Installing New Driveway on Very Low Property

[@ToddSwartwood]

You did a nice job, You need to have a drainage ditch along both sides of that driveway And build up the area in the back to push the water towards the ditch. what you called muck His organic material mostly topsoil that will dry out. I would use that on the backside of that house pad To build that area up and push the water out. remember you have to have ditches to allow the water to drain As long as they are lower than the driveway It will keep your driveway dry. I have about 45 years into building trades the things that I have told you about here are ones that someone along the way shared with me. I hope that this helps you out and would always be happy to answer questions that you might have to try to help you in the future, Todd

[@WeekendWoodworks]

Thank you very much for this advice! The property owner does want to continue doing work in the future but I think the budget started getting tight. When they are ready to start again, I will certainly do those things in which you have recommended! Thank you for watching also!!

[@PaulButkiewicz]

I agree with using this on the backside of the building pad, but would also suggest mixing it with some sand. Considering how wet this property is, eventually this organic material will reabsorb the water. Adding sand will allow for better drainage. And this mix will make for a great lawn or vegetable garden

[@slingernolenation7518]

Tough job, but I really appreciate your dedication to helping the customer.

[@WeekendWoodworks]

Thank you!!

[@TheDumpTrailerGuyLLC]

Ouch! What a mess. This is the project you get in and loose sleep trying to figure out how to make it work. I like the idea to cut a little hole for the water to run into. Sure feels like you are building an enxpensive road through a swamp but sometimes you have to do what the budget allows for. How it holds up well! glad to see you put down fabric.

[@WeekendWoodworks]

Yes! I certainly did rack my brain trying to figure out the best option with limited budget! 🤯

[@aaronburford5701]

Rewatched again! Cant get enough of driveway work with the skid steer! Instant satisfaction to watch!

[@WeekendWoodworks]

Your awesome man! Gonna try to make some more like it!!

[@NoName-gb9gp]

Also you could have dug a borrow pit for material to raise the road and fill it in with the mud.

[@fivestring4653]

X's 2

[@fivestring4653]

Great job man and hats off to taking on that project . I like those kinds of challenges myself. As a soil tech told me once, " there os no such thing as BAD DIRT " . It's either too wet or too dry . You just don't want organics in your driveway or house/building pad . You did good man 👍

[@WeekendWoodworks]

Thank you for that encouragement!!

[@terrylutke]

Kind of an ideal lot for a mobile since they're always set 4-5 steps above grade/slab. Looks like it'll work out great.

[@WeekendWoodworks]

Thank you!!

[@waltergurly4040]

I do some of the same work. I saw some comments on 2 ditches and mixing the mud with the sand. In some places i have done the ground stays wet year round unless the ditch is deep but i noticed the ditch on the road that you couldn't go much deeper so that is out. And mixing mud with sand in a extremely wet soil usually don't work very well. A little too much mud and your sand is now a mud hole been there done that.

[@WeekendWoodworks]

Yes! It's a nightmare!! I feel like the best solution is to haul in many loads of good dirt and keep raising the property. Then some ditches would be beneficial! 🤷

[@waltergurly4040]

@@WeekendWoodworks that's what I would do I tell the people I do work for I won't use that mud unless they make me and I won't be responsible when it turns out like crap.

[@WeekendWoodworks]

Very good point!!

[@waltergurly4040]

@@WeekendWoodworks I think it turned out good.

[@WeekendWoodworks]

Thank you for that! We did what we could!

[@patrickmccallum5955]

The stuff that you call muck is decomposed organic material you add sand to it and you will have really nice topsoil that drains

[@WeekendWoodworks]

Will definitely be doing that to reuse it!

[@aaronburford5701]

Love driveway maintenance repair, skid steer usage, great content snd commentary. Love rhe process!

[@WeekendWoodworks]

Thank you Aaron, I'll do better with recording next time! Haha! Thanks for watching!

[@aaronburford5701]

@@WeekendWoodworks it was fine to me.....I focus on the content, information, and camera view! Spot on!

[@WeekendWoodworks]

Thank you for that!

[@aaronburford5701]

@@WeekendWoodworks forgot to share, Liked and Subscribed... Love this type of content!

[@WeekendWoodworks]

That's awesome! Thanks for helping my small channel! 😁

[@douglasb8558]

I would check into placing a layer of roadbed fabric and several inches of crushed rock on top to build up the road . Ultimately drainage must be established to get the water away from the living area. The road needs a crown with ditches to be able to dry out.

[@WeekendWoodworks]

We put the fabric and then the rock on top. Should we do another layer of that?

