When decorating your outdoor space, you should pay attention to your driveway. It is one of the most used areas of your house, thus, making it an essential part of your outdoor space.
A good maintenance routine should prolong the life of it, protect it, and enhance the curb appeal of your home. If you aren’t sure of how to do so, here are some tips to get started.
Importance of Maintaining your Driveway
Why should you invest so much in your driveway? Why should you spend so much effort and time ensuring that it is well-maintained? Here are a few reasons why.
Value:
If you plan on selling your house someday, you will definitely want to sell it at a price you are proud of. And how do you achieve that if your driveway is nothing to write home about?
If you are serious about increasing the value of your home, you will want to prioritize the maintenance of your driveway, and of course, other parts of your home.
Functionality:
A driveway filled with cracks and potholes no longer serves the purpose for which it has been designed. In general, it is used as a path to your home and an area for parking your vehicles (RV or camper).
If it is faulty, it may be unwise to use it as it could damage your vehicle tires.
Safety:
Have home insurance? We believe you know it comes with liability that covers the personal injury claim that is filed. It will be unfortunate to have to use it because your friend or neighbor tripped and injured themselves due to the pothole on your pavement.
Legal Issues:
Did you know that most places have strict rules regarding driveways and their maintenance? If your town is among those places, you may want to keep on the good side of the law by figuring out the rules and adhering to them to avoid unpleasant fines.
Maintaining Your Driveway
1. Prevent Cracks
Cracks on your driveway are bad for your car tires and the appeal of your home. To prevent the appearance of cracks, ensure you seal concrete yearly and asphalt every few years to stop water from penetrating, freezing, and cracking.
Many things can cause cracks including improper installation, soil erosion, excessive weight, sinkholes, and tree roots. Have any trees or shrubs near your driveway? Get them removed or trim their roots to prevent them from shooting forth.
2. Fill Cracks in your driveway
Inspect your driveway regularly as part of your maintenance routine. Keep an eye out for cracks and other defects. If you notice cracks or holes, don’t hesitate to patch them. But how? You have a few options.
You can use a masonry chisel to take out loose materials and brush out the debris before applying a crack filler and patching compound. After the compound dries, seal the whole driveway. Alternatively, you can seal little cracks with advanced polymer concrete crack sealant.
Having a smooth and level driveway may help reduce the risk of visitors tripping and falling when they visit your home. Also, rather than using brushed concrete on your pavement, you can consider calling in washed aggregate pavers Perth for the best-exposed aggregate pavement design. Exposed aggregate is more slip-resistant than brushed concrete. Remember, a properly maintained driveway keeps hazards at bay.
3. Reduce water on it
Another effective way to maintain your driveway is by reducing water accumulation on its surface. And how do you do that?
Clear a few-inch strip around the edges of the driveway to create a run-off area for snow and water. The results? Water and snow will find it hard to penetrate the surface of your driveway, thus reducing the likelihood of cracks. Also, ensure that downspouts empty their content into the yard and not the driveway.
4. Don’t salt cement driveways
How do you get rid of ice from your driveway? Do you apply salt or use chemical dei-cers? Both salt and chemical deicers are known to penetrate surfaces, causing cracks. Instead of applying salt to melt snow, use a snowblower or shovel to remove it. Then use alternatives like sand, coffee grounds, or kitty litter to make surfaces less slippery.
For ice, try spraying the surface with sugar beet juice. Doing this reduces the melting point of ice and is best effective in temperatures as low as -20°F
5. Plow with care
If your driveway is covered with immense snow, you may want to bring in a snowplow to discard it. While plowing with this machine, ensure it doesn’t scrape and damage the surface.
If you are shoveling, go for a plastic shovel for rough surfaces to reduce the risk of scrapping the driveway. Then, you can either push to one side and shovel it off or remove snow a few inches at a time while working your way downward.
6. Protect the edges
The truth is, driveways aren’t made for heavy trucks like backhoes, excavators, or sand trucks. If you subject it to the weight of a heavy truck, its edges will chip.
To avoid that, ensure that your car is parked away from the edges. Also, stop construction trucks from parking on your edges during home remodeling projects.
7. Clean your driveway
Maintaining your driveway involves cleaning it, too. Look out for stains caused by motor oil, radiator fluid and related substances. Having motor fluid spilled on your driveway is bad for its longevity as it can penetrate your pavement and soften asphalt.
Use non-clumping kitty litters to mop up fresh oil, followed by grease-cutting dishwashing detergent and warm water. If your driveway is smeared with older stains, try scrubbing the stain with grease-cutting, biodegradable cleaners.
Ensure that you use a normal scrub brush rather than a wire brush, as the latter can damage your driveway’s surface.
Conclusion on Driveway Maintenance
After spending so much time and effort cleaning up your interior, it makes sense to invest similar energy in your exterior, your driveway especially. A well-maintained driveway can raise the value of your home and increase its curb appeal.
So, from today, ensure you prioritize the maintenance of your driveway as no one will maintain it for you.