3/8 Clean for Patios in Rice, WA

If you are setting pavers, laying a patio or pouring a slab on grade, the material under it decides how the surface holds up. Washington Rock Supply sells gravel and aggregate delivery in Rice, WA, and 5/8 minus is the surfacing course most of that work starts from.

Rice sits in Stevens County, up in the glaciated country of the northeast corner. Thin stony soil over rock on the ridges, till and outwash gravel in the valleys.

That ground moves when it thaws, so what you put on top of it matters.

Ground and Conditions in Rice

Across the Okanogan Highlands and the northeast corner, most of the year's water arrives as snow. It leaves over a few weeks in spring, and the ground under the valleys is often still frozen while the melt runs.

That is the failure a thin base shows here. The subgrade softens, the bedding shifts, and the pavers on top rock or drop at the joints.

Gravel valley floors drain quickly; till and lake silt do not.

The working season is short. Base, drive and paver work fits between spring breakup and the autumn freeze, and the window is shorter the higher and further north the site.

Spring runoff also scours ditches, culverts and gravel roads during breakup. Bare slopes shed soil and rock after a wildfire season, so exposed ground needs cover before the melt.

Frost is the governing condition for any unbound base in this corner of the state. Long winters and deep ground frost mean frost heave and soft spring ground are what you design around.

Materials for Rice Projects

Bedding is where a paver job is won or lost. The bed has to compact hard, hold its shape and stay put through a freeze and a thaw, which is why the minus products carry this work.

Stone Screenings, also called crusher dust or 3/8 minus, is the standard setting bed for pavers and flagstone. It is a minus product, so it compacts rather than drains, and it fills joints tight.

3/8" Crushed Stone is the washed counterpart. No fines, so it drains instead of packing, which suits permeable paver joints and small drain runs.

5/8 Minus is the Washington default surfacing course. Crushed rock with the fines left in, so it packs hard and sheds water instead of soaking it up.

Driveways, parking pads, shed and shop slabs all sit on it.

1 1/4 Minus goes below that as the structural course under a drive, parking area or slab. Larger top size and fewer fines than 5/8 minus, so it carries load and stays workable on soft wet ground.

Drain Rock is washed and fines-free, so it keeps its voids. Footing drains, French drains and infiltration trenches use it where water perches on till.

Delivery to Rice and the Surrounding Area

You order online, choose a quantity by the ton or by the yard, and pick a delivery date at checkout. Each product page has a calculator to help you size the load.

A dump truck then tips the material on your site in one pile. Rice is in Stevens County, and delivery covers the surrounding area, including Colville, Chewelah, Kettle Falls, Loon Lake and Springdale.

Get Your Rice Project Started

Work out your quantity with the calculator, then order 5/8 minus, crusher dust or drain rock online and pick your delivery date. Washington Rock Supply delivers bulk gravel, stone, sand and topsoil across Rice and Stevens County.

Place your order when you are ready.