How to Install Cobblestone Driveway Edging | Ask This Old House

In this video, This Old House mason Mark McCullough helps a homeowner keep her driveway from washing away by replacing an old, ineffective brick edging with big, bulky cobblestone.

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Mason Mark McCullough helps a homeowner solve a draining issue—literally. Every time there is heavy rain, the homeowner’s driveway washes away. Mark shows her how to replace the existing brick border with cobblestone driveway edging to act as a retaining wall to add function and style.

Difficulty: ⅖
Time: One weekend
Cost: Around $25 per linear foot

Where to find it?
Mark works alongside a homeowner to raise the sinking driveway edging. Ideally the red brick edging acts as a barrier and helps to maintain the gravel driveway, but overtime grass or moss can grow over the edging, allowing water and gravity to pull the loose gravel over the edging.

Mark starts with demoing the brick and prepping the trench using the following steps:
1. Starting at the top of the driveway, demo brick using a shovel. (Mark suggests starting
from the top to allow gravity to help make the demo easier as you move down)
2. Dig out the trench 2-3 inches wider than the edging material (cobblestone 9”x5”)
3. Hand tamper the trench to level the dirt
4. Add 3-4 inches of gravel (depending on grade)
5. Mix concrete using a concrete pre-mix
6. Pour enough concrete to lay 5-6 stones and smooth out with a trowel (work in sections to incorporate the rebar)
7. Lay the rebar horizontally in the trench to reinforce the cobblestone.
8. As you lay 5-6 cobblestone down, pickup the rebar and secure it with tie wire
9. Add back the dirt to fill in the sides of the trench

Mark Tip: Leave the space between cobblestones unfilled. By doing so, water can pass through the spaces without disturbing the material. If the spaces are filled with concrete, the moisture will work its way in and expand over time until it cracks.

Cobblestones supplied by Cavicchio Greenhouses, Inc. [https://www.cavicchio.com/]

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Materials:
Gravel [https://thd.co/3e9K4eP]
Concrete mix [https://amzn.to/3EjwVdP]
Rebar [https://thd.co/3CDx6zd]
Tie wire [https://amzn.to/3T2P9V2]
Wire twister [https://amzn.to/3VaULhV]
Cobblestones [https://thd.co/3e6Kz9z]

Tools:
Mason’s hammer or small pickaxe [https://amzn.to/3CDpltf]
Spade shovel [https://amzn.to/3CD1FFb]
Tamp [https://amzn.to/3rU1teR]
Wheelbarrow [https://amzn.to/3CgJPXl]
Small sledgehammer or heavy mallet [https://amzn.to/3ryF46q]
Masonry trowels [https://amzn.to/3SHfatd]

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How to Install Cobblestone Driveway Edging | Ask This Old House
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