Gravel Driveways
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New installs and reconditioning, built around drainage instead of just more rock.
Install or recondition
We do both, and which one you need is usually obvious once somebody stands on it.
A new install means starting from ground that has never carried traffic. That is clearing the route if it needs it, establishing the grade, shaping it so water leaves the surface instead of sitting on it, and then placing rock. Getting the base and the shape right is the entire job. Rock on top of a bad base is a temporary fix that you pay for again.
Reconditioning is the more common call. An existing drive has gone soft, rutted, potholed, washed out on the slope, or lost its crown so water runs down it instead of off it. Sometimes that is a regrade and a fresh layer. Sometimes the drainage has to be corrected first or the same thing happens again next spring. Adding rock to a drive with a drainage problem is the most expensive way to not fix a driveway.
Why driveways fail
Almost always water. A gravel drive that has lost its crown holds water on the surface, and water that sits turns the base to mush under traffic. That is where ruts and soft spots come from. On any kind of slope, water running down the driveway instead of off the side of it will move your rock to the bottom of the hill a little at a time until the top is bare.
The other common one is that there was never a proper base to begin with, or the drive was cut without thinking about where runoff from uphill was going to go. A culvert in the wrong place, or missing entirely, does the same thing.
So when we look at a driveway we are looking at grade, crown, where water is coming from, where it is going, what the base is doing, how much traffic it carries and what kind, and where water is getting onto the drive in the first place.
What to expect from the estimate
Driveway pricing depends on length, width, the condition of what is already there, how much rock it takes, how far the material has to come, and whether drainage work is part of it. A short recondition on a drive that just needs reshaping and a light top is a different job from a new cut through wooded ground that needs a culvert.
Because of that spread we price driveways after looking at them rather than publishing a rate that would be wrong for most properties. When we come out we will walk the length of it, tell you what is actually causing the problem, and give you a scope and a number afterward.
If you are planning a build, this is worth doing early. A driveway that can carry a concrete truck and a lumber delivery is a different specification than one that carries a pickup, and it is far cheaper to build it right the first time than to repair it after heavy equipment has been over it all season.
We also handle stump removal, land leveling and grading, pond digging and pond repair, and general dozer work.
FAQ
What does a gravel driveway cost?
It depends too much on length, width, existing condition, rock quantity, hauling distance, and whether drainage work is needed for a rate to be meaningful. We price driveways after looking at them in person.
Can you fix a driveway that keeps washing out?
Usually, but the fix is normally drainage rather than more rock. If water is running down the drive instead of off it, adding gravel without correcting that just gives the water more to move.
Do you build new driveways from scratch?
Yes. Clearing the route, establishing grade and crown, handling drainage, and placing rock. New installs and reconditioning are both normal work for us.
Tell us what you are looking at
Overgrown acreage, a driveway that keeps washing out, or ground that needs to be ready for something else. Send us the details and we will come look at it.
Get an Estimate