The design of your driveway is a vital part of your landscape and requires a contractor’s expert advice and skills for installation. The driveway occupies an important place in overall home and property design. Don’t let it be an afterthought. Here are some driveway design tips from a London, ON, driveway contractor’s perspective guaranteed to give your home more curb appeal while making the driveway more functional.
Vehicle Dynamics
Vehicles need to navigate the driveway easily and safely, meaning understanding their movement as well as their relation to other vehicles using the driveway. Therefore, curves and turns should be designed to accommodate the sweeping motion of turning vehicles, as well as to allow vehicles to bypass one another if multiple vehicles occupy the same driveway. Unilock provides paving materials best suited for construction of such curves and turns. The length of the driveway and the ease with which vehicles can enter and leave should be considered. Can the vehicles turn around or will they have to back all the way down the driveway and out into the street? Installing a turn-around area would help enable drivers to safely drive forward out of the driveway. The point here is to ensure that the driveway is spacious enough. Remember to take into account the size of larger vehicles for growing families.
Related Read: Why Choose a Unilock Authorized Contractor to Install Your ON Driveway?
Functionality
Think of the traffic that’s going to be using the driveway on a regular basis. Consider the number of drivers or soon-to-be drivers in your household and their daily driving routines. Are there enough parking spaces? Answering these questions can help ensure that your driveway can effectively meet all of your needs.
Guest Parking
Without guest parking, cars will be parked haphazardly off the driveway or in the street, resulting in unsightly bare dirt spots and erosion. Having guest parking ensures that you have plenty of parking space while keeping the landscape in good shape. If regulations in your area prohibit extending your existing hardscape due to the imperviousness of driveways and their effect on overloaded stormwater drains, opt for Unilock permeable pavers to stay in line with local legislation and limit environmental problems, including stormwater runoff and erosion.
Durability
What type of traffic is the driveway going to handle? Some driveways may experience light traffic while others heavy traffic. Heavy and frequent vehicle traffic calls for a material that is strong enough to handle the load. Fortunately, Unilock offers a wide range of options suitable for higher than average load weights and frequent use.
Climate
Materials used in your driveway may not be suitable for the climate you live in. The harsh winters of Ontario can wreak havoc on poured concrete and asphalt because of the heavy freeze thaw cycle. Heavy rainfall can also negatively affect such driveways, which are prone to erosion. Climate factors that ought to be considered include snow, temperature, rainfall, humidity and snow. Unilock driveway pavers provide the flexibility necessary to withstand the freeze thaw cycle while a tight interlock guards against the shifting of earth after a heavy rain. Unilock pavers equipped with EnduraColor Colorstay technology also protect against fading from sun exposure. To further protect your driveway against vehicle and climate pressures, a Unilock DriveGrid can be installed.
The title image features a driveway paved with Umbriano from Unilock.
