My driveway needs help. Parts of it sank. Other parts heaved up to form jagged craters.
An enormous hump scraped the bottom of Susan's Volkswagen, so she went at the driveway with a sledge hammer.
The driveway is flatter now, but mud oozes up through the asphalt.
Okay, so what are my options?
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1. Brick or Stone
Pavers.
Oh to have a driveway reminiscent of the streets of
Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia. Well, not like the actual Williamsburg
of colonial days, when streets were paved with mud and horse manure. I'm
talking about the Disneyfied Williamsburg with roads made of bricks in
tidy herringbone patterns, or maybe with orderly rows of granite paving
blocks.
The idea is tempting, but such a project would be
costly. Also, bricks and stones are likely to sink or heave if they
aren't installed correctly. Then where would I be?
Web Link:
Driveway
pavers pro and con.
2.
Concrete.
Concrete is less expensive than brick or stone
pavement, and a variety of special treatments will give concrete a quasi
historic look. For example, I could have the concrete tinted pale gray
to mimic stone. Or, I could have the concrete imprinted with an
imitation cobblestone pattern.
Faux stone like this might
prove more durable than genuine stones, since there are no
deep gaps to entice sprouting weeds.
Still, concrete can and will crack.
And, although more affordable than brick and stone, concrete is costly.
Web Link:
Concrete
pros and cons.
3. Asphalt.
Just
about every building in my neighborhood has an asphalt driveway. No
wonder. Asphalt is much cheaper than concrete, and it's also more
forgiving. Tree roots that will break a concrete slab may only cause a
slight bulge in an asphalt driveway. But I hate the dismal black
expanse of a driveway paved with gravel and tar. Do I really want my
yard to look like a Wal-Mart parking lot?
I suppose I could
use tinted asphalt, like they do for some tennis courts. The color is
added right to the asphalt mix, or else is added later by applying a
tinted sealer. I'm looking into color options offered by AsphaltColor.com.
Web Link:
Asphalt
pros and cons.
4. Crushed
Stone or Gravel.
Gravel and crushed stone don't get no respect.
People say that driveways paved with gravel or small stones are messy
and develop ruts. Snow plows add to the problems and the stone needs to
be periodically replaced.
I suppose this is true, but I've
had good luck with the gravel driveway at my 6-unit rental building. The
gravel was carefully installed with a firm layer of finely crushed
stone under a thick layer of bluestones. The snow plow guy knows to set
his blade high so he doesn't remove most of the driveway in the winter.
And there's a nice friendly crunch to the sound of wheels when cars come
and go.
The grass and weeds sprouting in the middle of the driveway?
Well, that adds to the atmosphere.
Web Link: Crushed
stone pros and cons.
5. Combination.
I love this look. By combining two different pavement materials, I can enjoy the old fashioned look of cobblestone or brick with the convenience of concrete or asphalt.
The idea is to create two smooth runways just wide enough for tires, with an island made of a more interesting material.
More on the Web:
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The Freeze Alarm looks and acts like a telephone answering machine. You set an alarm temperature and a few other variables. When
the internal sensor detects temperatures below the level you specified, the machine
calls you or any other emergency numbers you wish. 
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Those furniture dents a tenant left in the thick Berber
carpet? A spurt of steam from this little devil and the carpet piles
perked right up. Another spurt and ground-in dirt lifted from the
stairs. And the rumpled curtains? Pssssss...! Wrinkles gone.
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, available in white or a rainbow of colors.
2. Splash Guard
3. Bath Mat
4. Toilet Plunger
