Excavation begins with an assessment of the site and soil conditions to determine the required depth. We also need to consider what the function of the site will be used for, ex. Walkway, patio or driveway etc. Once we’ve determined the appropriate depth required we layout the designed area and begin excavation of the earth.
Once the area has been brought down to depth, approx 12” for walkway/patio areas, and up to 24” for driveway applications we then layout a geo-technical cloth on the surface. This cloth has two major functions:
- To separate the earth below from the granular base above to prevent soil dispersing or in other words it keeps the stones from sinking into the soil below.
- To permeate the water or to allow the water on the surface to filter through the granular base and spread across the open area and evenly throughout the soil. This protects the surface from sinking or heaving in the springtime.
We now back-fill the area with the granular, for most applications a ¾” crushed stone or Granular “a” will be used. The stone base is then spread level and compacted in layers of 5” or less to ensure adequate compaction through the entire depth.
