You probably don’t think much about your driveway and how it affects the design of your home. It mainly serves a practical purpose. You just park your car there. Because of that, it often doesn’t factor much into the design of the approach to your house.
Really the only time some think about how their driveway looks is to improve the curb appeal when they are selling. Improving your driveway can dramatically improve how your home looks regardless of if you are selling or not.
Then there is the issue that a driveway in bad shape doesn’t drain well and can ruin your lawn and concrete fixtures around your driveway.
Here are some ideas to give your driveway the makeover it deserves and to shore up any drainage issues.
Paver driveway
Pavers look like stone and have an earthy, natural look to them. They are actually made out of a blend of cement, sand, gravel, and pigments. Then they are compressed into bricks.
This compressions gives them strength to withstand up to 8,000 pounds of pressure. A paver driveway lasts quite a long time and is much stronger than poured concrete.
As far as aesthetics it can look great with just about any style of house but really shines with a country style design. There are different patterns, shapes and colors of brick paver to choose from.
It’s important that brick pavers are cleaned and sealed periodically or weeds, mildew, and dullness will become problems. However, covering them with the wrong sealant can cause “whiting” which gives them a white or milky appearance instead of enhancing their natural colors. Save yourself a headache and get a quote from a few professional paver sealing companies who are experienced in applying sealant that’s suitable for your climate.
Rubber paving
If you love the idea of using recycled materials whenever possible, you will be interested in a rubber asphalt driveway.
Rubber paving looks just like regular black asphalt if you want the classic looking driveway. If you want a more unique design, you can use different color rubber to create a style for the driveway. Checkerboard, swirls, whatever shape you like is possible.
Because rubber can expand and contract without cracking, it is durable and will look brand new for many years. It is an ideal material for homes in cold climates.
Concrete
These driveways are popular because of how cheap and easy they are to install. But they tend to look rather plain.
What is nice about poured concrete is that you can make some design features without much effort or added expense. Borders on the side of the driveway can give it some style. Or you can create some patterns with other materials like stone or a different color concrete for accents.
Tar and chip
Instead of having a gravel driveway in which some of the gravel can get washed away or is hard to shovel when it snows, there are tar and chip driveways. They are much more durable as there is tar mixed to keep it together while looking like a classic gravel driveway.
Instead of plain old asphalt, this has a more elegant look and feel while still providing durability.
