Gravel Driveways
New gravel driveways, regrading and crushed rock topping in Petaluma and across Sonoma County.
Private road paving in Petaluma covers the drives and access roads that serve more than one home or a working property. That takes in a shared driveway off a county road, a ranch road or a farm road. A vineyard road and a small HOA street count too. A road carries heavier loads than a driveway, so it gets more road base and more width. We grade the route, build the base and pave it with hot mix asphalt.
Every private road starts with what sits under it. We look at the route, the grade, where water crosses and how packed the existing surface is. A well packed gravel road can often take asphalt over the top. Soft or thin stretches get rebuilt first. We pave private roads, shared driveways and access roads on private property. Public streets and county roads are not our work.
Tell us about your project and we will get right back to you.
Yes, and the first question is which kind of road it is. Permit Sonoma's fire safe drawings draw the line plainly. Driveways serve buildings and roads serve parcels. A shared drive to several homes sits on the road side of that line. So does a ranch road, a vineyard road or a winery road. The lighter standard covers a drive that serves one house.
A road is built heavier because of what rolls on it. The Illinois Asphalt Pavement Association puts 6 to 8 inches of compacted aggregate under 3 inches of asphalt. It says 5 or 6 inches of full depth asphalt holds up under a wider range of loads. Sonoma County's own standard for a grade over 10 percent is stiffer. It calls for 0.20 feet of asphalt over 0.50 feet of compacted Class 2 base. Light traffic and a long run sometimes favor keeping the road as compacted rock.
Grading comes first. We shape the route so water runs off the road instead of sitting on it. The culverts and catch basins go in before any rock. Then the road base goes down, Class 2 rock compacted in lifts. The paver lays hot mix asphalt and steel rollers follow while the mat is hot. Plate compactors work the edges and the turnouts. Turnouts get built to the county drawing, 22 feet of overall width and 30 feet long with 25 foot tapers.
Paving a gravel road works when the rock under it is thick and well packed. Soft or thin stretches get rebuilt before any asphalt goes down. A new road is built from the subgrade up. Either way we work in sections, so residents keep getting in and out. Empire Parking Lot Services puts new asphalt at 48 to 72 hours before foot and vehicle traffic. The work covers grading, road base, paving and rolling. It does not cover survey work, engineered road design or anything in the public right of way.
These roads cross working ground. The county's 2024 crop report counts 57,020 bearing acres of winegrapes and 1,999 acres of apples. Ranch roads and long drives serve that ground. Permit Sonoma's fire safe standards set the shape. A driveway needs one 12 foot traffic lane. A two way road needs two 10 foot lanes inside a 25 foot right of way. Both need 15 feet of vertical clearance. A drive over 150 feet also needs a turnout at its midpoint. Grades run to 15 percent without prior approval, and up to 20 percent on short stretches with it. We check which standard applies before we quote.
Sonoma County's grading ordinance exempts maintenance, repair and resurfacing of an existing, lawfully built private road. Length, width and design capacity have to stay the same. Work reaching the county road needs an encroachment permit. Our guide on how permits work for paving here has the rest. Paving season is the dry half of the year. NOAA's 1991 to 2020 normals for the Petaluma Airport station show 25.56 inches of rain a year, with 0.28 inches in June. The ground moves too. The USDA's Clear Lake clay series, mapped here, cracks as deep as 48 inches by late summer.
California Civil Code section 845 sets the default. The code says the owner of a private right of way easement has to maintain it in repair. The same goes for the owner of land the easement is attached to. When several owners share the road, cost follows any written agreement they have. In the absence of an agreement, the code shares cost proportionately to the use each owner makes of it. An owner who will not pay after a written demand can be taken to court by the others.
A paved road holds up when upkeep is planned. Bob Vila puts sealing the surface on a schedule at every 2 to 5 years. That keeps water and sun off the binder. Getting cracks and holes fixed early stops water from reaching the base. When the whole surface wears thin, a fresh layer over the old one costs less than a rebuild. We work roads outside Sebastopol, Healdsburg, Windsor, Sonoma and Novato. You can ask for a private road estimate and we will come look at the road.
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 private road paving 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.
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.
Site grading and drainage systems in Petaluma and across Sonoma County. We shape the ground and give the water a place to go.
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.
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.