MATERIALS / DRIVEWAYS · ROADS
$54 per cubic yard + haul
Crushed limestone base graded 3/4" minus. The fines bind the larger stone together, so a compacted lift sheds water and stops rutting instead of scattering under tires.
Instant quote
BUYING GUIDE[01]
Three-quarter inch minus crushed limestone is the material behind every driveway that still looks right after five Texas summers.
The word minus means the material contains everything from the top size down to dust. Those fines are the binder. Wash them out — as happens with river rock or clean-graded stone — and you get a surface that scatters under tires and migrates into the grass.
If you want a decorative loose-stone look, that is a different product and a different conversation. For a driving surface, you want minus.
Strip the vegetation and any soft topsoil down to firm subgrade. Lay geotextile fabric if the ground is clay, which most of the Gulf Coast is. Place base in two lifts of three inches, water each lift, and compact with a vibratory roller.
Crown the finished surface roughly two percent from centerline to edge so water leaves rather than pools. Add shoulders — an unconfined edge will spread and thin out.
Plan on a top-up load every three to five years for a residential drive, more often if you run heavy equipment across it.
On acreage jobs we regularly run belly dumps of base for entrance roads and culvert repairs. Tell us the length and width of the run and we will work out the yardage and how many trucks it takes, including whether the site can turn a belly dump around.
How far one cubic yard of gravel / base spreads at common depths.
| Depth | Covers per yard | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| 1" | 324 sq ft | Top-dressing an existing lawn |
| 2" | 162 sq ft | Levelling before seed or sod |
| 3" | 108 sq ft | Bed fill and planting depth |
| 4" | 81 sq ft | Driveway base lift, deep beds |
| 6" | 54 sq ft | Pad build-up and heavy grading |
Punch in your area and depth. Round up to the nearest yard when you order — it is cheaper than a second trip. Not sure on depth? Call the yard at (713) 555-0142.
ESTIMATED
7.4 yd³
Order round numbers — material settles as it spreads.
Four to six inches compacted over firm subgrade, more if you regularly park a truck and trailer on it.
Length times width times depth in feet, divided by 27. A 12 by 60 foot drive at four inches is about nine cubic yards. Our calculator will do it for you.
We dump in a windrow along the run, which makes spreading with a box blade or a skid steer straightforward. We do not provide grading crews.
