New Gravel Driveway

[Victory Pete]

My driveway has been a mess for years. It was basically made out of the excavated material from digging my foundation. The excavator pulled a fast one on me, it turned out it was silt and clay, it looked nice after he put it down but that first spring was a disaster. Well I have been pulling it off for years with a york rake and boxblade. I have finally just laid down 90 yards of processed gravel. I was wondering what can I top dress this with to give it a smoother surface?

 

[Kyle241]

What size is the gravel you put down? We top driveways up my way with 5/8's less which when driven over packs down real nice.

 

[tkappeler]

Looks great. I am in a similar situation (crushed concrete for now) and will want to hear others suggestions also.

 

[Victory Pete]

The gravel is called "-3/4", I have about 6"-12" of it in some areas.

 

[Victory Pete]

Looks great. I am in a similar situation (crushed concrete for now) and will want to hear others suggestions also.

Do you have any pictures of the crushed concrete?

 

[tkappeler]

Do you have any pictures of the crushed concrete?

Here are some pics of the concrete but do not want to hijack the thread. The paper clip in the third picture is 1.5" for size comparison.

 

[dave1949]

A thin topping of very fine material called "crusher dust" around here would make it very smooth. It's a bit pricey but goes a long way spread out.

I would drive on it and let it pack and settle, then regrade before doing anything else.

 

[BethelHntr]

We use a 5/8 minus as a topper up here which is a gravel no bigger than 5/8 mixed with fines (smaller rock and sand) Those fines help with compaction. It makes a real nice road.

 

[trihounds]

"Stone dust" is used here as a topper as well. Pieces are fine - 1/8" or less, generally. Packs nicely though needs regrading every so often. It might be a good idea for you to use your driveway and pack it down then add the stone dust next summer.

 

[dave1949]

We use a 5/8 minus as a topper up here which is a gravel no bigger than 5/8 mixed with fines (smaller rock and sand) Those fines help with compaction. It makes a real nice road.

I use 1" minus for topping, it settles in and packs tight. Anything that stays loose on top in snow country, half of it will be off in the grass by spring time. There are prettier toppings, but just not very practical where snow plowing is involved.