Simplest way to do a flush wooden path

It was the "going to have to live with" part I couldn't understand.. If the end result is no good, just chalk it up to experience and change it. I can't see anything being discussed here that is irreversible?
 
I prefer to assess a job before starting on a path that may lead to making more work for myself - why would you not do that?
 
Odds said:
before starting on a path
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Love it :D

Sometimes I guess you just have to see it to know, even if you've drawn it it sketchup first. OP seems to have committed to this being something of an experiment, so it doesn't have to be right first time and if nothing else it'll be a good learning experience and workout ..
 
Would it not be better to ask questions in the thread, gather information for ways to do the job right first time, than go back and forth?
If you're following DIYnutjob's notion to 'invent' a way to jack up a car on the disc brake you don't have to try it to see the flaw in the design. You can spend several years, spend a grand or two in finding out ways to not do a job or find out a good solution to a specific problem and implement it without faffing around. Take your pick.
 
How about just putting down a gravel path? You can get smaller bags if access is not good and it will last for years!
 
Odds said:
Would it not be better to ask questions in the thread, gather information for ways to do the job right first time, than go back and forth?
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If you're putting roof trusses up or deciding the best foundation to use, etc then sure..

If you're looking to chuck a minimum viable product, temporary garden path in to see how it looks/behaves then hammering out every detail to the navel fluff degree? Probs not..
Odds said:
If you're following DIYnutjob's notion
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I've never been more insulted in all my life!

Odds said:
Take your pick.
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Mmm.. not sure. A major reason we have good solutions is because people have tried and tried and tested a variety along the way, but they doesn't mean that everything has been invented. The OP has given a list of reasons why various proposals herein aren't workable at present, and none of it precludes casting around for a contextually better alternative. Good judgement comes from experience, experience comes from bad judgement
 
David_DIY_idiot said:
I've drawn up plans for a 700mm wide decking path using timber joists, decking blocks etc etc, but I feel like I'm massively over complicating it. I also want it to be flush with the grass level, so I'll need to excavate a whole lot of soil.
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What sort of soil do you have? If it's a heavy clay, you may not have to excavate much, or even any. I've got such soil, and I can just lay paving slabs straight on to grass (as long as the surface is level), and within a year or two they've sunk in a bit, and stopped sinking, and are pretty much level with the grass.

Obv slab-thickness dependent, but you might find all you need to do is to strip away the turf, bung in some landscaping fabric and then some sand for leveling.
 
morqthana said:
What sort of soil do you have? If it's a heavy clay, you may not have to excavate much, or even any. I've got such soil, and I can just lay paving slabs straight on to grass (as long as the surface is level), and within a year or two they've sunk in a bit, and stopped sinking, and are pretty much level with the grass.

Obv slab-thickness dependent, but you might find all you need to do is to strip away the turf, bung in some landscaping fabric and then some sand for leveling.
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I'm liking the sound of this. After a bit of excavating, the ground is rock solid and extremely clay heavy (I could set up a pottery business). It's also filled with large stones and random slabs (no idea why - it's very odd).

A layer of sand would probably give a decent base for some slabs, and I could easily revisit it later if it's not holding up over time.
 
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Koolpc said:
How about just putting down a gravel path? You can get smaller bags if access is not good and it will last for years!
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This is a good option. I've wound up with probably half a tonne of gravel in the process of just tidying up the edges, so that's a good start. The reason i wanted to avoid this was because I need to drag bins over part of it, but I might be able to mix slabs and gravel.
 
David_DIY_idiot said:
A layer of sand would probably give a decent base for some slabs, and I could easily revisit it later if it's not holding up over time.
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And lift any which have dipped and add more sand.

David_DIY_idiot said:
The reason i wanted to avoid this was because I need to drag bins over part of it, but I might be able to mix slabs and gravel.
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Smallish gravel, and those honeycomb grids.

Let me know how the mix works out - it's something I was thinking of, but probably won't be doing this side of spring.

www.diynot.com

"Cheat" gravel/stepping stone path - worth a try, or bound-to-fail-madness?

I would like to lay a straight path in my garden without doing a load of work. Basically without doing the lot of digging out and sub-base thing. I have very solid clay soil - I used to have a path where concrete slabs had just been plonked on the grass, and eventually sank in by about 20mm...
www.diynot.com www.diynot.com
 
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