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Gravel is the cheapest driveway to install in the Winston-Salem area and the most demanding to own: plan on regrading and topping up every year or two, ruts after storms, and the Piedmont's red clay working up through the stone as mud in a wet winter. Concrete is the opposite trade: several times the upfront cost of gravel, then decades of service, commonly 30 years or more, with almost nothing asked of you. On short suburban driveways concrete usually wins the long arithmetic. On long rural drives, where square footage multiplies everything, gravel or a hybrid keeps making sense.
Updated Aug 17, 2026 · Winston-Salem Concrete Co, Winston-Salem, NC
The three common driveway surfaces in Forsyth County line up as a simple trade of money now against attention later.
| Surface | Upfront cost | What it asks of you | Typical service life |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gravel | Lowest | Regrade and top up every 1 to 2 years, weed control, rut repair after storms | Indefinite, but only with that upkeep |
| Asphalt | Middle | Sealcoat every 3 to 5 years, softens in summer heat | 15 to 20 years |
| Concrete | Highest | Optional sealing, joint care | 30 years or more |
Gravel driveways in the Piedmont sit on the same red clay as everything else, and clay is the reason they need more attention here than in sandier parts of the state. Wet clay pumps up between the stones under traffic, which is where the mud comes from, and it lets the stone migrate sideways, which is where the ruts come from. A properly built gravel drive fights this with a geotextile layer under the stone and a crowned profile that sheds water, and still asks for a top-up cycle.
The common middle path on long rural properties around Belews Creek, Germanton and King: a concrete apron and parking pad where the vehicles live and turn, gravel for the long run in. Concrete where the wear is, gravel where the distance is.
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