Material glossary
Base materials
Base materials go under a driveway, patio, or slab — not on top. They're crushed and screened so they compact into a firm pad that carries load and drains. The right base saves you a repave; the wrong one telegraphs every crack up to the surface.
Every base-material family we track is below. Pick by what's going on top and how heavy the load will be. We deliver the ones with a green pill; the rest are here for reference.
Families in base materials
Aggregate Base Course
We deliverAggregate base course, or ABC, is a dense-graded crushed stone mix.
Road Base
We deliverRoad base is crushed rock mixed with stone dust, sized from about 3/4 inch down to fines.
Top Course
We deliverTop course is the finish layer on a gravel driveway or road.
Base Materials Fill Material
We deliverFill material is loose dirt, sand, or crushed rock you dump to raise a low spot or plug a hole in the ground.
Base Materials Sand
We deliverSand is rock ground down into loose grains, usually between 0.075 mm and 4.75 mm across.
Base Materials Gravel
We deliverBase gravel is crushed rock with all the dust and small chips left in.
Paver Base
We deliverPaver base is crushed rock that runs from about 3/4 inch down to a fine dust, all mixed together in one load.
Base Materials 4 Stone
We deliver#4 stone is crushed rock roughly 3/4 inch to 1 1/2 inches across, with the fines washed out.
Base Materials Crushed Stone
We deliverCrushed stone is rock broken down at a quarry and screened into sizes.
Subbase
We deliverSubbase is the layer of rock that sits between the raw ground and your base gravel.
Base Materials 610 Stone
We deliverThis is base rock that shows up with its own binder built in.
Base Materials 8 Stone
We deliver#8 stone is crushed rock screened between about 3/8 inch and 1/8 inch.
Base Materials 10 Stone
Reference#10 stone is crushed rock screened to 3/8 inch and smaller, with all the fine dust left in.
Base Materials 11 Stone
Reference#11 stone is crushed rock screened from about 1/2 inch down to 1/4 inch, with most of the dust washed out.
Base Materials 2 Stone
Reference#2 stone is crushed rock with pieces roughly 1.5 inches to 2.5 inches across.
12 we deliver today · 3 listed for reference
How to choose within base materials
Under pavers or concrete
A crushed base — usually 3/4" minus — compacts to a solid, load-bearing pad. Uniform depth matters as much as the material.
Under a shed or hot tub
Compact 4 to 6 inches of base material. More for anything that will sit long-term.
Driveway base
Crushed limestone or road base underneath, topped with a decorative or wear layer.
Material calculator
Estimate how much you need
Pick one of the 20 base materials products we deliver, tell us your area and depth, and we'll work out the tons plus your delivered price.
Area shape
Dimensions
Depth
shed baseEnter your area to see the math
Pick a material, shape and dimensions and we'll calculate the tons you need plus your delivered price.
Other material categories
Crushed stone
Crushed stone is rock that's been broken and screened into sizes.
Decorative stone and rock
Decorative stone and rock is what you see, not what you sit on.
Rip rap and armor stone
Rip rap and armor stone are the big pieces that hold a shoreline, a slope, or a culvert together.
Mulch and organics
Mulch and organics are the top layer that goes over the soil — bark, wood chips, compost, or a dyed blend.
Gravel
Gravel is loose stone in the size range you'd actually notice — pea-sized up to a few inches.
Sand products
Sand is fine crushed rock, small enough to pass through a #4 screen (about 3/16 of an inch).
Fill materials
Fill is what goes in the hole before anything else does.
Concrete aggregate
Concrete aggregate is the stone and sand that go into a concrete mix.
Screenings and stone dust
Screenings and stone dust are the fines a crusher makes on the way to sizing bigger stone.
Recycled materials
Recycled materials are crushed concrete, crushed asphalt, and reclaimed base — old road and slab work run back through a crusher.
Drainage materials
Drainage materials are clean, angular stone that moves water without holding it.
Asphalt aggregate
Asphalt aggregate is the stone side of asphalt — the sizes that get blended into a hot-mix or cold-patch recipe at the plant.
Specialty products
Specialty products are the odds and ends that don't fit the usual categories — flagstone, boulders, ballast, glass gravel, unusual sizes …
Bedding materials
Bedding materials are the clean, washed layer that goes around a pipe, under a paver, or behind a wall before backfill goes in.
Landscape
Landscape covers the loose stone and rock that go into a yard for looks — around a bed, along a border, or across a bare spot.