Choose a Surface for your Yard

[chiangrai]

I need to choose a surface for a small back yard and a

path for the front of the house.

I am about to use powered colorant but I'm having second thoughts.

At the moment the surface is earth.

I'm looking for something cheap and cheerful that looks natural

doesn't get too hot

Any ideas.

[Crossy]

Grass is very good and always cool to the feet but needs cutting and care.

If it will see traffic (but not bare feet) gravel or laterite works well.

Concrete is not natural

[chiangrai]

I'm looking for a hard surface.

A cheap form of pavestones or paving blocks tht they use in thailand.

trying to find out what laterite is.

[Farma]

Laterite is the redish conglomerate rock you often see in old Khmer temples. I see it used a lot for pathways in resorts.

[Crossy]

Laterite is the redish conglomerate rock you often see in old Khmer temples. I see it used a lot for pathways in resorts.

That's the stuff, in its crushed form it's used to make the 'dirt' roads you see in rural Thailand, when compacted by traffic and rained on it creates a very solid surface, just top it up occasionally if sinkage holes develop.

Our drive is which my wife calls 'rocks', it's crushed stone, grey in colour, which compacts like laterite (at the time we couldn't get laterite right after the floods). Whilst probably not what our OP is looking for it does look very natural and 'rural'.

[Pdaz]

Just tile it

[cliveshep]

Laterite is the redish conglomerate rock you often see in old Khmer temples. I see it used a lot for pathways in resorts.

That's the stuff, in its crushed form it's used to make the 'dirt' roads you see in rural Thailand, when compacted by traffic and rained on it creates a very solid surface, just top it up occasionally if sinkage holes develop.

Our drive is which my wife calls 'rocks', it's crushed stone, grey in colour, which compacts like laterite (at the time we couldn't get laterite right after the floods). Whilst probably not what our OP is looking for it does look very natural and 'rural'.

So it's doing a similar job to the so-called "hogging" drives in the UK? I like the sound of that as my wife wanted to buy a piece of land but was put off by the lack of a proper road to it. It would need around 500m of roadway she says. Can you advise how much it costs in quantity?

[mrbojangles]

Laterite is the redish conglomerate rock you often see in old Khmer temples. I see it used a lot for pathways in resorts.

That's the stuff, in its crushed form it's used to make the 'dirt' roads you see in rural Thailand, when compacted by traffic and rained on it creates a very solid surface, just top it up occasionally if sinkage holes develop.

Our drive is which my wife calls 'rocks', it's crushed stone, grey in colour, which compacts like laterite (at the time we couldn't get laterite right after the floods). Whilst probably not what our OP is looking for it does look very natural and 'rural'.

So it's doing a similar job to the so-called "hogging" drives in the UK? I like the sound of that as my wife wanted to buy a piece of land but was put off by the lack of a proper road to it. It would need around 500m of roadway she says. Can you advise how much it costs in quantity?

If I remember rightly, we paid about 800 baht per truck for that stuff. Our area is rich in that type of soil, so it depends on what is readily available near you. First had it put down about 6 years ago and it's still going great now. After very heavy rains and driving over it, it sometimes needs raking over.

[weegee]

How big is the area you are talking about??? Length x breadth x width...?

Thats probably a big help for members trying to help you. You will get more replies if we know the size...

[Crossy]

So it's doing a similar job to the so-called "hogging" drives in the UK? I like the sound of that as my wife wanted to buy a piece of land but was put off by the lack of a proper road to it. It would need around 500m of roadway she says. Can you advise how much it costs in quantity?

If I remember rightly, we paid about 800 baht per truck for that stuff. Our area is rich in that type of soil, so it depends on what is readily available near you. First had it put down about 6 years ago and it's still going great now. After very heavy rains and driving over it, it sometimes needs raking over.

We are paying about 1500 for a similar small truck in northern BKK, obviously in larger quantities it will be cheaper.

It comes from our local building supply yard so cutting out the middle man will reduce costs significantly.

You'll need some preparation (remove topsoil / mud) and a crew to spread and perform the initial compacting. Our drive was 'topped up' once after about 6 months and now handles mostly light vehicle traffic without problems even when wet.

[thailand49]

If you do not live in the so call City but outside, throw the dream out in regards to grass! that was the first thing I wanted and when they put it in several times until I learn each time I smile and said WOW! after just a month it started to turn brown again, the dogs will dig it up and the worse part the SNAKES love it, why it is so cool for them. Then if you do not plan to cut it yourself you got to pay someone and if not buy the equipment to do it. It goes on and on..

Now I know why the Thai cement everything but cementing everything means you cover up all the plumbing etc.. if you develop a leak hard to find? that has been my personal case. More dirt of any kind just seem to add to the problem too. So in my opinion for your area and the walkway.. which is what I finally did was get pavement bricks, they run as cheap as 8 baht depending how much you buy and come in various styles and colors. I level the area, place black garbage bags over the dirt and place some fresh sand over the bags and laid the brick on top. I place small planters around the edges for plants, flower and small trees. Later if you want to do something else you can remove the bricks. For the walkway you can do the same with larger designs.

[oxo1947]

Concrete it all---- then it gives you licence to do what you want ----and change it over the years.

I laid stones on this part....different coloured pebbles , you can move the pot plants around ---

use railway sleepers etc if you have a walk way----use lattice if you have close neighbours....lets the air/light through privacy, grow plants up it if you want more privacy.

still

if you wish I can PM you some other ideas....................don't want to bore everyone else with it.....................

Edited September 1, 2015 by oxo1947

[joshstiles]

maybe you could cover it with plastic bags like the ocean floor????

cheap

abundant

what are you waiting for?

[Bigfarang1948]

Grass is very good and always cool to the feet but needs cutting and care.

If it will see traffic (but not bare feet) gravel or laterite works well.

Concrete is not natural

I agree. Try grass. Do you need help picking out the color you paint your house too???

[Jaggg88]

Just tile it

Tiles get very hot!