Project guide
What actually holds up as a gravel driveway in South Florida, how many yards you need, and why loose stone spreads.
Most gravel driveways in Florida fail the same way: someone dumps three inches of pretty rock straight onto sand, drives on it for a month, and it disappears into ruts. The stone did not fail. There was never a base under it.
Two layers. Four inches of road base limerock or recycled crushed concrete underneath, compacted in lifts and watered as you go. Then two inches of #57 rock on top. If you want a surface that knits hard instead of staying loose, use asphalt millings as the top layer instead of stone.
For a two-car driveway at 20 by 30 ft: base is 20 x 30 x 0.333 / 27 = 7.4 cu yd, plus the 20 percent compaction allowance, so order 9. Topping at 2 inches is 3.7 cu yd, so order 4. Both are part loads and both fit on one truck.
Strip the sod and six inches of soil. Lay the base in two lifts of two inches, wetting and compacting each one with a plate compactor or a roller. Grade a slight crown so water runs off the centre. Then spread the topping and roll it once. Edge it with timber, concrete or steel, or the stone will migrate into your lawn no matter what you do.
Materials for this job
Compactable base under asphalt, concrete, pavers and driveways.
$31.25 / cu yd MaterialCost-effective compactable base and fill. Sets up hard.
$18.75 / cu yd MaterialDriveways, French drains, slab base and pipe bedding. The workhorse.
$37.50 / cu yd MaterialDriveways, parking, ranch roads and temporary access.
$22.25 / cu ydGravel Driveway — common questions
Six inches total is the working minimum: four inches of compacted base and two inches of topping stone. Anything less and the base flexes under vehicle weight.
You can, and it will rut within a season. Stone needs something firm beneath it to spread load into. On Florida sand, that is compacted limerock or crushed concrete.
#57 rock is the most common topping. Asphalt millings make a harder, more permanent surface because the residual bitumen re-binds in the heat. Pea rock is the wrong answer: it is rounded and will not lock together.
A properly based driveway needs a thin top-up every three to five years. One that was never based needs one every spring.
Pick your material, enter how many cubic yards and see the delivered number before you talk to anyone.