You’re exploring the advantages of carports over garages because you want to protect your vehicle from the elements. This is obviously a great thing and should absolutely be a focus of yours, even if you’re not super into vehicles since repairs can be expensive.
However, you may not have considered the health of your driveway. Below, we’ll explain why you need to and some of the ways you can fix the most common issues, starting with drainage.
Puddles
One of the most common driveway issues is poor drainage, and the biggest sign is seeing puddles on your driveway after it rains. It may not seem like a big deal, but consider what this actually means: your driveway will slowly suffer from water damage and the water could even reach your home’s foundation if left unchecked. The good news is there are plenty of ways to remedy this issue.
The most common solution is to add a drain of some form to your driveway. These will redirect the water that would otherwise sit idle to a pipe or drain of some form. Which one you install will vary based on your driveway’s type, appearance and slope.
On the topic of slope, you could always hire a driveway paving company to not only add a slope to your driveway but also repair any other issues that may be present. There are a few other solutions, but these are the simplest.
Loose or Crumbling Edges
When things start to break due to time, the first thing to show this damage is the edge because edges are the most unprotected part of any surface. When the edges of a driveway start to crumble, you’ve got a serious issue. It means that cracks have formed at the edges and the rest of the driveway will fall victim to the same fate if action is not taken quickly enough.
You should start by repairing the damage. Minor damage can be remedied with filler or patching, but more serious harm will require the attention of a driveway professional. Once these repairs have been made, you can begin considering whether or not to add a border. This will add a new edge to protect the currently broken one.
The biggest thing you can do to prevent this damage altogether or prevent it from making it worse is to avoid driving off of the sides of the driveway because this extra pressure can cause cracks to appear and become very bad incredibly quickly.
Potholes
Few things are as annoying when driving as encountering a pothole. This minor annoyance becomes a massive problem when it occurs close to home, such as on your own driveway.
Quite a few things can cause your driveway to suffer from potholes, from holding small amounts of water that thaws and freezes over and over to poor installation or even a tree root growing under your driveway. Whatever this cause is, you need to find a way to deal with it before moving on to the repair or the issue will simply happen again.
From here, the repair is pretty easy if time-consuming and tedious. You start by removing any debris from the area because you’ll have a lot more problems in the future otherwise. You’ll then need to add a stable base and cut the edges before adding a few players of patch. Once the patch has been applied and smoothed over, you just wait for it to fully cure and then the pothole is no more!
Raised Sections
Over time, you may notice that your once-pristine driveway is now uneven, with raised spots and lowered areas. The cause is pretty simple most of the time: the concrete settled.
Other times you have a much bigger problem because the cause is a tree root. If a tree root is the problem, this needs to be addressed or you’ll have many other issues to worry about. If settling is the cause, then you have a few options available to you.
You may want to lower the raised sections of the driveway, but this is incredibly difficult, and completely replacing the uneven slabs will likely be an expensive way to discover the problem is with the dirt underneath not the concrete itself.
Luckily, you can quickly remedy uneven driveways by drilling holes through the concrete and adding some expanding foam underneath. This will bring the driveway up to the same level and be much cheaper than ripping it up, fixing the soil and fully replacing the driveway.
Cracks
The most common driveway issue of all is cracks. Cracks are caused by just about everything, from minor water damage to simple wear and tear. The repair options are just as numerous as the number of causes. Small cracks usually only require a little bit of resurfacing product to be filled and prevent them from getting worse.
Crack fillers are also available if they’re too large for resurfacing to work. Consider concrete backer rods if the crack is particularly wide. If there are too many cracks or one is too large for repair, get the opinion of your local driveway paving and repair company.
Discoloration
Discoloration is both one of the easiest and most minor issues a driveway can experience. Time, wear and tear, the sun and spilled liquids are all common causes of driveway stains.
For many people, they can be easily ignored as they rarely affect the driveway’s function. For those looking to sell their home or who would prefer it if their driveway looked nice,there are a few ways to get rid of these unsightly spots.
For dirt and debris, some time under the powerwasher should do the trick. Even the most stubborn of dirt particles will be forced to drift toward the nearest storm drain thanks to the high-pressure water.
If this won’t work because your stains are caused by paint, oil or some other substance, then try hot water and soap or pain stripper. Of course, you could alway just repave the driveway completely if the stains won’t budge or there are too many to clean.