Woven vs Nonwoven Geotextile Fabric | Choosing the Correct Geotextile for Your Project

Geotextiles are a crucial part of hardscape projects to separate, reinforce, and allow for drainage, and filtration. Though not every type of fabric is suitable for every application in a hardscape project and there are several variables that need to be considered when deciding on the fabric to use.

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Woven geotextile fabric is made of polypropylene filaments connected to a network that provide more stabilization strength than the non-woven geotextile. This geotextile is going to provide separation, filtration, and reinforcement strength when installed.

Woven geotextile fabric will be used in heavier dynamic and static load projects such as driveways to add additional reinforcement to the base by spreading the load out over a greater area. Where the subsoil is soft and unstable or water is less likely to permeate through a subgrade, woven geotextile is likely what you will opt for as drainage into the subgrade is not as important. However, this does not mean that drainage is not important for that particular project. Drainage is always important, and since we are not getting the proper drainage that we would need when deciding to opt for a woven geotextile, we need to install a drainage system for that project using perforated or solid pipes and drains to collect that water and exfiltrate it out of the system. Otherwise you are creating a reservoir for that water to stand and cause issues over time.

Non woven geotextile fabric is made of polypropylene fibers that are randomly connected through a network. These fibers are small components of the network creating a felt-like feel to it. This geotextile is going to provide separation, filtration, and drainage when installed.

The main difference between woven geotextile vs non woven geotextile is the drainage and reinforcement property. Non woven geotextile is a water permeable landscape fabric. With drainage being the aspect in which non woven geotextile fabrics excel when compared to woven geotextile, this becomes a primary focus for areas of projects that require that drainage ability. This means projects that experience pedestrian traffic, low dynamic loads, low static loads, hard subgrades, and require the ability to drain freely, then non woven geotextile fabric is the best option.

This is key in projects that require the separation of material from cross-contamination while possessing the ability to allow water to drain through it such as a French drain. In this application, a perforated drainage pipe is surrounded by a clean stone and wrapped all the way around with a non woven geotextile filter fabric. The water from the surface can permeate through the non woven geotextile, through the clean stone, and into the drainage pipe. This ensures the filtration of water through the fabric without displacing any of the material around it. The same can be said in hardscape projects that require the same function.

Another hardscape application that is specific to non woven geotextile would be a concrete overlay. We know that the base of our concrete overlay is a hard material that does not require stabilization or reinforcement. What we require is for any water that enters the system to drain through and filter out of the system. This is why a non woven geotextile is always recommended in this application.

When installing a geotextile, the minimum overlap from one piece to another is 12" with this increasing as the softer the subgrade is. In addition to this, the pieces should be shingled away from a foundation meaning the pieces from the foundation should be placed under the next piece. This allows the water to travel from piece to piece away from the foundation without moving underneath a piece of fabric. As the geotextile is rolled out and cut, the pieces need to be in tension as the base material is being prepared on top of it. This means that all of the wrinkles need to be removed before dumping gravel on top and preparing your base. It is best to limit the amount of cutting of the fabric as possible. It is also important when installing a fabric for your project, that it will wrap up the sides of the project to further provide separation of the subgrade from the sides into the base material.