Denver Decorative Concrete & Custom MasonryGravel or Crushed Concrete for a Driveway?
We’re wanting to put in a driveway and were intending to put gravel down as the surface material (we are not planning to pave over it). A friend told us that crushed concrete (which is about the same price) is better because it packs harder. Would crushed concrete be a good or better choice for a driveway surface given that it is the same price as gravel? We’re also putting in a retaining wall and will use the leftover gravel or crushed concrete to fill in behind the wall. Would crushed concrete be a good choice for packing behind garden wall block? We want to allow for drainage behind the wall through the gravel so I am concerned that crushed concrete may pack too tightly for that. Thanks for the help!
ok let me advise you on a couple of things.
you can buy either 1 for your driveway, but it is best to buy gravel that has really find sands in it, as that is the only way that it will compact better and stay compacted longer over the years.
crushed concrete is a recycled product, so it would be best for you to make a trip to the source of the gravel and pick up a handful and look for the fines in it.
(fines once again are like sand or very small grains of a product.
good luck with your project, and I would suggest laying down a thickness of at least Four 6 for this
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1366&bih=671&q=gravel+for+drivways&oq=gravel+for+drivways&gs_l=img.3…4434.16437.0.17704.70.34.0.4.1.15.138.3072.24j8.32.0…0.0…1ac.1.8.img.5jwCa4uFv9M
Mr. Pickle (not intelligent) You should not be given advice as you have no idea what you are saying, sand does not compact at all only rock does, sand is only used to fill voids. Steve if you are doing this yourself first do not pay the same for crushed concrete as you would for mining materials as crushed concrete should be a lot cheaper as it is cheaper to obtain and process ready mixed plants don’t need the leftover concrete in their yards I worked for Rinker Materials for over 10 years and for Tarmac also and we had issues with this until I started creating a fill with the leftover. You would need to rent a compactor which is used in most projects as you need to compact everything and adding water would assist in doing this.
crushed concrete is ugly,.. instead,.. use 1/4 to zero, limestone…(grey, or brown)
Pea gravel never packs, and grass and mud work through too quick.
If you put sand,..it will make it’s way in the house,..bad idea..
If drainage is your main concern stick with gravel. Crushed concrete is very porous and quite messy.
If the costs are the same, I’d choose the gravel over the crushed concrete. The crushed concrete will tend to have sharp edges to it, making it less desirable for a driveway. The gravel you want for your driveway would not be desirable to use as fill behind your retaining wall. For the driveway, you want a mix that has fines in it, ask for a road base mix. For the retaining wall, you want larger stones that will aid drainage.