Delightful Driveway

Your driveway is much more than the pathway leading to your garage and front door, it is basically an advertisement for your home. And if your driveway is not maintained properly, it can crack and fade leaving your property looking dull en untidy. Your driveway is exposed to many harmful elements like weather and traffic and it is thus important to keep it in good condition.

But maintaining your driveway isn’t enough when the initial installation of the paving / concrete / stone etc. was not done correctly, so if you are planning to redo your driveway or installing a new one, you can ensure that it is done properly the first time – because prevention is better than cure in this case.

There are various things to keep in mind when building a new driveway for your home:

Colour

Colour plays a very important part when choosing materials for your driveway. A grey coloured pathway will definitely not match a beautiful face brick home. The colour of your driveway should complement your home and its surroundings – if you are living in a security complex, it is best to ensure that your driveway blends in, rather than stand out like a sore eye. Adding colour to a concrete driveway is a great way to add personality and draw the eye. It can also look very nice if you match different colours of bricks when you are opting for a paved driveway.

Design

The design of your driveway will depend on many things like:

• The shape of the area you have to work with.
• The style and theme of your home.
• The materials you will be using.
• The pattern – if you have a specific pattern in mind.
• The purpose – in other words will it be used for various vehicles, will it be used as

It is important to decide what design you are looking at before starting to build your driveway, so things are done right from the start and you do not need to make changes halfway through.

Cost

This will mostly depend on the material you decide on using to build your driveway. There are various options to choose from. The size, detail and shape will also have a huge effect on the cost. Getting a professional in to do the job is often the best, but also the most expensive option. These are all things you have to keep in mind when planning your driveway.

Material

Driveway paving materials fall into two main categories: solid-surface (smooth, seamless, even surfaces) and aggregate-surface. Concrete and stone driveways are the most popular options and falls in the first category. Aggregate-surface driveway paving materials include gravel and crushed stone. Tar can also be used but is very expensive to install and to maintain. Stone driveways are always beautiful, and the choice of rounded, angular or laid stones is a matter of taste.
Concrete is the cheapest option and has many advantages. Concrete driveways are permanent, low maintenance additions to your home that can improve its appearance, give kids a safe place to ride scooters and bicycles, and make keeping your car clean easier. Building one is a labour-intensive and costly project, but for die-hard do-it-yourselfers, building your own can be a challenging, but rewarding project.


If you do want to get a professional to do the job for you, keep the following in mind:

• Ask for addresses of local jobs installed - not just recent ones but older jobs too. This will assist you in establishing the quality of the work they offer.
• Ensure that the company understands the elements to your job and what you are trying to accomplish.
• Have them guarantee the paving / driveway-material.
• Don’t allow them to begin the job unless there is a written plan and proper drawing showing the area to be paved. It should be clearly stated in the agreement what you are paying for and the various steps involved.
• Get references from various clients and go and check them out.
• Ensure they are up-to-date with current legislation and insurance requirements. Otherwise, you could be at risk for more than the value of your project. Not only is it crucial that they have a Contractor’s License, but it should be in good standing with the Contractor’s License Board.

Tips by MD Paving.

For more information on professional services and materials, visit:

www.zenzele.co.za
www.mdpaving.co.za
www.double-d.co.za
www.highlandpaving.co.za/res.htm
www.kcpaving.co.za

Go for Green

There are mainly two ways in which you can create a ‘green’ environmentally friendly driveway by:
a) creating a driveway that is literally ‘green’ with vegetation (grass), or
b) using some form of porous concrete or asphalt.

Both of these options allows rain water to drain into the ground, thus helping to remove pollutants and lessening the burden on storm sewers and local water bodies.

Option A is most definitely the easiest, as you will in fact be creating a piece of lawn as your driveway and not paving or concrete. This might not always look as neat as concrete and requires a lot of maintenance. You would also have to put a proper drainage system in place.

Option B can often be achieved by having a porous pavement installed, which will also allow water through. For more information visit: http://www.greenworks.tv/stormwater/porouspavement.htm
In some instances gravel can also be seen as porous, depending how thick the layer is that you have on your driveway.