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Gravel driveway installation with Gravelfix is recommended for stabilizing decorative gravels and pebbles and obtaining the best economical, stable, solid, and long-lasting results. Gravel driveways are a classic alternative to paved driveways and are popular throughout the United States. They’re rustic and rugged for rural settings but can be more neatly defined and designed for urban neighborhoods.
Many materials can be used to create a driveway, including concrete, brick, asphalt, or shells. Still, crushed gravel is the right choice for an affordable material that’s relatively easy to install and available in various colors. This versatility allows crushed gravel to pair well with many different styles of houses, ensuring you get a functional driveway that matches the home aesthetic.
What Is Crushed Gravel?
Crushed gravel driveways are composed of coarse sand intermixed with small stones. The bottom layer is typically a mixture of sand, dirt, and stone. The middle layer is primarily simple gray gravel. While the top layer can also be gray gravel, many choose a more decorative option that matches the home’s aesthetic, like marble chips or pea gravel.
Is Crushed Gravel Right For You?
Before installing a crushed gravel driveway leading up to your home, it’s essential to consider whether this material is the right choice.
- Affordable: Crushed gravel is an inexpensive driveway installation material, so you can save some money by investing in this product instead of paying for asphalt, concrete, or interlocking brick.
- Easy Installation: While hiring a professional gravel installation company to complete this project is recommended, experienced and knowledgeable home DIYers can install a crushed gravel driveway without professional help if they have the right tools and machinery.
- Frost-Heave Resistant: Concrete, asphalt, and interlocking brick driveways often crack, shift, and warp in colder regions due to frost-heave, which occurs when the soil freezes and expands. Crushed gravel handles this situation better because it doesn’t hold moisture.
- Design Variety: Choose crushed gravel as an installation material for a driveway that complements your home. Crushed gravel comes in various colors, shapes, and sizes, so you can find a type that suits your tastes and home aesthetic.
Gravel Driveways Maintenance and Repair
Significant maintenance differences exist between a concrete or asphalt driveway and a crushed gravel driveway. To extend the life of your new driveway, it’s essential to learn how to care for this material. Regular maintenance should include raking the driveway to keep the surface level while removing debris like leaves or sticks. You will also need to be careful during snow removal to prevent shoveling away the top layer of gravel. To help avoid this problem, leaving about an inch of snow on the driveway is recommended.
Gravel Driveway Installation with Gravelfix
In our recent project in Nissequogue, N.Y., we installed the Gravelfix system and renovated the gravel driveway. The first step is to adjust the metal edging on the sides and then level the gravel. The gravel has been here for many years and is compacted down. We will spot-fill the base, then install a bluestone dust layer with the Gravelfix system on top. In addition, we are adding new gravel that is imported from Italy to fill up the honeycombs.
Once we have completed preparing the base, we will add a top layer of bluestone dust and water and compact it. The Gravelfix system is offered in two colors: white and grey. The customer chose the white Gravelfix system because it blends in with the white stones in the white color family.
The project is extensive. The driveway is about 10,000 sq ft., including a vast parking area by the house. There is also a long entrance, about 200 ft., on a steep slope. The Gravelfix honeycomb system we are installing will prevent water erosion and maintain the gravel in place. Additionally, the cars will have better traction.
Gappsi is an Exclusive Gravelfix System Dealer
Gappsi is an exclusive dealer for the Gravelfix system and Italian gravel used to complete the project. We import all of these products from Italy. The team takes the gravel out as it comes in big bags that are a ton and a half. We will use about 80 tons of the finished gravel to fill the Gravelfix system. We start to fill in the Gravelfix from the beginning of the driveway up to the house. The last addition of the bluestone dust makes it nice and flat for the Gravelfix to sit on.
As we filled in the Gravelfix, we drove right over it. The gravel becomes the weight of the grit, which is how it stays in place. It retains the gravel. We have just about completed installing the gravel to fill in the Gravelfix. We have the last quarter of the driveway and are compacting the gravel. This will raise the gravel inside the honey corn system.
The job is completed. We installed all the new gravel. The driveway is very long. You can’t tell by the video, but it has a steep slope. This gravel will stay in place better than the gravel around the stone. This gravel is angled and cubic. It is imported from Italy and installed over the Gravelfix. The house is on the water. An excellent area in Nissequogue, NY.. The color of the gravel blends in with the color of the house. This is the latest Gravelfix installation installed by Gappsi on Long Island, NY. To learn more about the Gravelfix system that Gappsi offers, visit our driveway page at Gravelfix for Driveways and Walkways.