Stones round the edge of house

[CatCaller]

I've got stones round the edge of our house and i hate them. I hate them because no matter what i do, my kids play with them and they end up on the garden grass and I've got to pick them up.

What can i replace this with that isn't easily removable?

 

[r896neo]

Concrete, paving etc?

How high is your dpc from the gravel?

 

[CatCaller]

Concrete, paving etc?

How high is your dpc from the gravel?

I have no idea. Do these pictures help?

Untitled

• CatCaller
• 8 Mar 2015
• 1

Untitled

• CatCaller
• 8 Mar 2015
• 1

Untitled

• CatCaller
• 8 Mar 2015
• 1

 

[r896neo]

The gravel is there because the finished paving surface should be a regulation 150mm below your DPC.

You can see the black dpc sticking out of one of the joints in your last photo. It runs in the mortar course underneath the little grey weep vents.

Its hard to tell from the angle of your photos how far below the dpc your paving is but the gravel has been put there because its less than the 150mm it should be. Its a common work around to save having to lift the paving and relay it lower which would be a lot of work.

If you simply fill it in with something solid you may get splash-back above the dpc and get damp problems. Its unlikely but possible.

Put a straight edge on the paving so it butts up to the wall and measure the distance to the dpc

 

[ladylola]

Have you tried scraping away the gravel to expose what's underneath? It's probably only sand and you could remove an inch or so and replace the gravel so that it sits below the level of the slabs , much harder for the kids to kick about.

 

[JohnD]

you can fill the trench with pebbles or cobbles, which will not get kicked around. Something around the size of an egg, perhaps.

 

[CatCaller]

Problem is they sometimes pick it up and throw it. I was thinking about the similar drain thing that is in place at the back door you can see on the last picture.