Gravel driveways, grading & repair
New driveways built on a proper base, and tired ones regraded and drained so they survive a BC winter instead of dissolving into potholes.
A driveway is a road. Build it like one.
Most failed gravel driveways were never really built. Someone spread gravel on dirt and it looked fine until the rain came. The ones that last start below the surface: stripped topsoil, a compacted rock base, a crown that sheds water, and somewhere for that water to go.
- New gravel driveways. Topsoil stripped, soft spots dug out, base rock compacted in lifts, then a crowned surface course.
- Regrading and pothole repair. We reshape and re-compact what you have instead of dumping fresh gravel into the same holes.
- Culverts and driveway drainage. Ditches and culverts so runoff crosses under your driveway instead of through it. More on the drainage page.
- Widening and turnarounds. Room to pass, park or turn a trailer on a long rural drive.
- New-build access. First-in driveways cut for construction, from clearing the route to a surface concrete trucks can trust.
- Paver and paving-stone driveways. When you want a finished surface, we build those too, under outdoor builds.
Long acreage driveways are their own job. Hundreds of metres of grade and drainage to get right, not a weekend with a rake. That's the work we're set up for. Describe yours and we'll tell you what it actually needs, and what it doesn't.
Base first, gravel last
Walk the full length
We check slope, soil, where water comes in and where it's supposed to leave. On repairs we find why it's failing. The pothole is the symptom, not the problem.
Fix the base
Soft subgrade gets dug out, separation fabric goes down where the clay demands it, and base rock is compacted in lifts. Skipping this step is why the last driveway failed.
Shape it to shed water
A crowned or cross-sloped surface, ditches where they earn their keep, culverts where runoff crosses. A driveway that stays dry stays flat.
Driveways here fight the rain, not traffic
Winter is the test
Eight months of rain plus the odd freeze finds every weak spot. Potholes and washboard almost always trace back to base or drainage, not to the gravel on top.
Clay under the gravel
Lower Mainland clay pumps up through gravel and turns a driveway to soup. Where the subgrade calls for it, geotextile keeps soil and rock apart so your base stays base.
Long rural drives
Acreage driveways run hundreds of metres, with grade and drainage to hold the whole way and a lot of rock to move. We plan the machine work and the deliveries so a long drive gets built right, not rushed. See where we work.
After it's built
Insured and WorkSafeBC covered. Once the driveway is in, we can keep it open: snow clearing and salting in winter, grading touch-ups after storms.
Common questions
Why does my gravel driveway keep washing out?
How long does a new gravel driveway take?
Can you fix just the bad section?
Do driveways need permits?
Driveway giving out?
Tell us what it's doing. We'll find out why before we quote the fix, so you stop buying gravel for the same holes.
Request a quote