Gravel, Stone and Soil Delivery in Lynn, MA

Snow and freezes at the Marblehead gauge

Weather normals for the ZIP come from the NOAA station at Marblehead, MA, about 5 miles away. It averages 48.0 inches of precipitation and 39.1 inches of snow in a year. Snow that piles against a walk or a stair melts on sunny days, and the water runs into whatever gaps it finds in the stone below.^[1]

Marblehead records 108 days a year with a low at or below 32 F. Each freezing night turns trapped water to ice, which takes up more room and lifts stone, pavers and edging a little at a time. Over a winter, those small lifts add up to a tilted walk or a rough, loose drive.^[1]

The median last spring freeze at Marblehead falls on April 25. The median first fall freeze comes on October 20. New beds and fresh seed go in after the April date, and repairs to stone surfaces are best finished before the October one.^[1]

Snow storage is part of planning a small lot. Pick a spot for shoveled piles where melt water can soak into a bed or a strip of River Rock, not one where it will run across a walk and refreeze overnight. Salt and sand from winter treatment build up at the edges of a path, so sweep them off in spring before you top the path with fresh stone.^[1]

Built-over ground on volcanic rock

The USDA soil survey maps Urban land at the ZIP's center point, and 80 percent of that unit is mapped as paved or built over. Ground like this has been dug, filled and covered for a long time. Under a yard you may find old brick, cinders, broken concrete or packed gravel before you reach anything like native soil.^[2]

The geologic map puts the Lynn Volcanic Complex under the center point, an Ediacaran unit of rhyolite and felsic volcanic rock. Rhyolite is hard, fine-grained stone. Where it rises close to the surface, a shovel stops short, and a trench or a post hole may need to be moved a few feet to find soil.^[3]

The ground at the center point lies 10 feet above sea level. On low, built-over land near the coast, water from a storm has a short way to fall, so the slope you give a walk or a patio does most of the work of moving it along.^[4]

A walk and stair base that survives winter

Dig out the walk to firm material and pull any soft soil, roots or trash. On urban fill, compact what remains with a plate compactor and fill soft pockets with Crushed Concrete. Lay a woven geotextile over the floor of the cut so fines from the fill do not work up into the stone.^[2]

Spread Road Base in thin lifts and compact each one hard. Good drainage comes first in this base, because water held in it will freeze many times a winter. Screed Concrete Sand on top, set the pavers or stones, and sweep Stone Dust Screenings into the joints.^[1]

Pitch the walk away from the building and away from any door. At the low edge, a narrow strip of Drain Rock or #57 Crushed Stone takes water off the surface before it can spread across the walk and freeze. Where snow is piled beside the walk, that strip also takes the melt.^[1]

Front stairs with stone or gravel landings get the hardest use in a snowy winter. A shovel and a scraper pull loose stone off the treads, and salt breaks down soft pavers over time. Set landings on the same drained base as the walk, and use dense pavers or flat stone that shrug off salt. A light layer of 3/8" Crushed Stone on a gravel landing gives grip without the mess of sand tracked indoors.^[1]

Housing in ZIP 01901 and the city of Lynn

The Census counts 1,626 housing units in ZIP 01901. Detached single-family houses make up 0 percent of them, and owners live in just 2 percent of the occupied homes. The median home in the ZIP was built in 1948.^[5]

Lynn as a whole has 37,960 housing units. Across the city, 35 percent are detached houses, and the median build year is 1946.^[5]

A ZIP made up of rented, attached buildings tends to order for shared spaces. Landlords and managers refill tree pits and planter boxes, resurface a gravel lot behind a building, and rebuild walks that winter has tipped out of line. One load can often cover several small jobs if the drop spot is planned ahead.^[5]

Older buildings from the median years of 1948 in the ZIP and 1946 citywide often sit on lots where the yard has been patched many times. Expect mixed layers under the surface and plan for a little extra digging before any base goes down.^[5]

Small beds and courtyards in the city

Urban fill rarely grows healthy plants. Raised beds and planter boxes filled with Garden Soil, or Topsoil mixed with Compost, give roots a clean start above whatever lies below. Top them with Brown Shredded Mulch or Black Shredded Mulch to hold moisture and keep soil off the pavement in heavy rain.^[2]

A small courtyard can be finished with Pea Gravel or Walkway Gravel over fabric, held in by steel or stone edging. Loose stone lets rain and melt drain straight through, which helps on ground that sits only 10 feet above sea level. For a seating area, Decomposed Granite packs into a firm floor that takes chairs and tables.^[4]

Tree pits along a walk dry out in summer and get salt in winter. Loosen the soil, mix in Compost, and cover the pit with a thin layer of Wood Chips kept clear of the trunk. Replace the top layer each spring, since salt from the walk builds up in it.^[1]

Stone for a parking lot behind a building

Gravel lots behind multi-unit buildings are common in older cities, and they take a beating from turning cars, plows and freeze cycles. When a lot is rutted and muddy, the fix is a fresh base under the top layer. Scrape off the loose stone and mud, compact the subgrade, and lay a woven geotextile over it.^[1],[2]

Spread Road Base or Crushed Concrete in compacted lifts, then finish with 3/4" Crushed Stone or Driveway Gravel. Asphalt Millings make another good top for a lot. They pack firm, shed water and stay in place under a plow better than loose stone. Grade the lot to drain to one edge, and line that edge with Drain Rock so melt water does not freeze in the middle.^[1]