How to Make Your Gravel Driveway Better
Gravel is not an ideal material for driveways, because it moves, it wears down and it's porous. That said, a well-built and well-maintained gravel driveway can function as an aesthetically pleasing, sleek driveway. If you've inherited an old gravel driveway and need to make it better, spend a weekend fixing it up, then commit to seasonal maintenance. The most common problems affecting these driveways include environmental damage and rock displacement from rain, snow and use. Does this Spark an idea?
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Instructions
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Watch your driveway for potholes, which form when water pools in the driveway and you drive down it. Potholes only get worse until you fix them, and a quick fix breaks down again.
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Dig out all the gravel in the area around your pothole. Shovel the stone into a wheelbarrow so you can replace it easily. Focus on getting up all the stone in the pothole so you can properly pack the area with gravel.
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Level the dirt underneath, adding more topsoil if you need it. Pack down the earth with a tamp until the ground beneath the gravel is level with the ground underneath the rest of the driveway. Gravel driveways work best with flat, firm earth beneath them.
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Pour the gravel from your wheelbarrow back over the area. Tamp it down with your tamp. Add fresh gravel, and tamp that down to thoroughly compress the stone.
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Fix all potholes like this.
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Rake scattered gravel back into the path regularly. On curved driveways especially, gravel can migrate toward the edges from your tires. Rake the high spots to get an even driveway. If you don't rake, you'll end up with bare patches.
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Create drainage ditches on the side of your gravel driveway to alleviate drainage problems from snow or rain. This is particularly important on sloping driveways. Dig ditches on either side of your driveway 6 to 8 inches deep. Place large rocks along the side of the driveway to angle water out toward the drainage ditches and keep water off your pathway. Run the ditches all the way from the top of your driveway to the street.
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References
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