Gravel Driveways
New gravel driveways, regrading and crushed rock topping in Petaluma and across Sonoma County.
Rich's Paving has handled grading and drainage for homes and businesses in Petaluma and across Sonoma County since 1988. Pavement fails from below, so the ground under a driveway or parking lot decides how long the surface lasts. When that ground holds water or slopes the wrong way, the asphalt sitting on top of it cracks and sinks. We shape the dirt first, then we build a path that carries the rain off your property for good.
Rich's Paving is a third generation family paving company, and the family works the grading and paving crews. We run our own dump trucks and compaction equipment, so the dirt work stays on a schedule we control. That helps most on jobs where the site grading and the asphalt driveway paving happen in the same week. Call (707) 217-0835 or request an estimate for grading and drainage and we will come look at the site.
Tell us about your project and we will get right back to you.
Site grading is the shaping of the dirt on a site before any base rock or asphalt goes down. We cut down the high spots and fill in the low ones, then set a slope that sheds water. The ground then gets compacted in lifts, so it stops moving under the weight of loaded trucks and cars. Skip that step and the new surface will show ruts and low spots by the end of the first winter.
We grade building pads and parking areas, plus the long approach roads that cross vineyard property in the county. Winery grounds and hillside lots take more planning, because the water has farther to travel before it can leave. Grading also sets up a gravel driveway, because loose rock washes downhill without a crowned and well compacted base. Our own dump trucks haul in the fill we need and carry off the extra material we cut out.
Sonoma County gets most of its rain between November and March, and it often arrives in long, steady storms. Much of the North Bay also sits on the heavy clay adobe soil, which takes in water very slowly. Rain lands faster than that clay can absorb it, so water pools in the yard and stays for days. Standing water kills the lawn, and over enough winters it soaks the base under your driveway or parking lot.
The same clay causes trouble in summer too, because it swells when it is wet and shrinks when dry. That yearly movement pulls apart the driveways and concrete slabs that were poured over soggy and poorly drained ground. Yard drainage treats the cause, because it moves the rain away before the soil has a chance to swell. We look at where the water starts and where it can safely leave, then we plan the run between them.
Most drainage work starts with catch basins, which get set into the low points where the water already collects. Our crew forms and installs concrete catch basins and drainage boxes that are built to hold up under vehicle traffic. Solid pipe then runs from each basin out to a street gutter or a roadside ditch below the site. On rural property we set culverts, so a ditch can pass under the driveway without washing the crossing out.
French drain installation handles the water sitting inside the soil, with perforated pipe laid in gravel below the grade. The gravel gives that water an easy path, and the pipe then carries it downhill to a safe outlet. On a slope, drainage and retaining walls work together, because a wall with water trapped behind it will lean. We build the drain line into the wall from the start, so the pressure never gets a chance to build.
Clear written estimates across Petaluma, Santa Rosa & the Bay Area.
(707) 217-0835From the first site visit to the final pass of the roller, here is how it goes.
We come see the site: the old surface, the ground under it, how water moves, and what the job really takes. No blind quotes over the phone.
You get a written estimate with a real number and a real timeline. It covers what is included, from grading and base rock to the finished surface, and it holds unless the scope changes.
Our own crew and equipment show up when we said and build the job the way we quoted it. Base first, then the surface, compacted and finished right.
Before we call a job done, we walk it with you. Clean edges, solid compaction, water running where it should. Done means you say it is done.
Common questions about grading & drainage across Petaluma, Santa Rosa & the Bay Area. Don't see yours? Give us a call.
New gravel driveways, regrading and crushed rock topping in Petaluma and across Sonoma County.
Block and stone retaining walls along driveways and slopes, with drainage built in behind them.
New asphalt driveways, replacements and resurfacing for homes across Sonoma County. We handle the grading, the base and the paving with our own equipment and crew.
Rich's Paving is a third generation family paving company. The family name is on the work, and the family runs the crew on every job.
Most companies do one or the other. We install both, so you get a recommendation based on your property, not on the only material a contractor happens to sell.
Paver, rollers, dump trucks and compaction equipment, run by our own crew. The schedule and the quality stay in our hands from grading to the last pass.
Clay soils that swell in the winter rain and shrink all summer. We have paved on this ground since 1988, and we build the base for what it does.
What a gravel driveway costs in Sonoma County: published price ranges by length, what moves the number, and the county rules that shape the job.
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Read more →When driveway paving needs a permit in Sonoma County, Petaluma and Santa Rosa: repaving vs new entrances, encroachment permits, grading limits and fire rules.
Read more →A driveway past its best years, a parking lot due for new stripes, or a gravel road that needs real grading? Call or send the form. We will come look at the job and put a clear estimate in your hands, from the family that has paved Sonoma County since 1988.
Tell us about your project and we will get right back to you.