The Best Places To Buy Budget-Friendly Gravel That Aren't Home Depot Or Lowe's

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When it comes to buying gravel or landscaping rock, everyone braces for the hard part: the wheelbarrow and shovel. But it turns out spreading gravel is the easy part compared to finding the best places to buy it. If you're looking for cheap over convenient, your search could take you far beyond Home Depot and Lowe's to your local landscape yard or rock quarry at the edge of town.

Big-box stores win on convenience and being able to see the product before you buy it. But when you do the comparison math, it's not even close. At 40 to 50 pounds per bag, it takes 40 to 50 bags of gravel to make a ton. Bags of landscape gravel from Home Depot cost about $5 to $6 each, earning gravel-by-the-bag a price tag of about $200 to $300 per ton. Since a dump truck can haul about 12 to 20 tons, it would cost thousands if you purchased that amount in bags. Lowe's Yard Elements Gravel Mix, which is priced at $29.98 for a 20-pound bag, and at $119.92 per cubic foot, this product costs about $3,000 per ton. 

But if you call a local gravel quarry or landscape supply, you can order gravel in bulk for about $25 to $55 per ton or a few hundred per truckload. When you're buying gravel, the cost at the store is only half the story. Understanding delivery costs and logistics is the second part of finding budget-friendly gravel.

When you're looking for the best deals on pea gravel and landscaping stone, delivery and logistics are two important considerations. First, not everyone needs a truck load of quarry gravel delivered to their home. Logistically, bagged gravel is the answer for many. If all you need is a few bags for a path border, then buying from online retailers like Amazon and Walmart may be the better choice, as long as you can get free delivery.

If you don't have a truck but want to haul it yourself, you can rent a pickup, which can cost $139 per day to rent a truck from Home Depot, starting at $19 for the first 75 minutes. Keep in mind that covering the flatbed with a tarp makes unloading easier and keeps the bed from becoming damaged.

If you're looking for more gravel than that, but haven't quite hit the truckload benchmark, there are a lot of companies that can help you find local sources for gravel, like landscaping supply centers and quarries. Many of these sites, such as Hello Gravel and Gravelshop.com, quote delivered prices based on your zip code. However, many of them require minimum quantities, although you may be able to get units as small as one or two tons and save a few hundred dollars versus buying it in bags from Lowe's or Home Depot.

Factors like color and shape help many decide what type of gravel to get, but the single biggest tip for unlocking the best pricing is to use cubic yards when comparing costs. Products may be priced in pounds or cubic feet, and converting those prices to cubic yards means you can stop comparing apples with oranges. One cubic yard of gravel covers 100 square feet with three inches of gravel, making it easier to know how much gravel you need. This measurement translates to about 1.4 to 1.5 tons of gravel, equaling 27 cubic feet, so you know exactly what you're getting.

As a construction material, gravel is also subject to seasonal pricing. Peak demand is in spring, with late fall and winter being the best times to buy. You could ask your neighbors if they want to share a load with you. If you can find a place to spot it and divide it up that way, everyone benefits. For driveways, consider quarry process or crusher run, which is a better solution that lets you skip the landscape fabric or weed barriers.

Before ordering a truckload, ensure you have a spot roughly the size of a parking space to place the gravel. The truck needs clear access to your site, with overhead clearance for the raised bed. They can dump it in one tidy pile or move forward slowly while dumping, which can save you time if you're spreading it with a wheelbarrow and shovel.