Self binding gravel, French equivalent?

Hello all, I’ve just been watching this video https://youtu.be/CHlgRROm7Fs and it’s exactly what I’m hoping to do. Is there a French equivalent to this type of finish? I’ve put down some ordinary gravel elsewhere but this finish is more what I’m after for a terrace. Also what’s French for a plate compactor?.. or thwacker as I know them. Cheers

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Une dameuse, or patin vibrant, or plaque vibrante.

You want a gravier goudronné or résinée, depending on your budget.

That’s the closet I’ve found here, but not really searched hard. Go to a terrassement firm and ask?

(Edit: just had a little look, and hoggin could be béton désactivé.)

(Edit 2 : no it’s not. Ends up with similar visual effect, but lots of process that doesn’t look very eco-friendly)

Actually graves-émulsion is the stuck-together-gravelly stuff, it is very good, it’s what I have on my drive (which is a chemin communal so I didn’t pay for the resurfacing and can’t tell you how much it is). There is graves-bitume as well.
I did my 200+m2 terrace with 20cm of compacted pea-size castine over geotextile membrane plus 10cm of less compacted bigger castine on top. Very nice, easy to pull weeds out and has lasted 18 years so far.

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Great, thanks for the info. This means I might actually have to get round to starting after 4 years of thinking about it…

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I have been following their videos for a couple of years - they are very good.

One of my projects was on one of their videos

Yes, have been watching them too. Very down to earth and practical.

My vote is “Gravier tout venant”. We had a large area covered with it about ten years ago. Time to replace it now.

I put GTV on a path and it has disappeared, swallowed up by the clay :fearful:

Also been thinking about using same gravel as I have front of house but use the hexagonal plastic matting stuff to make it more stable. Any comments?

Friends did it. Looks fine, but not a cheap option.

Yes Vero, when we did it they rolled it and then sprayed it with water and it sort of set. Like a low grade concrete. I think it was stuff pushing that broke it down as much as traffic. I’ll put a central 4M strip of concrete next time to take the weight and have GTV on the sides.

David I put pebbles/stones in the front of the house and they’ve worked ot OK with the odd bit of weeding over the years but I want something more stable now and to extend along the side of the garage so I’m thinking that matting is an excellent solution, but I haven’t had a quote yet :astonished:

Jane, how much was it per M2?

And while I’m at, it does anybody know what restanque costs a m2, restoration and new?

Now I’m on the case, I will go round to the builders merchant on Monday and look at options prices etc. They are very helpful normally.

Be sure to share the quotes David. I’ll have a look around here too.

In this area - Jura - the road repair squads use a plate compacter with a particular stone / sand mix to repair the verges. Its quick effective and lasting. I suggest approaching your nearest stone quarry or specialist stone supplier, describing what you want the mix to do, and asking for a quote for supply and delivery.
The 1 tonne bags that you can get from the local builders merchants are less likely to be the right mix. When I was a student some 50 years ago, one of the warnings that we were given was that ‘sharp’ sand expands from its dry volume when damp, and shrinks back to close to its dry volume when fully saturated.
(e.g. https://preservationscience.wordpress.com/2013/09/08/exploring-void-and-pore-space-in-aggregates-2/ )
So local knowledge balancing the blend of small particles against the larger ones for the locally available stone is likely to avoid future heave, even if you do compact it.

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Science! There is a stone/gravel supplier I’ve driven past a bit further away. Might have to investigate that too. Cheers

Back with some prices. Plastic hex stuff, Dalle Alvépac is12€ sq m. If I add in membrane and gravel, works out about 16€ sq m. This is HT and not including delivery, but before factoring in some discount. I will probably need some sort of hard core underneath as well and hire of plate compactor.