Gravel Driveway Restoration: How to Make It Look Like New Again

Gravel driveways are a great choice for a number of reasons. They’re stylish, nice to look at, long-lasting and budget-friendly, for starters.

Of course, like any driveway type, a few years of wear-and-tear, weather and aging, can turn your once sparkling new gravel driveway into a holey, scattered mess.

The good news is a DIY gravel driveway restoration is within reach. All you need to do is follow a few steps for refreshing your gravel driveway type to make it look as good as new!

GRAVEL DRIVEWAY RESTORATION

With proper installation, a gravel driveway shouldn’t crack or sink. However, it can lose or shift gravel; accumulate sticks, leaves, grass and other yard debris; or develop potholes from lack of regular raking or poor drainage.

Follow these 3 simple steps for gravel driveway restoration.

Smooth Out the Driveway

The first step to restoring your driveway is to get it as smooth as possible. Depending on the size of your driveway, you can do this by raking the gravel by hand with a gravel rake or drag it using a harrow rake. Gravel patio & stone patio design

This may take several passes to get deep enough into the gravel to loosen it to where you can rake it into a smooth, even layer.

Fix Any Potholes

Potholes are typically caused by water, fluctuating temperatures and heavy traffic. The best time of year to fix a pothole in your gravel is when it’s warm and dry out as dry gravel is way easier to move.

Use a shovel to remove the gravel, debris or large stones from the pothole, digging out about two feet wider than the hole, all the way to your driveway’s foundational layer.

Add the same gravel material as the rest of your driveway to fill the hole. That can include coarse gravel at the bottom for the foundation, leading up to the finer gravel you’ve chosen as your top layer. Add about 2-4 inches of extra gravel on the top layer and compact this down with either a vehicle or a tamper on the first pass, then water the gravel and compact again.

Finally, take one more pass at the gravel with a rake, smoothing out the surface to your liking.

Create a Maintenance Schedule

One of the best ways to keep up with gravel driveway restoration is to keep up with maintenance. It’s easier to maintain a gravel driveway regularly than to wait until you need to restore the entire drive.

Set up a regular raking schedule. A general rule is to rake a couple times a month, depending on how much rain or snow you get as well as the amount of traffic on your gravel.

Be sure to rake out leaves, sticks, grass and other objects that get stuck in the stones. Once you’ve removed foreign objects, do another pass with a gravel rake to ensure even distribution of gravel.

You can also take this time to fill in any potholes that have just started or any washaway areas with fresh gravel.

For any issues that go above and beyond what you can manage yourself, give us a call. We’re always ready to help with any gravel driveway restoration needs you have.

Simply request a quote online or call 859-635-5680.