[@DigginLife21]

@@WeekendWoodworksI wouldn’t do another layer of fabric. It looks to me like you did the best with what Mother Nature has given you. Ignore the naysayers. Every driveway video I’ve done has the “it’ll only last till the first rain” comment. My advice…if it does fail…put it on camera and then make a video about how you make it better. Viewers love “real content.”

[@WeekendWoodworks]

Thank you very much for the advice and encouragement! It's nice to have a legend as a subscriber! I love your content. That little gopher is awesome!!

[@DigginLife21]

@@WeekendWoodworks I’m hardly a legend, I’m actually a bit surprised you knew me. Lol

[@WeekendWoodworks]

Haha!

[@j.t.9647]

These jobs are challenging. This seems like it would be the perfect place for geotech fabric. I think it would tame this beast quick and for little $. It would be a plus to all your work. U.S. Fabric site had all the answers for me for free. I have land in the wetlands of Pamlico County, NC

[@WeekendWoodworks]

Awesome! I'll check them out! Thank you!

[@Gary-fw2kw]

You have got a lot to learn I didn’t know a skid steer could go that slow

[@WeekendWoodworks]

Haha that is an employee. That was literally his first day on that machine. He knows how to run them, he was just going slow so he didn't mess anything up.

[@LandandLumber]

Great work!

[@WeekendWoodworks]

I appreciate that!!

[@justinmize4316]

Remove some trees will allow that ground to dry up. Sunlight needs to be able to hit the ground. Property owner could look at letting construction companies use property as a dirt and rock dump to build up the area also.

[@WeekendWoodworks]

Good idea! They might should consider that!

[@TheCybrKnyf]

I would suggest running the much thru a furnace - heating and drying it artificially.

[@diggerupdude2484]

Man you need to put in a rock base. Use rip rap rock or shale. Then add fabric and spread road grade gravel over that and you won’t have any problem after that. But looks good but looks is not everything. Keep up the good work

[@WeekendWoodworks]

I had to do it the cheapest way possible for the land owner unfortunately 😕

[@garytooley9566]

Kool thx My wife recognized it from her early 20’s

[@charleswelch249]

Spread it out in the lower spots and it's going to push the water out and slowly drain off to become more solid through time.

[@WeekendWoodworks]

Thank you! I will certainly do that once the property owner is ready to go again!

[@UpTheHarbour]

You can't work with what isn't there, you did what you could. Bringing in material is that property's only hope, they best get used to seeing dump trucks lol.

[@WeekendWoodworks]

Haha I know right!!

[@diggin4alivin874]

not a losing battle but a challenge on a budget

[@WeekendWoodworks]

Very true!

[@Walshslandscaping]

Great video

[@WeekendWoodworks]

Thank you!!

[@ThriftyGarage]

I don't know where you are located. Looks like Florida. Obviously a different terrain than I'm used to. Help me understand the idea behind using sand as a fill or base material. I'm sure there is a reason behind it and obviously the sand is better than the muck you pulled out. But I've always heard "foolish man built his house on sand..." Overall looks like a solid driveway, especially after using fabric.

[@WeekendWoodworks]

Honestly, I have always thought that same exact thing. But here in South Carolina, using sand is a very common practice, it's weird. But to my surprise, with some moisture added, it's packs very well!

[@NoName-gb9gp]

Check your grades and build a pond with overflow into drainage ditch to help leach the ground water out the soil. That would have given you the material to raise the road.

[@WeekendWoodworks]

When I first started this job before I ever started recording, I dug a huge L shaped ditch around a section of where the house was going to go and yes water leeched into that ditch daily. I was pumping out about 3000 gallons per day. But I tried using that soil from the ditch to raise grade but it was so wet and sloppy, it wouldn't work??? It was crazy, it was like I build a huge water bed. I'm sure with time, it would have dried, but time was the issue for the owner, they needed to get on the property asap.

[@NoName-gb9gp]

@@WeekendWoodworks yes it's important to make the road from good quality gravel and compact it down. But turned out good afterwards. Can tell customer to do a pond to get some more work when they got more cash 😎

[@WeekendWoodworks]

They are open to any ideas to help raise the property. A pond may really help them!

[@NoName-gb9gp]

@@WeekendWoodworks yes and to leach water from the soil and add value to the property. I think if you get a laser and check the level of the ditch and set the pond over flow pipe to few inches above will give an idea of water level of the pond and where you can put it. Will dry up that whole area and be a self filling pond. 👍

[@WeekendWoodworks]

Awesome! Thank you for the advice!

