Plastic sheeting under gravel patio/path - bad idea?

[CptKernow]

We moved into our current house a couple of years ago. The area directly in front of the house was gravel, with blue plastic sheeting underneath.
Looked OK when we moved in - doesn't now. Lots of patches of blue plastic which aren't very appealing.

So, first question would be how to sort this out. I've seen you can get plastic gravel stablising grids, which look like they would do the job of holding the gravel in place a lot better.
If I go this route what do I do to stop weeds popping up everywhere?

Second question is how bad for the house is having plastic sheeting running right up to the walls? Given that it won't have been fitted "professionally", i.e. it could be sloping down towards the walls.
This suddenly occurred to me today and seems a possible contributor to a few damp problems we've had....

Any comments / suggestions greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Chris

 

[Notch7]

Sounds like some numpty used DPM, its no good as non porous.

You need a weed control fabric, im not sure if its best to use geotextile like terram or the black woven stuff.....