A material yard that has stayed in one town since 1993 gives you something a pop up supplier cannot, which is a known product, a known address and a known way of working. Ordering bulk topsoil, compost or millings is mostly an act of trust, because you are buying something you have not seen yet by a unit you probably do not use every day. Where the material comes from and who loads it matters more than most homeowners expect. Here is what a long running, locally owned yard changes about that order.
Here's the short version:
- O'Bryan Grounds Maintenance has been independently owned and operated in Stow, Ohio since 1993, with Doug O'Bryan running it
- The material side trades as O'Bryan Topsoil and Compost and screens, stacks and loads out of its own yard at 859 Seasons Rd Suite 1 in Stow
- Material runs in the warm months, roughly April through October, and loads are sized from the dimensions of your job rather than guessed at
What staying in one place since 1993 changes about a material order
The practical difference shows up in three places.
The first is consistency of product. When a yard screens and stockpiles its own material at its own address, the topsoil you get this spring is coming off the same operation as the topsoil you got two years ago. There is no mystery supplier in the middle. A customer in Stow, Vental W., put it this way in a review.
Got great screened topsoil from them. Good material that actually smells like topsoil and doesn't have a bunch of mulch fines in it like some of the mulch places do. I'll be using them again.
The second is accountability. A company that has served Summit County homes and businesses for more than thirty years is not going to be hard to find next month. The Google rating sits at 4.8 across 23 reviews, which is the kind of record that only builds slowly.
The third is local knowledge. Thirty years of hauling into Stow, Cuyahoga Falls, Munroe Falls, Silver Lake, Tallmadge, Hudson, Kent, Akron, Twinsburg, Macedonia, Aurora and Streetsboro means the crew has seen your kind of driveway, your kind of clay and your kind of narrow side lot before. That gets reflected in advice about where a truck can actually put a pile.
One yard, one place, screened and loaded in Stow
Everything sold on the material side is screened, stacked and loaded at the yard on Seasons Road. Screening is the step that pulls rocks, roots and debris out of soil so it arrives ready for lawns, gardens, grading, filling low spots and new sod. Doing that in house is the reason the product stays recognizable from load to load.
Three materials come off that yard:
- Screened topsoil, which is what you build with when you need new soil volume
- Leaf compost, which is leaf material aged until it is dark and crumbly, used as an amendment to add organic matter
- Asphalt millings, which are recycled road surface ground up during resurfacing and sold as a driveway and lane material
Those are different products with different jobs. If you are not sure whether you want soil or an amendment, the short answer is that topsoil is what you build with and compost is what you mix in. The longer answer, including what organic matter does to the heavy clay most of this county sits on, is covered in what leaf compost actually does to heavy clay soil in Northeast Ohio.
Screened topsoil stockpiled at the Seasons Road yard in Stow, ready to be loaded into a dump truck.
How a load gets sized from the dimensions of the job
Nobody should be asked to order by instinct. The method is simple. You give the dimensions of the area and the depth you want, and the yards get worked out from there. One cubic yard covers about 100 square feet at three inches deep, which is the figure most lawn and bed projects start from.
From there, the number of loads depends on the material, because the load limits are not all the same.
| Material | Yards per load | Delivery notes |
|---|---|---|
| Screened topsoil | Up to 5 | $50 per load, and free in Stow or Hudson on 4 yards or more |
| Leaf compost | Up to 8 | $50 per load, and free in Stow or Hudson on 4 yards or more |
| Asphalt millings | Up to 5 | $50 per load, and millings never qualify for free delivery |
If you want to run the math yourself before calling, a plain guide to sizing a bulk material order walks through the square footage and depth calculation step by step. Either way, tell the yard what the project is and the load gets sized for you.
Delivery is by dump truck. Material is placed where the truck can safely reach, and the crew does not typically drive across lawns to deliver. A delivery is made to the curb, and past the curb the company is not responsible for damage to driveways, sidewalks, homes, garages, fences, plants, vehicles or utility wires. Knowing that in advance is part of choosing a good drop spot.
The material season, and what happens the rest of the year
The material yard runs weekdays 9 to 5 in the warm months, roughly April through October. That is not an arbitrary window. Soil and compost are easier to screen, handle and spread when the ground is workable, and asphalt millings are best installed in the heat, because the binder in the millings softens and the material knits together into a firmer surface than loose gravel.
Once the material season closes, the same company turns to snow. Snow and ice work for commercial and residential properties runs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, all winter long. That is the other half of why the business has stayed in one place since 1993. There is work in both seasons, so the yard does not disappear in the off months.
Ordering from O'Bryan Topsoil and Compost
We are independently owned and operated in Stow, and we have been running since 1993. Our material comes off our own yard on Seasons Road, and the material side trades as O'Bryan Topsoil and Compost with its own phone line. Tell us about your property or project and we will get right back to you.
What we deliver by the cubic yard:
- Bulk Screened Topsoil Delivery for lawns, grading, low spots and sod prep
- Leaf Compost Delivery for new beds, vegetable gardens and tired lawns
- Asphalt Millings Delivery for driveways, lanes and parking areas
When you are ready, give us the dimensions of the job and we will work out the yards and set up bulk material delivery across Summit County.
FAQs
How much topsoil do I need?
One cubic yard covers about 100 square feet at three inches deep. Measure the length and width of the area, decide on a depth, and that gives you a starting figure. Tell us the project and we will size the load for you.
Where will the driver put the material?
Material is placed where the dump truck can safely reach, which is usually a driveway or a spot near the curb. We do not typically drive across lawns to deliver. Pick a drop spot you can reach easily with a wheelbarrow, since moving a pile twice is the part most people underestimate.
When can I order material?
The material yard runs weekdays 9 to 5 during the warm months, roughly April through October. Asphalt millings in particular do best when installed in the heat, so summer is the right window for a millings driveway.
Is delivery included in the price of the material?
Delivery is $50 per load. On screened topsoil and leaf compost, it is free in Stow and Hudson on loads of 4 yards or more. Asphalt millings do not qualify for that.
Need material delivered?
Tell us the material, the town and roughly how many yards, and we will size the load with you.