If you’re a car-owner, then your driveway is among the most important features of your home. It’ll allow you to get your car off the street when you aren’t using it. What’s more, it’ll provide the front of your home with some much-needed kerb appeal.
Your choice of driveway should rely on several different factors. It should look the part, for one thing, and be able to withstand the pressure of the weight of your car (and of any guests you might be accommodating).
Getting the installation right matters a great deal. There is no point in investing in a quality paved driveway, for example, if the foundations are going to sink into the earth. On a similar note, you’ll need to think about where rainwater is going to run – which is why all driveways will be on a slight slope, in order to prevent standing water from accumulating.
Finally, there’s the matter of cost to consider. As with most things, it’s best to decide upon a budget ahead of time, and then take a look at your options. With that out of the way, let’s take a look at some of the more popular driveway options available.
Concrete
Concrete provides an incredibly cheap and effective solution. It’s vulnerable to cold weather, however, and tends to look pretty dreary compared to some of the other options.
Brick
If you’re looking to bring a certain level of aesthetic grandeur to your frontage, then a brick driveway is a great way to do it. Bricks in driveways can be arranged any number of ways, with different colours usually being employed around the borders. An alternative to brick comes in the form of cobblestone, which
Tiling
You can think of broader, flatter paving slabs as a variant of bricks. They tend to be more prone to cracking, especially if laid inexpensively, and thus if you want results that will withstand the test of time, you’ll need to pay for them.
Gravel
Gravel is a bit of a divisive material. It tends to be inexpensive to lay, as you’re simply pouring lots of pebbles into a large trough. It’s inexpensive and comes in a wide range of colours, and will drain nicely, so you won’t have to worry about it getting slippery when wet. With all of that said, it lacks the visual impact of tiling, and it’ll create a loud noise, which might be a concern when you’re arriving late at night.
