what size gravel for driveway?

[Soundguy]

you will probably find alot of regional differences.

ie.. crusher run .. etc..

soundguy

 

[crazyal]

Unless the road is flat I always opt for something that's been through a crusher. The sharp edges of the stone will keep them from moving. I would also get as large as you feel comfortable driving on. The larger rock is less likely to let the fines wash away.

 

[MacLawn]

Unless the road is flat I always opt for something that's been through a crusher. The sharp edges of the stone will keep them from moving. I would also get as large as you feel comfortable driving on. The larger rock is less likely to let the fines wash away.

That's it, crazy, you need both. Y'all must have granite gravel up there too. I think the important thing is all one size won't work too good, like I said, kind of like driving on marbles - tires will just spin and dig in on a slope if all the same size; you need the small stuff to settle in and give it a base.

 

[dave1949]

I top dress with 1" minus but the only thing I really like about it is it freezes up into a hard smooth surface for snow clearing. Without fines, it stays loose and that means stones in the grass come Spring. Probably not an issue in Richmond, VA.

 

[gengine]

The good stuff is dirty 3/4 minus. That is what is actually used as road base. 3/4 minus Crusher fines will work, but its almost too "sandy" and won't pack well or hold together well. At work we strip the top soil, then the top three feet or so is rock and dirt. We screen off the 2" plus, then take the 2" minus and run it through the crusher making 3/4 minus road base. We also test it so that it is within state specs. Sometimes we have to add a little clay, sometimes we have to add a little rock to get it up to spec. The clay actually helps to repel some water while holding on to the larger stones, and the larger stones help hold everything else in place. 3/4 road base is a little more pricey, but it lasts longer.

 

[Carykong]

I live in Va and crush and run is my choice except when the grade is severe. Ya gotta to go bigger on the grades to minimize the erosion and movement of the rock during heavy rain storms.

 

[Charlesaf3]

so the base is 3/4 minus, basically. Granite. (this is up in Mass). All the fines and everything have packed in nicely, the roadbed is there. Basically just want to put a "dress" layer on it - I've been putting strips of jumbo granite cobblestones set in stone dust, with a drain pitch on it, across the driveway to stop washout.

Is 3/4 more likely to stay in place? seems like 3/8 might look better, but not sure.

 

[Combustix]

Been using 1 1/4" minus which seems to hold good. Use to use 3/4 minus but with all the sunny weather in the Pac NW I would need to rerock half of a 600' driveway. In the spring I run a grader over it and all the rock seems to reappear, then in late fall one more grading. Haven't needed rock for awhile.

 

[mjncad]

If I had to do my driveway over again, I'd use a tri-mix of 1/3 road base, 1/3 0.75", and 1/3 1.5" all of which being recycled concrete. One of this summer's projects is to mix in some road base to fill in some of the marbles like soft spots.

https://picasaweb.google.com/jtpyo.mjn/Driveway#

 

[om21braz]

Something a little different here. My driveway base is ceramic tile scrap - approx.3/8"-1" pieces of tile. Then crusher run (dust-to-1") followed by #57 rock. My driveway is about 250' long and on a gradual slope. Once it gets compacted, hard rains create a runoff that comes like a river right down my drive. Keeping a somewhat loose surface prevents that. That means another load of #57 about every 3-4 years.