Making a Gravel Parking Pad that Won’t Roll Away

If you’ve ever surfaced a parking pad with gravel you know how frustrating it can be. No matter how well you prepare your ground, how evenly you spread the gravel, in a few short weeks it looks like a disaster. The gravel all moves from the one place you need it the most, under your tyres.

With the ACO Groundguard system, your gravel parking pad will stay where you put it, looking smooth, flat, new and undamaged, even after years of parking your car in the same place. The Groundguard system locks the gravel in place, preventing it from migrating out from under your wheels. Even heavy vehicles driving on your parking pad won’t make it budge.

The system consists of interlocking green polyethylene tiles, made from 100% recycled materials, which are 90% open space. For a parking pad, you can fill the space with 10 mm gravel, which the polyethylene tiles hold in place. The tiles themselves can support 250 tons per square meter, meaning that you won’t have to worry about them breaking.

To get the most out of your ACO Groundguard system installation, you will need to properly prepare your site. Digging down 20 – 30 cm is usually enough to insure that you can provide a good base for your installation. In the case of clay soil or extra-heavy loads, you may need to go down to 40 cm. Your sub-base should be compacted with a plate compactor, before adding your base.

The first layer of your base should be gravel or crushed stone to a level of 8 cm below your desired finish grade. Level this out and tamp with a roller or plate compactor. Top the crushed stone with 4 cm of sand. This layer doesn’t need to be compacted, but should be leveled with a rail. Your Groundguard tiles are installed above the sand layer, staggering the tiles and locking them together as you install them. Finish the layering of your installation by filling the tiles with 10 mm decorative gravel.

A parking pad made in this manner will remain attractive for years of regular use. Depending upon your landscaping design, the parking pad can be edged or grass can be run right up to the edge of your gravel. ACO also makes an edging called ACO BorderGuard, which is specifically designed to work with the Groundguard system. This edging both holds your installation in place, and provides an unobtrusive decorative divider between your parking pad and the adjacent surfaces.

Your ACO Groundguard parking pad also provides excellent drainage, allowing you to avoid puddles as you walk from your house to your car.