Gravel based driveways are low maintenance and can add value to your home. The driveway is suited to a wide range of home styles, and it's also a "weekend warrior" project that can be completed by a dedicated homeowner. These are the basic steps.
The first thing a guest sees when they arrive at your Southbury home is the driveway. It can add a casual, but interesting and attractive appeal.
In the many rural areas of Southbury, Western Connecticut, and Litchfield County, gravel and processed trap rock stone is a very popular and cost-effective choice for crushed stone and gravel driveways.
Not only because it looks good, but its cost is also relatively affordable compared to other materials such as HMA asphalt or recycled asphalt millings.
Even a novice pea gravel enthusiast, who is not very experienced, can successfully install a driveway of gravel without the need for design advice or professional labor services from a driveway or paving contractor!
Project Summary
Mark the route of your driveway with a flourscent paint outline or grade stakes.
Remove all grass, vegetation and topsoil.
Calculate the cubic yardage of gravel required for each of the three layers.
Prepare the site and schedule your gravel delivery from O&G in Woodbury or TILCON in New Britain.
Finish grade the terrain along the driveway froming grass or stone swales for proper drainage, snow melt, and water runoff.
Grade out with a mini excavator or small bulldozer and compact the gravel sub base layer with a 2 ton roller.
Add your smaller diameter trap rock middle sub-surface layer to your new Southbury driveway constructed from bank-run gravel.
Surface layer gravel: Spread it out and give it a shape leaving a slight crown (convex shape) in the center of the driveway and parking area for proper drainage and runoff.
A good gravel driveway is usually made up of three or four layers, even though it is possible to introduce some shortcuts.
This type of layering method uses a bottom layer of crushed rip-rap measuring approximately six inches in diameter, and a middle layer made up of smaller crushed trap rock, usually two or three inches in size.
The top driveway surface is the only layer that most people would consider to be gravel. Avoid using smooth, round type river gravel and opt for angular, rough processed stone or trap rock types with sharp edges.
They will provide a more stable, firmer gravel driveway because of the interference between each and every individual stone.
How to Install a Gravel Driveway Like the Pros!
1: Mark the route of your driveway with grade stakes or outline in marking paint.
Use landscape stakes and string or twine to define the route you want the driveway to follow from the street curb to the end near your garage.
2: Remove all weeds, vegetation and loam!
The next step is a time-consuming one: to prepare for gravel, remove all grass and topsoil in the area marked off. Consider hiring a bulldozer and someone to operate it if you don't want to do the work manually.
3: Calculate All the Materials You Will Need
After clearing a pathway for your processed stone driveway near Southbury, you will need to determine the amount of stone you need. You'll first need to calculate the cubic yardage of each layer.
Multiply the width and length (both in feet) to get the square footage of your driveway. If the driveway's width and length are 14 feet each, then the total square footage will be approximately 196 square feet.
You can multiply this number by the thickness you want each layer for the cubic footage of gravel or trap rock process that is required. Each layer should be four (4) to six (6) inches thick at a minimum.
So if your first layer of gravel or rip-rap trap rock is 6 inches thick you would multiple 196 sq. ft. times .50 divided by 27 to come up with your yardage needed for this particular base layer.
As an added benefit, you may want to install any high quality geotextile type driveway fabric over the sub-soil prior to installing the rip-rap stone base for your new permeable type gravel driveway! This is especially important in the case of clay or hardpan.
In our 196-square foot example, 98 cubic feet is approximately 3.63 cubic yards (98 divided 27) per layer. For every cubic yard of stone, you'll require 5.082 tons plus an additional 4 percent for 96% compaction rate with a vibratory roller.
The total amount of stone (in tons) is equal to 5.082 x 1.4 x 1.04 = 7.42 tons of gravel.
4: Prepare the site and schedule gravel delivery.
When scheduling delivery to your property in Southbury for the gravel stone or processed stone, think strategically. Also, keep in mind that certain gravel trucks can not only drop off stones but spread them as well. You should schedule different deliveries for the driveway's three layers.
It is also recommended to stagger deliveries so that you can install each layer of gravel or processes stone individually. You can spread the gravel by hand if you have the proper tools. A heavy wheelbarrow with a sturdy trough and a 3 foot wide metal-tipped grading rake are all necessary.
Step 5: Even out the surface along the drive way.
It's essential to level out dirt along the drive before the gravel truck arrives. You can do this yourself or hire a professional to use a backhoe, depending on how large your driveway is. Do you plan to install a weed-blocking or clay infiltration barrier? VP Asphalt Paving uses this as standard practice on all gravel drives!
After you have finished leveling the soil, make sure the geotextile fabric does not bunch and lays out smooth prior to adding your initial gravel or rip-rap base layer.
6: Spread the gravel base and compact it.
It is important to lay the bottom layer first. After you have laid out the six-inch stones in an interlocking pattern, you can use a roller on a bulldozer.
If you can't do that and you aren't worried about damaging your tires, you could drive your car over the layer of gravel repeatedly to pack it down.
It is important to compact the gravel into the ground or sub base soil, creating a strong foundation. This is paramaount with driveways for new homes or new commercial construction!
7: Add the middle layer of driveway gravel.
The middle layer is made up of stones between two and three inches in size. If you're lucky, a gravel truck will spread the middle layer of stones for you. But even if that isn't possible, your driveway edges need some fine hand raking and leveling.
Use a rake, shovel, large garden hoe, and gloves to smooth the edges of your new gravel roadway.
8: Spread the surface layer and Shape it Accordingly.
The final step is to add the gravel surface. Grading the stones to facilitate drainage of rainwater is important, just like our premier Connecticut asphalt paving services.
They should be positioned so that the crown at the center and the slight inclination on the side (about 1/4 inch per foot of run from the center toward the edge) will allow water to drain.
You may want to use an aluminum driveway grading rake to bring back this height every few months. You may also need to clean the edges every now and then or dress them up with screeded topsoil and new grass seed.
The gravel driveway that you have now installed in Southbury, CT 06488 is low maintenance, self-draining and will continue to be so for decades to come!
Southbury is a town in western New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. Southbury is north of Oxford and Newtown, and east of Brookfield. Its population was 19,879 at the 2020 census. The town is part of the Naugatuck Valley Planning Region.
There's nothing more natural looking than a professionally installed gravel driveway to add value to your home or business located in Southford or Southbury area of New Haven County!
VP Asphalt Paving is Southbury's #1 Gravel Driveway Repair & Installation Team
For one of the best gravel driveway installation companies in Southbury, Connecticut, give VP Asphalt Paving a buzz at (203) 819-7414 or you can contact us on our website for more information about gravel and stone driveway repairs and new residential installations.
VP Asphalt Paving
27 Cottage Grove Ln
Waterbury, CT 06706
(203) 819-7414
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