Gravel Parking Area

meatball

I Put Down 4 Yds Of 1/2 In River Rock To Create A Parking Area.
It's Gotten Swishy, And The Weels Dig Into The Bed.
Is There Something I Can Add Or Do To Tighten It Up? It's Almost Like Driving In Snow!

Unregistered

you need to add real gravel river stone will not compact very well and will always feel mushy or you can order some high cement grout and just spread it over top

earthwerks

The round shapes will never compact--nor will anything else that has no mechanical binders like crushed stone with fines or dust. What I do is spread what we call 21AA or County (Specified) Mix which has everything from sharp-edged (from the crushing process) stones all the way down to the fine sand-like particles. Once this is spread and compacted and sprayed with watr and allowed to dry it becomes like concrete. The down side is it tends to soften when it rains again--which leaves a powdery residue on clothing, carpet and the like from tracking it all over with shoes. If my customer objects to the powere issue I spread a thin layer of 6A which is washed crushed stone about the size of walnuts. This makes a nice barrier to the base and looks nice too.
An easy way of fine grading these type of stone is to use a typical stiff brstle push broom. Better than a rake any day.