thing.

 

[l008com]

Ok so I plan on putting landscaping fabric under the gravel half of this patch, and I'm strongly leaning towards patio bricks of one kind of another. I have a few questions related to that.

First, should I put landscape fabric under the brick side too? Is there any benefit to this? I assume i would place it between the gravel and sand layers. Hopefully it could help inhibit weed growth.

Second, what's the best way to very cleanly cut these bricks up? I'm going to need a bunch of half pieces and I find straight lines in landscaping to be very appealing

This is what I'm probably going to go with: http://www.lowes.com/pd_54338-215-104801999_1z0viuh__

I've used them for other things before, they don't have hollow bottoms like old school patio bricks, which I like.