[@johnpollard9235]

You could mix lime in that muck to help dry it out

[@WeekendWoodworks]

I actually did look for some when I first started but no such luck in my area!

[@beastofhumble]

Palmettos everywhere. Anyone looking at getting some land should always be very observant when looking at properties for a homesite, for signs of water. It was clear there.

[@WeekendWoodworks]

True!

[@theimprovementsguy8871]

Nice. Should last a few weeks

[@mattbridges2981]

Well it’s been over a couple of weeks and the trailer is in place. Road still looks brand new.

[@shawnpay2826]

Use a borrow pit go somewhere else on the property scrape off top soil down to clay dig out as much clay as you need with your hoe to make drive pad higher then backfill the borrow pit with the top soil/muck just talk to property owner to pick a spot they do not plan to build on etc

[@WeekendWoodworks]

Will that backfilled area ever dry out and be solid ground? Or would it need to be addressed again in the future?

[@johnpollard9235]

It would have to be addressed in the future unless you mixed lime with it as you put it in the pit

[@jacobbuckley8232]

Once it dries itll be good top soil

[@WeekendWoodworks]

They will be happy to hear that, they got plenty of it! 🤣

[@johnevans6053]

What kind of septic system will they be installing. It seems obvious that they will not pass a Perc test.

[@WeekendWoodworks]

You are right. They already have all of the county hookups ready at the ditch.

[@ernestlmorellsr]

This property is not going to change into a dry crop of land, it's a lowland area and the worse thing you can do is place a mobile home on it, my parents and other people bought property in a low line area, my Dad delivered tons of dirt to our property, that was in 68 and to this day when it rain? You guessed it.

[@WeekendWoodworks]

Wow! That's crazy!

[@timberwolflumber5296]

Always going to have problems unless you bring in a lot of dirt and stone

[@WeekendWoodworks]

Very true!

[@patrickmccallum5955]

If you dig down do you reach sand cause I am thinking a French Drain

[@WeekendWoodworks]

It was more like clay

[@jacobbuckley8232]

Looks like Florida.

[@michaelkoon8371]

Leave it alone till the ground drys up

[@garytooley9566]

Hello from sunny California Great job, Where are you from, We could use you here. Thank you

[@WeekendWoodworks]

I'm on the other side of the country haha! In South Carolina.

[@bearupfarm1818]

Why would anyone put a home were it will flood over and over. Will the insurance companies cover it.

[@WeekendWoodworks]

I have no idea

[@AtlantaSoundGuy]

Curious -- Are you doing GeoTex on the whole drive, or just along the ditchline ?

[@WeekendWoodworks]

We did the entire driveway from side to side. Sorry I didn't get any recording of it.

[@AtlantaSoundGuy]

@@WeekendWoodworks - Awesome ! -- That should be a forever fix then. Great job !

[@WeekendWoodworks]

I hope so man!! Those people are catching the devil that property!

[@DigginLife21]

🔥🔥🔥 HEY BROTHER YOU GOT AN EMAIL YOU CAN BE REACHED AT?

[@WeekendWoodworks]

Yes sir. [e-mail]

[@chrisfinney1905]

Why don't you wait till it dries out a little.. this is winter.. it's always wet.

[@WeekendWoodworks]

The owners have been paying payments on the mobile home for months now and are needing to get it moved on asap.

[@greenbuble3348]

Bro is not Andrew Camarata

[@DigginLife21]

Man I know you’re right…This fella looks like he actually takes care if his equipment

[@justindrewery3531]

You have to haul so dirt ole son

[@WeekendWoodworks]

Definitely!!

[@nealsmith7885]

Unless it’s your house and you don’t have any money then they’ve got to come up with the money to put a base in there. You just scraping mud around because they don’t have any money makes no sense. It’s very hard on equipment and it’s not really accomplishing a whole lot I guess, just my opinion.. And on top of that, it sets the standards that most people will work for nothing

[@WeekendWoodworks]

We did what we could for them. They wanted at least the driveway and house pad. I guess they are going to worry about the rest later.

[@ocean1233]

DRAINAGE.....water has no place to go. Bad for owners

[@WeekendWoodworks]

Yes, for sure! 🤦

[@stanleytownsend1886]

do better

[@WeekendWoodworks]

Come help!

[@josephw.8882]

too much talking do not recommend.

[@maxdystopia674]

why not just carve out a deep small pond? install drain canals shallow towards the pond from all areas

[@WeekendWoodworks]

I did mention that to the homeowners in the beginning, unfortunately they needed a fast, relatively inexpensive solution.

[@maxdystopia674]

also, that “muck” is actually soil, if left to dry itll be good to use as soil