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Stabilised Gravel and Wheelchairs

(8 Posts)
Grandma11 Wed 10-Feb-21 21:02:52

Woops! That should be Gravel surface not Travel surface sorry!

Also forgot to say that we have installed a Block Paving area on our Front Garden to enable me to get from the house and have a good amount of space to get my Mobility scooter in and out of the car.

Grandma11 Wed 10-Feb-21 20:56:29

As you are probably aware, any travel surface will require a degree of Maintaining including weed removal and potential top ups caused by some sticking to the Car tyres or the wheelchair wheels and becoming lost for good! The Caravan club have tried using this kind of surface on their Disabled Caravan pitches on some of their newer sites, but find that it spreads out into the Tarmac roads and paths and requires Top-ups to replace the spillages.

Dilemma Wed 10-Feb-21 20:04:35

Thank you, everyone, for your speedy replies. I would only need to push the wheelchair the length of my small car on the new surface - the path from the house door to the front garden will remain as tarmac. Our last house had a lot of loose gravel which required the wheelchair to be dragged backwards - very hard work and what I am looking to avoid!

Grannyben Wed 10-Feb-21 19:14:27

I think I may have the same type of base. Mine comes in 2 ft squares that link together to form whatever size and shape you need. You then fill all the holes in with gravel or small pebbles.

I've been really pleased with mine. It's very sturdy and, I believe, it's suitable for driving cars over.

I do think it would be possible to push a wheelchair over but, if I'm honest, I do to it would be very heavy going and, if it were me, I would look for an alternative.

thisisnotme Wed 10-Feb-21 19:03:45

A friend has this and it is nigh on impossible to push their wheelchair in this stuff. It’s very bumpy for a chair and is extremely uncomfortable to walk on.

I would suggest you consider an alternative.

Charleygirl5 Wed 10-Feb-21 18:57:11

Dilemma the gravel may not move but it is uncomfortable to walk on so I would imagine your DH would feel every piece of gravel when in his chair. It looks good but I personally would go for slabs or something similar. Sometimes better the devil you know although I appreciate they are not aesthetically beautiful. I have mobility problems and I avoid the gravel when I can.

varian Wed 10-Feb-21 18:31:10

Another option is consolidating gravel ( a mixture of gravel and sticky sand) which is permeable and does not move around like the Chesil Beach so can be navigated by wheelchairs.

Dilemma Wed 10-Feb-21 18:24:44

I am creating a parking space in my front garden and one contractor has suggested stabilised gravel - gravel in a plastic honeycomb grid to stop it creeping. My husband is in a wheelchair so I need to know if this surface is OK for a manual transit wheelchair (4 small wheels). I have asked the contractor to tell me where there is some of this surface for a road test, but that is proving difficult during locldown so I wondered if anyone had any experience of this surface, please?