# Forum Home Renovation Landscaping, Gardening & Outdoors  How much will lilydale toppings compress using a motorised compactor

## Ramoun

I'm about to lay a lilydale toppings pathway. I'm thinking 50mm deep should be ok, with a bag of concrete mixed in.  How far will it compact using a whacker. 
Should I lay 70mm so when its compacted it will be 50mm. Or lay 50mm compact then put another layer on top and compact. 
Is It better to mix the concrete in with the aggregate or springle the concrete over the completed job and wet.

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## sundancewfs

Wow, that an interesting question!
It is dependant on a lot of things...
My suggestion would be to go as thick as you can and then compact.
50mm will probably disappear into the soil. Make sure you compact the base before you put down the toppings or otherwise it will just swidge in and be gone.
Having said that compact the sub-base when it has had a chance to dry off a bit as if you hit any wet spots compacting soil, the water in it percolates to the surface when you go over it with a plate compactor and bogs it down.
I have used crushed rock to form a driveway base on a bit of ground that was once lawn and so far we have thrown about 50m3 at it and hit it with a 5 ton pad-foot roller, a 1.25 ton vibrating roller and a plate compactor. and it is still sinking in.....
On part of it were it was steep I shook a bag of cement over the top and then raked it back and forth to mix it in then compacted it.
hope this helps, if you haven't already done the job, if you have let us know which way you went and how it worked out.

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## Ramoun

Going to do the job this wed. as the weather looks good and we have had a bit of wind to dry the surface. 
I had considered that the ground may absorb some of the topping, but not to the degree you mentioned.  I'll keep my eye on this.  I'll certainly be making sure I lift the old surface and lay the toppings on the same day.  Whacking the the suface is a great idea had not thought of that. I'm layingthe out line tomorrow and will do a test area on the day.  Then lay a wood spacer on all the edging for the screeding and hopefully this will get the level right. 
At the moment I've opted to for go crushed rock base and just use lilydale toppings for the whole thing.  To save having 2 different loads.  The job is a pathway, BBQ area and the median strip in the middle of the drive.

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## Terrian

mark out the area that you want the toppings to go on, clear out grass, weeds, loose dirt etc.
 put down a base of 20mm crushed rock, spread, compact
put down the toppings, spread, compact 
Lightly spray the surface with water before compacting, helps keep the dust down,helps the toppings compact. 
Crushed rock, about $50 m3
Toppings, about $85m3

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