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Driveway Ideas - part 1

By Ben Shabat

The driveway is the little private road, leading into your home. Whether it's a short way leading to your car garage or a long curved way it presents many opportunities other than plain asphalt.

Nowadays, creating a driveway has more to it than just asphalt as there are various materials and techniques to choose from. Even though some factors such as drainage, soil stability, and weather cycles are a given and must be considered, there are many options, available to give your driveway better looks.

Concrete Driveways

Concrete is the most common material used for driveways and although usually mistaken to be grey and boring it offers various options and can be very aesthetic. Concrete can be colored, shaped, and given different textures.

Many contractors use molds to create shapes in the concrete and some offer new techniques to stamp concrete, creating interesting patterns and to imitate the look of stone, cobble, or brick.

Shape grids are also available, providing you with options to create a decorative pattern, using simple techniques. Another great way to design your concrete driveway is to add color mixes directly to the concrete.

Bases on the additional uses of your driveway, you can decide how you want brush or finish the driveway after the concrete is poured. These choices will determine how slippery and uniform the surface will be.

For example: if you plan ball games, a smoother surface is preferred. A smoother surface is also preferred if you have kids playing on the driveway. If you only park your car on the driveway, a less slick surface is preferred.

Compressed Soil

If you choose a compressed soil (or compressed earth) driveway, keep in mind good drainage is extremely important as this type of driveway tends to generate little water puddles over time.

Another technique, recommended by many home improvement companies to prevent these standing water puddles is to lay two strips of concrete where the tire tracks lay and maintaining the grass and plantings between and to the sides of the tracks.

Ben Shabat is a senior project manager for Remodeling California Inc., a leader in the Home Improvement industry. For more information about House Remodeling, feel free to Email Ben Shabat or call (800) 724-9946.