What Size Does Gravel Come In?
Small and large, decorative or functional, gravel often earns an entire aisle or section to itself in a standard home improvement store. The size of gravel varies greatly according to application. If gravel fulfills a structural or functional purpose in construction, building authorities might specify an acceptable size range for the individual rocks in a gravel mixture. If gravel plays a purely decorative role, anything goes. An understanding of gravel sizes, appearance and application allows you to shop wisely and choose the right rock for your project. Does this Spark an idea?
Other People Are Reading
-
Standard Gravel Size Range
-
The term "gravel" broadly refers to stones sized between 4 inches and 1/8 inch. Although manufacturers and retailers might choose to name smaller or larger stones "gravel," larger stones are typically considered landscaping rocks and smaller stones belong in the category of sand. Gravel for construction purposes commonly ranges between 1/2 inch and 3/4 inch in diameter according to application.
Construction Applications
-
Concrete manufacture is arguably gravel's most common application. Concrete mixtures consist of several fine ingredients, including sand, lime and cement, combined with coarse gravel. Additionally, gravel regularly serves as a base for masonry projects. Compacted gravel provides a solid, stable barrier between poured concrete slabs and movement of underlying soil. Additionally, gravel base layers encourage water drainage. Although building authorities use building codes to indicate the exact permissible size of gravel for structural projects, such as roadways and house slabs, most construction gravel falls between 1/2 inch and 1 inch in diameter.
-
Landscape Gravel
-
Although landscape gravel generally resembles construction gravel, some landscape gravel mixtures intentionally contain fine aggregate, such as sand or powders. The inclusion of fine aggregate encourages a gravel mixture to form a hard pack when tamped, which is particularly useful for hardscape features like gravel driveways. Aside from pathways and driveways, builders use landscape gravel to construct drainage swales and French drain systems. Much landscape gravel is similar in size to construction gravel. A notable exception is pea gravel, which typically ranges from 1/8 to 1/4 inch in diameter.
Decorative Gravel
-
Decorative gravel ranges from pea gravel size to rocks 4 inches in diameter or larger. Decorative gravel is composed of several types of rocks, including the same types of rocks used for construction and landscaping purposes. However, stones produced for decorative purposes are washed, polished, coated or tumbled. Additionally, quarries crush a variety of unusual rocks to create unique decorative gravel mixtures, which may include lava, chips of clay bricks and glass.
-
References
- Photo Credit Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images
