River Rock Installation in Kennesaw, GA
Drainage swales, dry creek beds, foundation borders, and the shaded side yard where grass has never once grown. River rock solves problems mulch cannot, but only when the base underneath it is built properly. We install stone across Kennesaw, Acworth, Marietta and the rest of Cobb County.
Tell us what the area does when it rains and we will tell you whether rock is the right answer.
What it costs around Atlanta
2026 market rates, so you can judge any quote you are handed:
• Bulk river rock, 1–2 inch: roughly $70 to $130 per ton delivered, depending on color and which quarry it comes from.
• Coverage: one ton covers about 100 square feet at 2 inches deep, or about 70 square feet at 3 inches.
• Installed: most residential beds and borders land between $6 and $12 per square foot with fabric, edging and labor included.
• Dry creek beds: higher per foot, because the larger accent stone is placed by hand rather than raked out.
• Removing old mulch and cutting the trench is usually where the labor sits, not in the rock itself.
We quote your yard, not a formula. The estimate lists tonnage, fabric, edging and labor as separate lines.
Where river rock earns its keep, and where it does not
It works well: in drainage paths where water runs and mulch washes out every storm; along a foundation drip line; on slopes too steep to hold mulch; in narrow side yards that stay shaded and muddy; at downspout outlets; and as a low-maintenance border you never have to top off again.
It works badly: in beds you replant seasonally, because rock is permanent and miserable to dig through; directly under a heavy leaf-dropping tree, where litter lodges between the stones and has to be blown out every fall; and as a lawn replacement in full sun, where a large field of stone throws real heat back at the house.
If someone quotes you rock for a yard that actually needs grading, you will have the same puddle next spring with prettier stone sitting in it. We will say so.
Dry creek beds, specifically. This is the request we get most after a wet spring, and it is the one most often built wrong. A dry creek bed is a drainage channel first and a landscape feature second. It needs a defined trench with a low point that actually runs downhill to somewhere, larger anchor stone set along the sides where the current pushes hardest, and smaller wash stone through the middle. Built that way it carries roof and driveway runoff away from the house and looks like it belongs there. Built as a straight line of pretty rock laid on flat ground, it fills with silt in two seasons and becomes a long puddle.
The other thing that decides how it looks: creek beds in nature curve and change width. A bed with one gentle bend and a couple of wider pools reads as natural; a perfectly even ribbon of stone reads as a trench somebody decorated.
What goes underneath decides whether it lasts
The area gets excavated, not covered. Rock poured on top of turf sinks into it within a season. We dig to depth first.
Woven geotextile, not plastic. Plastic sheeting traps water underneath and the whole bed floats in a hard rain. Woven fabric lets water through and still blocks what tries to grow up from below. Seams overlap six to twelve inches and get pinned.
Edging gets staked deep. Georgia clay heaves through a freeze and shallow edging pops right out, then the rock migrates into the lawn and finds your mower blade.
Depth is matched to the job: two inches for a decorative border, three to four inches where water actually runs.
Sizes, and what each one is actually for
• 3/8 to 3/4 inch (pea gravel): paths and tight borders. Comfortable underfoot, but it migrates without solid edging.
• 1 to 2 inch river rock: the workhorse. Beds, foundation borders, general drainage. This is what most Cobb County yards get.
• 2 to 4 inch: swales carrying real volume. Anything smaller walks downhill in a thunderstorm.
• 4 to 8 inch and boulders: dry creek beds, erosion points where water lands hard, and accent placement.
On color: Georgia quarries mostly supply gray and tan blends, which is why they cost less and look native here. Bright white stone is trucked in from farther away and shows algae quickly in shade.
What upkeep actually looks like. Once or twice a year, blow or rake the leaf litter off before it breaks down into soil between the stones — that silt is what weeds root in. Every few years, stone in a heavily shaded spot can be raked and rinsed to knock back algae. And if you have a big oak or pine over the bed, be honest with yourself about whether you want to do that every fall; under a heavy dropper, mulch is sometimes the better answer even though it costs more over time.
Questions we get asked
Will weeds still come through?
Eventually, but from the top rather than the bottom. Seeds blow in and root in the silt that collects between stones. Fabric stops what pushes up from below. Plan on a spray once or twice a year and it stays clean.
Can you put rock over my existing mulch?
No. Mulch keeps decomposing and the rock settles down into it. The old material comes out first.
Will rock fix my drainage problem?
Rock hides and slows water; it does not move it. If you are getting standing water, the fix is grade correction or a buried drain, and the rock goes on top of that. We will tell you which one you are looking at before you spend money on stone.
How much is a ton, really?
About a pickup bed loaded low. It is heavier than it looks and it is why rock is delivered rather than carried.
Does it wash away?
Correctly sized and edged, no. Undersized stone in a fast-moving swale, yes, every time.
Free estimate, itemized in writing
We come out, look at where the water goes, measure the area and tell you the tonnage. The quote breaks out stone, fabric, edging and labor so you can see exactly what you are paying for. If rock is the wrong fix for your yard, we will say that instead.
Call (470) 332-3398 or request an estimate below.