Gravel Driveways in Avon, IN
Avon was a crossroads on US 36 until it incorporated in 1995, and nearly everything in it has been built since. The gravel drives are on what the subdivisions left behind: the acreage lots on the county roads, the farmhouse on a parcel that was never sold, the lane back to a new pole barn. Travis builds and repairs those.
- Free estimates
- Based in Greencastle, Indiana
- One crew, first cut to final grade
Gravel Driveways in Avon
A town that was all built at once
Avon went from about 6,200 people in 2000 to more than 21,000 in 2020, and almost all of it is subdivisions on flat clay along US 36. Those houses have concrete drives and will keep them. Nobody calls about gravel for a lot in a neighborhood that is three years old.
The calls come from the ground around the neighborhoods. A farmhouse on a leftover parcel between two subdivisions, with a drive that was last stoned decades ago. An acreage lot on a county road north or west of town where the owner wants a lane back to a barn. A new build on a bigger lot where a gravel drive makes more sense than a long run of concrete.
The lane to a new pole barn
The most common new drive in Avon runs from the house to a pole barn or a shop at the back of the lot. It carries a truck and trailer, sometimes a skid steer on a trailer, and it needs an apron at the barn doors wide enough to turn in. A drive that stops short of the doors leaves a mud strip exactly where you need firm ground.
Travis builds the lane and the apron together, and the barn pad too if the building is not there yet. The pole barn pad page covers the pad. Doing the two in one trip means the pad and the lane are graded to the same fall and the water from one does not end up on the other.
What flat clay does to a drive that was just dumped on it
Hendricks County is low rolling till, and the Avon end of it is about as flat as it gets. The East Fork of White Lick Creek carries the east side of the county, but on a flat lot the water has a long way to go to reach it. Clay that stays wet goes soft, and stone laid on soft clay works its way down until there is mud on top again.
A drive built to last starts below the surface. Topsoil and soft ground come out. A base of #53 crushed limestone, an INDOT size that packs hard because it keeps its fines, is compacted on firm ground, with geotextile fabric under it where the clay is wet. A smaller clean stone, #8 or #11, goes on top as the surface you drive on.
Crowned, with a ditch that works
On ground this flat, the drive has to make its own fall. It is built with a crown so rain runs to the edges, and the ground beside it is shaped so that water keeps moving instead of pooling against the stone. Where the drive crosses the roadside ditch, a culvert pipe keeps the ditch flowing under it.
If the lot itself is wet, the drive will not cure that. Water sitting beside a drive ends up under it. Yard drainage in Avon covers the swales and French drains that fix the lot, and the two jobs are often priced together because the same machine does both.
Who to ask before the entrance goes in
The part of the drive inside the public right of way is not only yours to decide. On a county road, the Hendricks County Highway Department is the office for a new or widened entrance and the pipe under it, and it is asked before stone or pipe is ordered. On a town street inside Avon, the Town of Avon is asked instead.
US 36 is a state route, so a new entrance onto it, or a change to an existing one, needs an INDOT driveway permit approved before any work in the state right of way. The old SR 267 through the middle of town became Avon Avenue in 2013 and is no longer INDOT's, which changes who you ask. And nothing is dug until Indiana 811 has located the buried lines.
The price, and the old drive that just needs help
Estimates are free. Travis looks at the ground, measures the run and gives you one figure with the digging, the base, the surface stone, the hauling and the road end in it. The gravel driveway cost guide explains what moves that figure, without quoting prices.
The farmhouse drive that has gone to ruts and potholes is usually a repair rather than a rebuild. The soft spots are dug out and based, the surface is regraded and crowned, and fresh stone goes on. Avon is about half an hour from Greencastle. The Avon page lists the rest of the work here, and the driveway installation page has the method.
What that covers
- Lanes to barns. Drive, apron and pad built together, graded to one fall.
- Acreage drives. Long runs on county-road lots, based and crowned to last.
- Old farmhouse drives. Ruts and potholes cut out, regraded and restoned.
- Entrances and culverts. The pipe and apron at the road, with county or INDOT asked first.
Avon, IN
One of the fastest-growing towns in Indiana, along US-36 west of Indianapolis, almost all of it subdivisions built since 1990 on flat clay.
Town pageAlso in AvonDemolition & Removal in Avon, IN
See the pageAlso in AvonConcrete Removal in Avon, IN
See the pageAlso in AvonYard Drainage & French Drains in Avon, IN
See the pageThe serviceGravel Driveways
New gravel drives cut, based and crowned, plus potholes, soft spots and washouts repaired.
Main service pageAvon and the towns nearby
Avon is the middle of the Hendricks County run, half an hour east of Greencastle on US 36. The same lanes, pads and repairs are done north in Brownsburg, south in Plainfield and west back along the highway in Danville. The acreage on the county roads between those towns is the same trip, and the service area page has the rest of the map.
You get Travis. One crew, first cut to final grade.
You call
You call or send the form. Travis 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 finish grading in it.
One crew does it
Then the same crew that quoted it shows up and does the work, first cut to final grade.
Ground left usable
Voids get filled and the ground is graded back so you can pour, build or seed.
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 (317) 203-8928 and ask Travis, or read the guides.
Do you build gravel drives inside Avon's subdivisions?
Rarely, because those lots have concrete and most neighborhoods expect it to stay. The gravel work in Avon is on the acreage lots, the leftover farm parcels and the lanes back to barns and shops. If you have one of those, Travis comes and looks.
What is #53 stone and why does the base matter here?
It is an INDOT size of crushed limestone with the fines left in, so it packs into a hard layer when it is compacted. On Avon's flat clay, that base is what keeps the stone from sinking. Stone dumped straight on clay disappears into it within a few wet seasons.
Who approves a new driveway entrance onto US 36?
INDOT. US 36 is a state route, and a new or changed entrance needs a driveway permit approved before work in the state right of way. Avon Avenue, which used to be SR 267, went to the town in 2013, so entrances there are a question for the Town of Avon instead.
Can the barn pad and the drive be done at the same time?
Yes, and it is the better way. The pad is cut and compacted, the lane is built to it, and the apron in front of the doors is part of the same grade. One machine, one trip, one figure, and the water from the pad and the lane go the same way.
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
Excavation & Site Prep
Sites stripped, cut and graded, ready for the builder.
Learn moreFoundation & Basement Excavation
Basements, crawl spaces and footings dug to grade and backfilled.
Learn moreDrainage, Culverts & Utilities
Water moved off yards and away from foundations; culverts and service lines set.
Learn moreDriveways & Finish Grading
Gravel drives built and crowned; yards finish graded for seed.
Learn moreLand Clearing & Forestry Mulching
Lots and acreage cleared, brush mulched in place.
Learn moreBuilding & Pole Barn Pads
Pads cut, filled and compacted for barns, shops and houses.
Learn moreFree estimate in Avon.
Call or text Travis. Free estimates, straight answers.
Greencastle, Indiana · Putnam, Hendricks, Boone and Marion counties
Need gravel driveway work in Avon?
Call or text Travis with the address and what you are trying to do.