looking for ideas on building a gravel/dirt type driveway

[ratherbefishin]

Hey, I am thinking of putting in driveway on a piece of land. Right now it is a grass area that I mow..Question is where do I start, take a 1' of black dirt out then fill in with clay? then top the clay with crushed concrete or class five? Just looking for the best ideas so I don't end up with mud pit after it rains...Thanks!!

[vister]

Just remove all the black dirt/topsoil. Do not add clay!! We've been excavating clay for 3 months. Very unstable, and if you're working with it when it rains, you will have mud pit central. If what u excavate gets u to somewhat solid/virgin soil, then pack class five down. Minimum 4" for a solid driveway. Just like concrete

[leechlake]

just take out 4 inches like you would be framing up a driveway, actually it would be 3-1/2 inches since that's what a 2x4 is, could make a difference ordering the material especially if it's really big.

The key is to get a quality Class 5 or other quality material for the driveway. I've seen class 5 in cabin country that is just sand and rock of sketchy quality, but it's cheap. Get the stuff that blacktop companies use when prepping. The bonus is you'll have less sand being tracked around also.

Do your research and go look at the material before it's delivered. Once the stuff is dumped you're out of luck.

[deerminator]

How long is your driveway? If not terribly long, I would also consider a thin layer of crushed granite or crushed concrete over the class 5. We have 1/4 of mile drive that is well maintained class 5 with crushed granite over the "trouble" spots. When it was just class 5, we had to drag it more and then bring in a couple of truckloads every two years or so to fill in the trouble spots. Since adding the crushed granite to those areas, though, we haven't had to do either. That stuff really holds but it ain't cheap! At the time. But over the life of the driveway, it could be a one time pain if you could swing it and save you money over the long run. Good luck.

[ratherbefishin]

Our drive way will be all of 400' long im thinking. Another ? is we have one low spot in it and I want to build that area up, it tends to pool up there after heavy rain. What would be the best to use to build it up. Thanks everyone!

[fishingstar]

most roads are built with a clay base until it's to grade that you want. Then top it with GOOD class 5 gravel. After the gravel is driven in top it with granite cheaper option is recycled concert or asphalt. I put of some asphalt 4 years ago and it was the best thing I did. It was about the same price as class 5. That stuff packed in and has not moved.

A driveway needs to built right the first time or it will haunt you the rest of your life.

Dan

[dougger222]

A friend and I just put in a large loop driveway in my yard. He used his skid steer with custom made ripper/grader to take off the top soil. I then hauled in 30 ton of 1in- gravel with my dump trailer. With fuel and gravel fee's had about $325 into the job. The gravel pit is about 15 minutes from my home. Not having to back up the trailers anymore is worth every penny!

A few years ago for my rental home in Maplewood brought in 10 ton of 1in clean which really helps cut the dust down and looks a lot better then the class five or 1in-. The cost is double on the clean versus the minus.

[gregg52]

I build and sell drive ways

over 1000 sold in brainerd area

NOW working up in duluth

2 very different scenios

brainerd you can subcut a 3-5 inches grade out some class 5 your good to go

Duluth for the most part sub cut it 12inches then put down some fabric

fill it up with class 5,crushed limestone,or crushed concrete

so it depends on what kind of soil you have to start with how much you subcut

fill in the low spot with the material you are sub cuting out

another factor is what will be driving on it

heavy pickup,garabe trucks etc

you will want to do a pretty good sub cut specially with clay or not good soils loam etc i would go at least 6inch sub cut if do you less in the spring you will have a mess when it thaws the key to make it last and not turn to soup is to grade it to drain other no matter what you put in there it will pump everything thing up and turn to soup in big rains or the spring best material would be crushed concrete vs all the rest

if graded and compacted right it will shed the water the best if you dont have anything to compact it with pack it with use your car or truck and get it pounnded down then grade it again you cant grade un-compacted dirt

dont use recycled asphalt once its down thats what is is going to be

and you cant regrade it will kinda melt togther in the sun

and when you go to plow those early snows before everything is froze

you will rip big chunks out at a time

in order to have a good driveway the key is get it to drain and compacted and the later maybe being the most important

or you will just be making a bigger mess than you have now

[deerminator]

Another thing, you will want to consider putting "carpet" or fabric in under the whole thing depending on your soil base underneath. We needed to do this and whomever you contract with to do your road should be able to tell you if you should too.

[Bryce]

Lot of guys making a living off of selling fabric. Built a lot of road in 20 years and used a lot of fabric. Most of it used just due to engineers requirement. I'd be leery to spend my own money on it. Every site/soil conditions vary and I have seen it do wonders. Once used a dozer to just track down cattails to lay fabric. Roads still carrying traffic 15 years later.

[titelines]

When we built our driveway (about 300') we assessed what would be driven on it and the soil we were working with. After that we decided to shave off the top 6", which got us down to clay. From there we put down a layer of boulder (the small/medium sized ones that can usually be handled by one person). After compacting them down we then topped it off with a good quality class V..about 6" worth. Compacted and sloped everything and we were good. Going on 7 years and no issues at all.