How much gravel do I need for a gravel grid?

We get a lot of questions from customers about building a gravel driveway. Here we try to break it down to a series of steps, to make things simple for you.

How much gravel to buy.

When customers call and ask us this, we always answer this by asking our own question - do you want to see the grids or not?

There are two ways to install your grids, either with stone above the top surface or level with the top of the mesh. Either option works perfectly well functionally, it is just a simple point of aesthetic preference.

For a level finish with an exposed grid surface, you'll need 20kg/grid.

For a discrete finish with no grids on show, you'll need at least 30kg/grid.

How much gravel you'll need in total is then a simple calculation based on how large an area you are covering. To make things even simpler, we've even built this calculator for you that tells you exactly how much you need.

What type of gravel to buy.

There's a lot of choice when it comes to what kind of gravel you can buy and this often can cause a bit of confusion. Compatibility seems to be a big concern for a lot of people - will the gravel I want work in the grids?

It's well known. The best gravel for driveways you can use in gravel retention grids is actually 20mm "angular" gravel. This basically means the very best thing you can buy for this is anything that's not rounded over like the washed pebbles in the photo above. Angular gravel has greater friction when driven over and doesn't get caught in the treads of your tyres, so locks in better.

However with that being said, you can still choose to use rounded stones if you prefer the look of them. Our grid design has well proportioned openings or "cells" that allow for any stone between 5mm and 30mm to fit in neatly and not move. Even with a little surface coverage, you'll find movement of the stone (whilst not completely locked in place) is greatly reduced.

Our personal preference is "20mm golden gravel" which has a nice mix of colours and shapes, creating a more natural texture that hides the grids well. Of course depending on where you live, you may have access to better prices on different quantities of locally quarried stone and more often than not, it's cheap enough to buy from a quarry directly. Builders merchants and stone merchants will have a big range to choose from to help you get started figuring out what you would like.

As big an opportunity as it would be, we don't actually sell stone ourselves as the logistical side to our business just isn't geared that way but the UK is so well covered by some really great stone merchants, quarries and builders merchants that getting hold of stone locally and at a great price is just a case of calling them up and getting the best deal. Even national DIY stores can supply you with whatever quantities you require and sometimes even at competitive prices.

What else would you like to know when it comes to choosing your gravel? Questions in the comments below!