I am thinking of adding some hardscape to my garden this year and thinking about all the ways to make roads. Not road beds, but streets. I don’t want gravel roads, though they would be easier to make. I would prefer streets that look like asphalt or concrete.
“Look like” being the operative word. I was at my local Lowe’s last night looking at options but everything seems to have pluses and minuses. Some options are better for straight roads and some are better for curves. Some are permanent, some can be pulled up and changed next year when I add on, or want to redesign. And some are a lot of work!
I’ve seen some amazing streets/roads in pictures in GR and on personal websites, but rarely do people explain how they are made. For all of you who have included this in your layout, can you explain what they are made of and why you choose that option?
For background, my garden is small - maybe 5 feet at the widest point and 18 feet long. It’s not exactly flat but there are no major hills or grades. I live near Chicago so surviving cold, freezing temperatures and snow are neccessary factors.
A very simple and fairly realistic asphalt roadway can be replicated by using asphalt rolled roofing which is, oddly enough, sold in the roofing department of your local home center. The roofing is somewhere around 40-48 inches wide by about 25ft in length. It is as flexible as regular roofing shingles which makes it ideal for laying right on the ground.
I did see that at Lowes and thought it was a good option. How do you keep it flat on the ground? I can see it rolling up or curling on the edges. Does this happen?
This is a great question. I have been thinging about changing my roads. In the past I used something like crusher fines, packed tight, and then sprayed with cement bonding agent. This makes a very hard surface that in some places I can actually walk on it. But in others hard rain causes it to crumble, and it is now falling apart. I am now thinking about using the famous cememt backer board, cut it in strips, paint it, and put it in the ground, so that just the surface is showing. I have 3/8 gravel everywhere else, so I could put the gravel right up to the edge of the roadway. The biggest problem I can see now would be curves. That might be a little difficult.
I use asphalt shingles, regular roofing type, flipped upside down so the grey/black side is showing. I then just lay them down where I want them to be. Very simple and the best part is that they have a 30 year warrantee.
I have tried the roofing felt (tar paper rolls) that Mark talked about. I may have used too thin of a material. I used what is called a 10 pound felt. In little over a year it had crinkled up and lifted, just plain looked ugly. I know the stuff comes in heavier weights, up to 45 pounds I think. I have a friend who used Roofing Tar “Paint” to build the roads on his HO layout. The stuff is designed to be “painted” onto mobile home roofs. It is available in silver and black. He just puts up a “form” of 1/4x1/4 and pours the stuff onto his layout. I was thinking about doing much the same outside, but using a 1/4 inch deep “trench” like the Rail bed. Then again TJ has a good idea with the roofing shingles, which I have put on the ground outside before (not for a GRR highway) and they held up well for over 10 years.
Mark:
What was the weight of the roofing felt you used?
I just go down to plain dirt for my roads. But I have also used the rolled roofing material for my Silverton yard. It was mainly an experiment to see if it helped from dirt splashing from rain. It didn’t help all that much for dirt splashes but looked good enough to keep for the yard and a parking lot.
The ends do curl up so I use long roofing nails to hold the material down. It’s survived 5 years of harsh Colorado mountain weather fairly well, but some sections have begun to deteriorate. I had to replace some sections that started to crumble. But this is mostly due to my blunder of accidentally ripping a large section while sweeping off pine needles [:I]
I looked through my photos and found the following that show off the roofing material best:
Mark was referring to rolled asphalt roofing which is similar to asphalt shingle material but comes in a roll, usually 3 feet wide. I picked up a roll last year to do some of my roads (on the to do list). This is different from roofing felt (tar paper) which is underlayment for shingles. Felt comes in 15# and 30# weights. I have seen 15# felt used for house shingles (cut into strips and tabbed) and old boxcar roofs.
I indeed use rolled roofing. Looks just like shingles only it’s a continuous roll of it. Easy enough to cut with a roofing blade.
As for holding down the corners, I simply used 16 penny nails driven inward at an angle from wherever it rolled up on the corners or edges. It will eventually lay flat once the sun gets to it.
Thanks for all the ideas and experiences. Has anyone actually tried digging a trench and pouring in a mortar or cement mix? I thought something like that might be easy as then I could do curves and not worry about weeds poking through. My concern is that I might not have thought of something and it’ll end up being more work than I am imagining.
To those of you who have used the roll roofing, did you find it hard to level the ground underneath? Is that an important step or did you just level as best you could with your hands before laying the roofing?
I have not used my roll roofing yet but I plan on using a base of sand, stone dust or fine gravel underneath to help level and support it. As Mark said, letting it warm up in the sun will make the job easier.
Mark/Brian:
Thanks for clearing up my confusion, I was thinking roof felt. I’ve always used the felt and 3 tab shingles. At one time I did use a few leftover 3 tab shingles as plant barrier and “decoration” around the gas meter. That was on the north side of the house and it still looked pretty good when DA BOSS (aka wife) decided she wanted something else there after about a dozen years.
If your looking for something easy to change, I’ve seen some very nice roads made out of floor tile. Minimum size should be 12" x 12". Use the kind without a bevil on the edge and place together without any gaps. If you use a good quality grey primer on them they look like concrete roads. Use a tile saw to cut smaller sizes.
I use concrete mortar mix for my roads . I am doing another one tomorrow so i’ll post new pictures as i’m building them . Mine have been outside now for 3 years in Chicago weather and are holding up fine . First I dig a shallow trench where the road is going to go and then I put chicken wire in the trench and tack the wire down with metal “J’s” made out of old clothes hangers . Then pour in the mortar and when it has set up a bit you straiten the edges with a trowel . After its set I go back over the road with ashphalt sealer . Heres a picture of a finished road . I go over the roads in the spring and re-finish them with sealer and fill in any cracks with sealer also. I sometimes get a lot of ground heaving from the winter weather around here .
This first picture is of the wire mesh in the bottom of a shallow trench dug where the road will go . This second picture is of the hooks that I use to hold the wire mesh in the trench . And here is a picture of the mortar mix being worked to form the road .
Thanks again to everyone for continuing to give me ideas.
Bruce,
I like the rolled roofing idea as it would be easy to make curved roads and change directions in the future. How do you keep it flat? Someone mentioned roofing nails pushed through into the ground but I’m picky and wouldn’t want to see them along the edge of the road. In addition, how did you make your sidewalks and curbs that you show in the picture you included?
Mike,
I think we talked once before regarding your roads but I don’t know if I asked why you do driveway sealer and not just concrete stain to make the roads black. Is that just hardware cloth lining the trench or something else? It looks like smaller squares.
I’m torn between these two ideas and am going back and forth almost daily. I appreciate all the help. Hopefully, I’ll be able to make a decision sometime soon!
I use the sealer just to simulate a ashphalt surface . And that is chicken wire cut into strips the width of the road . I also live in a suberb of Chicago and the roads have held up pritty well . Here’s my e-mail address if someday you want to come over and check it out yourself. dors557@aol.com
I’ve never worried about the roads - the material stays flat - no curling at all. I haven’t found the best tape yet to hold the pieces together, though.
The sidewalks and curbs are actually part of my bases for the buildings. I pour using Quikrete Vinyl concrete patcher. I make a form for the base and add some hardware cloth for reinforcement, then pour in the concrete. After about 12-18 hours, I remove it from the form and scribe curb and sidewalk lines into the concrete. I slightly round the edge for the curb at this time.
