Gravel, Stone and Mulch Delivery in Gresham, OR

Silt loam that holds onto water

The USDA soil survey maps Aloha-Urban land complex, 0 to 3 percent slopes, at the ZIP's center point. Urban land, ground already paved or built over, covers 40 percent of the map unit. The Aloha series makes up 50 percent, with its top layer of silt loam.^[1]

Silt loam feels smooth, almost floury, when dry and slick when wet. Silt particles are small enough to hold water tightly and to pump up into gravel under traffic, so a base laid straight on silt loam goes soft and muddy in a wet season. Separating the two with fabric is the most useful step on this ground.^[1]

The survey rates the Aloha soil somewhat poorly drained and puts it in hydrologic group C/D. It acts like group D, very slow intake, while the water table is high, and like group C where the ground has been drained. In a wet winter that means puddles that linger and lawns that squelch underfoot.^[1]

Shrink-swell in the top 100 cm rates low, at 1.5 percent, so swelling clay is not the problem on this soil. Water is. A yard that seems firm in August can feel spongy by December, and a path that never moved in summer can develop soft spots once the rain settles in. Planning for the wettest month, not the driest, keeps a project from failing in its first winter.^[1]

Elevation at the center point reads 310 feet, and the slope class is 0 to 3 percent. Flat ground leaves water few natural routes off a lot, so grading and trenches have to provide them.^[1],[2]

A wet winter at the Troutdale gauge

Weather normals come from the NOAA station Portland Troutdale AP, OR, about 3 miles away. It averages 40.7 inches of precipitation a year. Rain arrives as long, steady stretches through the cool months more than as single cloudbursts, and the ground stays wet for weeks at a time.^[3]

The station counts 28 days a year with a low of 32 F or colder. The median last spring freeze there falls on March 16. The median first fall freeze is November 20. Freezes are short and shallow, but a soaked base that freezes overnight can heave a little and soften when it thaws, which is another reason to keep water out of it.^[3]

Summers turn the other way. Weeks can pass with little or no rain, and the silt loam dries hard on the surface. That dry window is the best time to build a driveway, a patio or a new bed, since the subgrade compacts properly and trucks can reach the back of a lot without leaving ruts in soft ground.^[1],[3]

Mud-proofing a gravel driveway

Dig out the sod and dark topsoil until you reach firmer silt loam. Shape it with a crown or a fall to one side and compact it when it is damp but not saturated, which in a wet winter may mean waiting for a dry week. Roll out woven fabric across the full width, overlapping the seams.^[1]

Start the base with a layer of 1-1/2" Crushed Gravel on very soft ground. Large angular stone bridges weak spots and keeps a path open for water. Over it, compact Road Base in thin lifts to make a tight, smooth bed. Finish with 3/4" Crushed Stone or Driveway Gravel.^[1]

Keep the top layer thin and angular. Round stone such as Pea Gravel rolls under tires and lets the wheel press straight down into the base, while crushed stone wedges together and spreads the load. A few wheelbarrows of fresh top stone each fall, raked into the low spots, keep the surface tight before the rains return.^[1]

Edge drainage finishes the job. A shallow ditch or a buried trench of Drain Rock along the low side, wrapped in fabric, gives water somewhere to go before it soaks into the base. Without it, even a good base sits in wet silt all winter.^[1],[3]

Bark, soil and beds for a rainy climate

Garden beds on somewhat poorly drained silt loam do best when raised. Build them a little above the lawn with Garden Soil or a mix of Topsoil and Compost, so roots sit above the wettest layer in winter. In-ground beds benefit from Compost worked into the top layer to open up the silt.^[1]

Brown Shredded Mulch, Black Shredded Mulch and Red Mulch hold moisture through the dry summer and protect the soil surface from pounding winter rain. Wood Chips work well on paths between beds, where they soak up mud and break down slowly. Top up mulch each spring once the March freeze date has passed.^[3]

Lawns on this soil struggle with standing water in winter. Before reseeding a soggy patch, spread a thin layer of Topsoil blended with Compost and work it into the surface to open up the silt. Where water always pools, a small dry well filled with Drain Rock under the low spot gives it a place to go.^[1]

Drain Rock or #57 Crushed Stone around a foundation

Wet silt beside a foundation is a frequent complaint on this ground. Drain Rock and #57 Crushed Stone both help, in different places. Drain Rock is round to sub-angular and very open, which makes it a strong pick inside a perforated-pipe trench where water has to collect and flow.^[1]

#57 Crushed Stone is angular and locks together while still draining. It suits a gravel strip along the house that people walk on, a base for a dry well, or the bed under a downspout splash block. In either case, wrap the stone in fabric so silt does not migrate in and clog it over a few wet winters.^[1]

Homes in ZIP 97030

The Census counts 16,143 housing units in ZIP 97030. Detached single-family houses make up 41 percent of them, compared with 53 percent across Gresham. Owners live in 45 percent of the ZIP's occupied homes. The median home in the ZIP was built in 1979, and the city median is 1981. Gresham has 44,005 housing units in total.^[4]

For state roads, the Oregon Department of Transportation names Dense-Graded Base Aggregate under Section 00641 of the Oregon Standard Specifications for Construction (2024). A residential drive need not follow the state book, but the idea of a dense, compacted layer under the surface is the same.^[5]

Apartments, townhomes and older houses all bring their own jobs: fresh bark in a shared courtyard, a gravel pad for bins, or new rock in a side yard that turns to mud each winter. Measure each area and pick a depth, and the calculator will turn those numbers into a load size.^[4]