Gravel Driveways and Parking Pads in Sharon, PA
Sharon is an old steel town on the Shenango River, flat streets on the river plain and steep ones up the hills either side. The lots are tight, the garages sit on alleys and the drives are short and old. Jeff rebuilds those in gravel, builds pads where a garage came down and stops hillside drives washing to the street.
Gravel Driveways in Sharon
Half the people, all the houses
Sharon had about 26,000 people in 1950 and has about 13,000 now, but the houses from the steel years are still here on under four square miles against the Ohio line. Nearly all of it is built on. A driveway job in Sharon is a lot, an alley or a side yard, not an acre.
The first settlement was on the flat between two hills, and the town climbed them as it grew. That gives two kinds of drive: a flat strip on the river plain that holds water, and a hillside drive that sheds its stone into the street every spring. Jeff builds each differently.
The hillside drive that washes out
On the hill streets, a gravel drive runs straight down to the road, and every hard rain carries the fines with it. By April the surface is bare rock and the mouth is a fan of gravel on the pavement.
Instead of a crown, a drive on a slope is tilted to one side so water leaves across it rather than down it, with a shallow ditch along that edge to carry the flow. The base is coarse, angular limestone that locks together, and the top is a crushed mix with fines that packs hard. On the steepest stretch a shallow dip across the drive turns the water off before it can pick up speed. The guide to building a gravel driveway covers the layers.
The pad where the garage stood
Plenty of Sharon lots have lost their garage, or are about to. What is left is a slab and a strip of broken concrete to the alley. Jeff takes out the old concrete and builds a gravel pad in its place: sod and topsoil off, base stone, packed top, sloped a little so it drains to the alley and not the house. The concrete removal page describes the tear-out.
A compact track loader fits down a side yard and through an alley where a dump truck never would, and tracks are easier on a lawn than wheels. The stone comes in a bucket at a time where it has to. Ruts get knocked down before the machine leaves.
The river plain, flat and slow
Down on the flat along the Shenango, the trouble is the opposite: nothing falls anywhere. A flat drive on wet ground holds a puddle in each wheel track, and each tire pumps the fines out until the puddle is a pothole.
Those drives get a crown, a base thick enough to bridge the soft ground, and a place for the water to go, even if that is only a shallow swale to the alley. Where the lot backs onto the river, the drive stays on the firm ground and the bank is left alone. If the yard itself is wet, the drainage work is done at the same time; the Hermitage drainage page describes how it goes.
City streets, state routes and PA One Call
A drive that meets a city street starts with the City of Sharon. A drive onto a state route in Pennsylvania needs a PennDOT Highway Occupancy Permit before work begins, with the property owner applying and the city confirming it reviewed the location. The road owner decides the mouth and the pipe.
Buried lines are marked through PA One Call (811) at least three business days before digging. Masury, on the Ohio side of the line, uses OUPS (Ohio 811) instead, with its own notice period, and which side a job is on gets sorted out when Jeff looks at it. The permit guide explains both states.
A small job is fine
Sharon is about as close to home as a Pennsylvania town gets for Logan Earthworks, 30 minutes from Farmdale, so a single pad or a short drive is worth the trip. Jeff comes over, looks at the drive and the slope, and gives one figure with the tear-out, stone, hauling and grading in it. Estimates are free.
Paving is not something he does, in asphalt or concrete. The rest of his work in town is on the Sharon page, and the full gravel driveway service page covers new drives, lanes and repairs across Pennsylvania and Ohio.
What that covers
- Hillside drives that hold. Tilted to one side with a ditch to carry the water, so the stone stays on the hill and off the street.
- Pads where a garage stood. Slab out, base stone in, packed and sloped to the alley for a car, a trailer or a camper.
- Flat drives crowned. Wheel-track puddles dug out, the base rebuilt and a crown cut so rain leaves sideways.
- Old concrete out first. Broken strips and slabs broken up and hauled before the gravel goes down.
Sharon, PA
An old steel town on the Shenango River at the Ohio line, 30 minutes from Farmdale, with hillside streets and older houses.
Town pageThe serviceGravel Driveways
New gravel drives cut, based and crowned, plus ruts, potholes, soft spots and washouts rebuilt.
Main service pageSharon and the towns nearby
Sharon sits on the state line, 30 minutes from Farmdale, and the same drives are built on both sides of it. Hermitage up the road is long drives on acreage and lanes to pole barns under the same PennDOT rules. Hubbard, across the line in Ohio, is township lanes and in-town strips under Ohio's offices instead. Youngstown is a short run down the valley. The service area page lists the rest.
You get Jeff. Not a crew he sent.
You call
You call or send the form. Jeff comes out and looks at the job with you, on the ground, rather than pricing it off a photograph.
A number first
You get one figure before anything starts, with the hauling and the grading in it.
He runs the machine
Then he shows up and runs the machine himself.
Ground left usable
Voids get filled and the ground is graded back so you can build, seed or just mow.
Photos of his work.
These are photographs from actual jobs. See more recent work. Or read about the full gravel driveways service.
Questions people ask
Not seeing yours? Call (330) 625-5754 and ask Jeff, or read the guides.
Why does my Sharon driveway wash onto the street?
Because it runs straight down the hill and water runs down it, taking the fines along. The fix is to tilt the surface to one side so water leaves across it, cut a shallow ditch along that edge, and use angular crushed limestone with fines that packs instead of round gravel that rolls. A dip across the steepest stretch turns the water off early.
Can you fit a machine into my back yard off the alley?
Usually. A compact track loader fits through an alley and down a side yard that a truck cannot, and a fence panel sometimes comes out and goes back. Tracks are easier on a lawn than wheels, and any ruts are knocked down before the machine leaves. Jeff works out the way in when he looks at the lot.
Do I need a permit for a driveway in Sharon?
Ask the owner of the road it meets. On a city street that is the City of Sharon. On a state route the work in PennDOT's right-of-way needs a Highway Occupancy Permit before it starts, with the owner applying and the city confirming it reviewed the location. A pad in the back yard off an alley usually needs no road permit, but check with the city on setbacks.
How far ahead do I call 811 in Sharon?
PA One Call (811) wants at least three business days' notice before digging. Jeff places it for the job. If the drive is on the Masury side of the line, the locate goes through OUPS (Ohio 811) instead, which has its own notice period.
Can you replace my old concrete drive with gravel?
Yes. The concrete is broken out with the excavator, loaded and hauled, whatever soft ground was under it is dug out, and a gravel drive is built on a proper base with a crown or a cross-slope. It is one job with one price, tear-out included.
Other work he takes on
Most jobs end up being two or three of these at once, and they get quoted together.
Gravel Driveways in other towns
Land Clearing & Brush Removal
Overgrown lots, fields and wooded acreage cleared and left ready to use.
Learn moreForestry Mulching
Brush and small trees ground into mulch in place. No piles, no burning.
Learn moreExcavation & Site Prep
Digging, pads, trenching and dirt work on rural and suburban lots.
Learn moreGravel Driveways
New drives cut, based and crowned; ruts, potholes and soft spots rebuilt.
Learn moreDrainage & French Drains
Standing water moved off yards and foundations on slow-draining clay.
Learn moreStump Grinding
Stumps ground below grade and the hole filled.
Learn moreFree estimate in Sharon.
Send the details and Jeff will come out and look at it. If it is easier to talk it through, call him directly.
Farmdale, Warren, Niles, Cortland, Youngstown, Boardman, Canfield, Austintown, Hubbard and Trumbull and Mahoning counties, over into Mercer County, PA.
Need gravel driveway work in Sharon?
Call Jeff or send a few details. Estimates are free.