what size gravel for driveway?

[Charlesaf3]

I've been putting 3/4 blue gravel on my drive, on a base of crusher run. Its pretty much packed in to the road base, or washed off the hill, now, so I need more gravel.

I have a choice between 3/4 or 3/8 gravel. Any opinions on the 3/8? Or why one would be better?

Thanks

 

[DanD78]

one thing I have found on this site is how many different kinds of rock people have to work with depending on where they are at in the country. Around here we have two choices. Limestone crushed to many different grades from fines to foot wized chunks then gravel that is round and can have some mud/sand mixed with the larger stuff then they also wash out the fines and make several sizes of clean rock.

For what its worth I like crushed stone with fines to bind everything together. With out fines your road will always want to squish around and never be solid. The bad thing is on a steep drive with enough rain the fines will wash out and leave the larger stuff. From what I have seen recently recycled concrete ground to 2" down to fines seems to hold pretty good.

Thanks
Dan D.

 

[MacLawn]

Probably in Virginia, it's like Georgia - crusher run. I guess it's called fines in other places, and different kind of rock. Anyway, you do need the fines (almost sand like) and various sized stone, or it will be like driving on marbles - don't ask me how I know

I used all #57 stone on my drive, then had to come back with crusher run; that worked great. Our Georgia granite makes great driveway material, and you might have the same in Virginia.

 

[Soundguy]

i'd also reccomend 57 stone..

soundguy

 

[Dmace]

I use 3/4" crushed gravel from my local aggregates which has a good mix of fines and larger rocks so it holds good on slopes when packed which is 90% of the roads and driveways up here in NH.

 

[NSBound]

Up here in snow country we use largely limestone, and I prefer 1/2" minus. The biggest size is 1/2" and there's lots of smaller fines and other sizes in there for packing. I used to order 3/4" minus but I find the 1/2" minus packs much better.

 

[k0ua]

Probably in Virginia, it's like Georgia - crusher run. I guess it's called fines in other places, and different kind of rock. Anyway, you do need the fines (almost sand like) and various sized stone, or it will be like driving on marbles - don't ask me how I know

I used all #57 stone on my drive, then had to come back with crusher run; that worked great. Our Georgia granite makes great driveway material, and you might have the same in Virginia.

What is #57?

I am amazed by all the names for stone around the country.. here we have 0 to 3/4 and 0 to 6 this describes the range of sizes of the rock. from 0 inches to 3/4 of an inch is ideal for driveway making. and 0 to 6 is ideal for building with like leveling land that is on a slope. For instance to build my pad for my portable building, which like every thing else is on an extreme slope here. I used 0 to 6 to put on the downhill side, and then topped that with a layer of 0 to 3/4 to make a smooth level surface. If you want straight gravel like 2 inch then 2 inch average stones are what you will get. There is also creek gravel which is scooped up brown gravel of many sizes from a nearby creek. Then there is Ag sand which is the fines only. The Ag stands for aggregate . This is manufactured sand by crushing limestone. River sand is just that, scooped up from a creek or river, and passed thru a screen to a single size. School me on the other names and kids of rock!

James K0UA

 

[Jerry/MT]

I've been putting 3/4 blue gravel on my drive, on a base of crusher run. Its pretty much packed in to the road base, or washed off the hill, now, so I need more gravel.

I have a choice between 3/4 or 3/8 gravel. Any opinions on the 3/8? Or why one would be better?

Thanks

Since you have a good base, I would recommend 3/4 minus. That's everything that goes through 3/4 inch screen. You need the fines to lock down the rock.

 

[Soundguy]

FDOT #57 Stone

this probably will 'spalin it.. fo ya..

soundguy

 

[k0ua]

FDOT #57 Stone

this probably will 'spalin it.. fo ya..

soundguy

Ok cool, I dont know what they call that here, as I have never bought any of that. I noticed the previous post called 0 to 3/4 "3/4 minus" which is another pretty much self explainatory name for it. Good stuff use it a lot.

James K0UA

 

[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.