Drain Rock Delivered in Bulk

Drain Rock exists to move water. Open-graded means the stones fall in a narrow band of sizes, here 3/4 to 1-1/2 inches, with the small pieces screened out and the rest washed clean. Stones of similar size cannot nest inside each other, so a large share of a trench full of them stays empty space, and water flows through that space with little resistance.^[1]

The washing matters as much as the size. Dust left on stone would wash down and clog a pipe or the fabric around it, so clean stone keeps a drain working for years. Gravel Valet's Drain Rock is gray, it weighs about 2,700 lb per cubic yard, and it ships by the ton. The stones are usually crushed, with rough faces that hold a trench wall and stay put around a pipe.^[1]

A French drain is the best-known use: a trench lined with fabric, a perforated pipe near the bottom and Drain Rock packed around it, which pulls water out of a soggy yard and sends it somewhere lower. The same build runs along the base of a foundation as a footing drain, catching water before it reaches a basement wall.^[1]

Behind a retaining wall, a column of Drain Rock keeps water from building up pressure against the back of the blocks, which is a leading reason walls bulge and lean. Dry wells use it to fill a pit where a downspout can empty and soak away slowly. It lines the bottom of window wells, wraps the ends of culverts and fills the gravel layer under a concrete slab or a shed where moisture would otherwise wick up.^[1]

A yard with a low corner that stays soggy for days after rain has a simple fix: a shallow trench of Drain Rock that leads the water to a lower spot or a dry well. Patio and paver builders lay a band of it along the downhill edge of a hardscape, where it catches runoff before the water can soften the base. Gutter outlets, the drip line under a roof with no gutters and the low end of a sloped lawn are all places where a strip of clean stone pays off quickly.^[1]

Drain Rock is less suited to surfaces you walk or drive on. The open, single-size grading that drains so well also means the stones never pack tight, so a path of it feels loose. Use a graded stone with fines for anything that needs a firm top.^[1]

For a French drain, dig a trench that falls steadily toward the outlet, so water always runs downhill. Line it with a non-woven filter fabric and leave enough extra at the sides to fold over the top later. Pour a bed of Drain Rock along the bottom, set the perforated pipe with its holes facing down, and check the slope again with a level.^[1]

Fill around and over the pipe with more stone, wrap the fabric over the top so soil cannot sift in, and finish with soil and sod or with a decorative stone. Behind a retaining wall, place a drain pipe at the base and fill a band of Drain Rock directly behind the blocks as each course goes up, with fabric between the stone and the native soil.^[1]

For a gravel layer under a slab or a shed, spread the stone level and tamp it lightly to settle it. A 4 inch layer uses about 1.67 tons per 100 square feet, and 6 inches about 2.50 tons. Thinner covers of 2 or 3 inches, about 0.83 and 1.25 tons per 100 square feet, suit the floor of a window well or a splash strip under a downspout.^[1]

#57 Crushed Stone is the most common stand-in. It is also a clean, single-size crushed stone and works in many of the same drains, with a slightly smaller top size. Many builders use the two interchangeably for French drains. Pick Drain Rock when you want a little more void space for heavy flows, and #57 Crushed Stone when a project plan calls for that grading by name.^[1]

River Rock drains well too, and its rounded stones look better at the surface of a drain that shows. Pea Gravel is smaller and rounder, which makes it easy to pour around a pipe, but it can shift and settle more. A common mix uses Drain Rock in the buried trench and River Rock as the visible cap, so the drain works hard below and looks finished on top.^[1]

Drain Rock comes from local quarries and gravel pits. Hard rock is crushed, then run across screens that keep only the 3/4 to 1-1/2 inch range, and washed to rinse off dust and grit. In some areas the yard screens natural gravel instead of crushing new rock, which gives a rounder stone with the same drainage.^[1]

Gravel Valet places each order with a yard close to the job site. Clean stone is heavy and you need a lot of it for any drain of real length, so a short haul helps. The gray shade varies a little with the local rock, which rarely matters, since most Drain Rock ends up buried under soil or sod.^[1]

A drainage trench of any length swallows stone fast, and a dry well or a retaining wall backfill can take several tons. Buying that in bags would mean a car full of sacks for every few feet of trench. A bulk load comes in one drop, measured by the ton, close to where you dig.^[1]

Loose stone skips the bagging, the pallet and the extra handling at a store. Buying loose lets you order the full amount at once, so the trench does not sit open while you fetch more, which keeps loose soil from caving in after a rain. For drainage jobs, one delivery and one pile is the easy route and the thrifty one.^[1]

For a trench, multiply its length by its width and its depth, then subtract nothing for the pipe, since the pipe takes little room. For a pad, use the area and the depth you plan. The calculator turns your figures into tons from this stone's weight of about 2,700 lb per cubic yard.^[1]

Enter your ZIP to see the delivered total, choose your tons and check out. Pick a drop spot near the trench that the truck can reach on firm ground, and keep it clear of the open dig so the edges do not collapse. Our team follows up to confirm the delivery day and access.^[1]