Driveways and rock roads
Gravel Driveway Installation in McKinney, TX
Gravel driveway installation and repair for McKinney, Melissa, Van Alstyne, Denton and rural lots across North Texas. Flex base or road base, graded to drain and compacted to stay put.
Steele Construction LLC installs and repairs gravel driveways for rural homes and acreage in McKinney and across Collin, Grayson and Denton counties. A new gravel driveway starts with the dirt work: the run is cut to grade, crowned, built up through low spots with compacted fill, and surfaced with flex base or road base rolled tight. Existing gravel drives that have rutted or washed out get regraded and rebuilt rather than topped up. Free estimates, one day response.
New driveways
New Gravel Driveway Installation
A gravel driveway is the standard first driveway on a new rural lot, and for good reason. It costs the least to install, it can be extended or rerouted later without tearing anything out, and it can be upgraded to chip seal or asphalt millings once the base has settled and the route is final. Most of the long drives on acreage around Melissa, Van Alstyne and Denton started this way.
What separates a gravel driveway that lasts from one that turns to mud is the base under the gravel, not the gravel. The run is cut to grade, crowned so water sheds to both sides, and built up through the low spots with fill placed and compacted in lifts. On a recent job the path of a new drive ran straight into a hill. We cut the hill down, flattened the run and raised the low end a few feet on compacted fill before any surface went on.
Then the surface material goes down, gets graded to hold the crown, and gets rolled. A compacted flex base surface handles trucks and trailers without turning to mud, and it is the same material we use for parking areas and arena access on ranch property.
Existing driveways
Gravel Driveway Repair and Regrading
Every gravel driveway wears the same way. Tires push the material out of the wheel paths and into the middle and the edges. The crown goes flat, water stops running off the sides and starts running down the ruts, and every rain cuts them deeper. Potholes form where water sits. By the time the drive is bad enough to call about, the base under the ruts has been wet for a season.
Gravel driveway repair is a regrade, not a delivery. The existing material is pulled back from the edges and the center, ruts and potholes are cut out, the base is reshaped with a crown, and new material is added and compacted. Dumping a load of gravel on a rutted drive and spreading it flat fills the holes for a few weeks and then they are back, because the shape that caused them is still there.
Soft spots that keep rutting no matter how much gravel goes on them are a base problem, usually water trapped under the drive. Those get dug out, drained and rebuilt before the surface goes back on.
Materials
Flex Base Driveways
Flex base is crushed limestone with a mix of sizes from fines up to rock about an inch and a half across. That range is the point. The fines fill the gaps between the larger pieces, and when the whole layer is wet down and rolled it locks into a dense, firm mat that behaves more like a road than like loose gravel. It is the material under most of the county roads and parking lots in North Texas.
On a driveway, flex base gives a surface that holds a crown, sheds water and carries a loaded trailer without rutting. It packs tighter with traffic, and it does not scatter into the yard the way clean, single-size gravel does. When the drive is ready for chip seal or millings later, flex base is the base those surfaces go over.
Road base, a similar crushed rock blend, is used the same way. Clean gravel with no fines stays loose and is better suited to a top dressing than a base.
Water
Driveway Grading and Drainage
Water is what destroys a gravel driveway, so driveway grading is really drainage work. The run is crowned, higher in the center than at the edges, so rain sheds sideways instead of running down the length of the drive. On a slope, the crown keeps water from gathering speed in the wheel paths and cutting a channel.
Where the drive crosses a bar ditch at the road, or a low spot in the field where water already runs, a culvert goes in under the drive so the water passes through instead of over. A drive built across a ditch without one washes out at the crossing every time it rains hard. Along the run, the ground beside the drive is graded so water leaving the crown has somewhere to go.
On a long driveway across pasture, the grading and drainage are most of the job and the gravel is the finish. That is why the site visit walks the whole run before we quote it.
Questions
Gravel Driveway Questions
How much does gravel driveway installation cost in McKinney?
It depends on the length of the drive, how much base work the ground needs, whether a culvert goes in, and the material. Gravel is the lowest cost driveway surface to install. Every driveway is quoted after a site visit, and estimates are free.
What is the best gravel for a driveway?
A crushed rock blend with fines, like flex base, because it compacts into a firm mat that holds a crown and carries traffic. Clean gravel with no fines stays loose and works better as a top dressing than a base.
Can you repair a gravel driveway with ruts and potholes?
Yes. The drive is regraded: the material is pulled back, ruts and potholes are cut out, the crown is reshaped and new material is added and compacted. Topping up without regrading does not last.
Why does my gravel driveway keep washing out?
Usually the crown is gone, so water runs down the drive instead of off it, or the drive crosses a low spot without a culvert. Both are fixed with grading and drainage, not more gravel.
Can a gravel driveway be upgraded later?
Yes. A drive built on a compacted flex base can take chip seal or asphalt millings over the top once the base has settled, without starting over.
Do you build the driveway as part of a new home build?
Yes. On a new lot, the driveway, the house pad, the clearing and the septic system are usually one contract with the same crew.
Get a Gravel Driveway Estimate
Send the address, the length of the drive and whether it is new or a repair. We walk it with you, check the base and the drainage, and put the price in writing. Free estimates.