Grading & Drainage
Site grading and drainage systems in Petaluma and across Sonoma County. We shape the ground and give the water a place to go.
A gravel driveway is often the most practical choice on a rural Petaluma property, and it goes in fast. Rich's Paving has been paving in Petaluma and across Sonoma County since 1988, and gravel work comes with the territory. Rich's Paving is a third generation family paving company, and the family works the crew today. We run our own paving equipment and crew, so the same people who shape the ground also roll the rock.
Most gravel driveway problems start below the surface, down in the soft ground under the rock you can see. Soft subgrade, a flat surface and no path for runoff will rut a brand new drive in one winter. So we shape the subgrade first and set the fall for grading and drainage before any rock is delivered. Then the base rock goes down in lifts, and we roll each lift tight with our own compaction equipment.
Tell us about your project and we will get right back to you.
The gravel you see on the surface is only the last step in a gravel driveway installation that lasts. Under it sits shaped subgrade, then a compacted layer of base rock, then the crushed surface you drive on. We compact every layer before the next one goes on, because loose rock over soft dirt always sinks in. How deep we build the driveway base depends on the soil and on the trucks that will use it.
Rock shape matters as much as depth, which is why we build with crushed rock instead of round gravel. Crushed rock has sharp broken edges, so the pieces lock together and hold their place under a truck tire. Round pea gravel rolls, so it pushes out to the shoulders and leaves ruts down the middle of the drive. We build the body of a crushed rock driveway with base rock, then finish it with a crushed top course.
Plenty of Sonoma County homes sit a few hundred feet off the road, up a long rural gravel driveway. That drive crosses slopes, low spots and the heavy clay adobe soil that is common across the North Bay. That soil swells when it soaks up the winter rain, and then it shrinks back through the dry summer. Water that sits on a flat gravel road soaks straight into the driveway base and turns it to mud.
Our wet winters find every low spot on a gravel driveway, usually during the first heavy storm of the year. A drive with a crown and somewhere for the runoff to go sheds that water and keeps its shape. A flat drive ruts first, then it washboards, and by spring it loses its rock down the hill. So most gravel driveway repair on rural North Bay property is really drainage and grading work in the end.
An existing gravel driveway does not always need to be torn out and put back in from scratch. If the driveway base is still firm, we regrade the surface, rebuild the crown and add fresh crushed rock. Where the base has failed, we dig out the soft spots and rebuild those sections from the subgrade up. Most gravel drives want a fresh top course every couple of years, and traffic and slope set the timing.
A gravel driveway also works as the first stage on a property you plan to pave down the road. Build the base right now, use the drive for a few years, then pave it when the budget allows. The compacted rock you already paid for becomes the base under asphalt driveway paving when that day comes. Call (707) 217-0835 or ask about a gravel driveway estimate in Petaluma or anywhere in Sonoma County.
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 gravel driveways across Petaluma, Santa Rosa & the Bay Area. Don't see yours? Give us a call.
Site grading and drainage systems in Petaluma and across Sonoma County. We shape the ground and give the water a place to go.
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.
We resurface asphalt driveways and parking lots across Petaluma and Sonoma County, milling the old surface and laying a fresh hot mix overlay.
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.
Read more →
What an asphalt driveway costs in Sonoma County in 2026: Bay Area price ranges per square foot, what drives the number, and where the money actually goes.
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.