5 Common (and Avoidable!) Driveway Problems to have this Winter
#1 Go cheap on the dirtwork:
This is the most common reason people have trouble with their driveways. Most people today believe that building roads is about surface level appearances. If you want a driveway to last more than one season, you CANNOT skip the work below grade that you can’t see at a glance.
The true test of a driveway is how well it performs in bad weather.
#2 Don’t plan for drainage
Underground springs and ponding are incredibly destructive to a road under any conditions, but even more so in the winter, as it causes increased amounts of frost and ice. This is the most difficult to work with in the winter, as it causes tremendous ice buildup. No one wants ice on their driveway! The worst part is that ice eventually melts, mixing with dirt during a thaw, which will turn your driveway from an ice rink to a mud pit.
This is a temporary dirt path that skipped all the steps necessary to create a good driveway. When people attempt to use this, deep ruts are created that collect water.
#3 Don’t compress the base layers
Failure to properly compact even the best materials allows water to pool, freeze and make ice. Melting ice makes mud, displacing the road materials and causing ruts and potholes to form. This also makes it difficult to plow snow when your driveway is improperly compacted.
Many people believe that simply driving over gravel with a pickup truck will compact the material. THIS IS FALSE. Without proper construction equipment specifically designed to compact your road, you will have bought that gravel for nothing.
#4 Toss gravel on top and hope for the best
In the wintertime, employing this strategy, you will end up with the gravel removed by the snow plow, in a pile, with your snow. It is incredible to me how many people try this. It may look good in the fall, but you will have a mess in the spring, and will make your yard difficult to mow in the summer.
Shame on the mess.
#5 Failure to install cross pipe at intersection with main road
Main roads drain to the ditchline. If your road doesn’t have a crosspipe allowing that drainage to continue down the main road, you may inadvertently redirect the drainage from the main road onto your driveway, causing washouts and ice buildup.
This driveway entrance is a sheet of solid ice because drainage from the main road has nowhere else to go.
These are just five of many ways people accidently cause nightmarish driveway situations in the winter. Contact us today at 814-221-7424 or request a quote online for more information today to make sure your driveway is done right the first time!
