Brick pavers for driveways provide for more creativity, a longer, lasting result and less overall maintenance than their concrete and asphalt counterparts. Check out the solutions possible and then think seriously about changing the look and feel of your driveway.
If you are looking for a long-lasting driveway, then think about brick pavers. They come in a wide variety of muted colors and individual pavers can be cut to create seemingly unending patterns and designs. Using brick pavers, it is possible to create a driveway that resembles a brick wall with alternating rows of bricks or a driveway with a radial array of colored patterns. You can also create interesting, free-flowing designs rather than a customary rectangular concrete and asphalt driveway. Comparing these types of options to standard, more boring, concrete or asphalt driveways is really not a competitive event.
Brick pavers, much like those used in the Roman interstate system (some 2000 years ago), last a long time. The same cannot be said for concrete or asphalt. Pavers “float” on a sandy and/or gravelly base and allow water to easily run off and percolate into the sub-strata. This is very environmentally friendly because it helps to build the water table and lessen runoff.
Asphalt and concrete driveways are predicated on having water run off. Through normal use and the pressure of cars driving across it, asphalt develops cracks and concrete often cracks. And when then, when water gets into these cracks, the freeze-thaw cycle, coupled with the movement of cars across it, often leads to increasing degrees of failure. To prevent this from happening in an asphalt driveway, you have to periodically reseal the driveway. In a concrete driveway, repair is the more desired option, rather than viewing an ugly concrete crack sealer.
If a brick paver breaks, lifts or sinks, it is an easy matter to remove it and its neighbors and either address any sand or gravel issues and/or replace the failed paver. For this reason (and because you may to expand the driveway to include a walkway, garden wall, pool deck or patio), it is always a good idea to keep a stash of extra brick pavers from the original driveway installation. This will ensure a color and type match you might not be able to get in a replacement order.
If the concrete or asphalt driveway needs repairs, it involves a larger area and a more extensive and expensive operation. And, the new concrete always looks different that its older neighbors.
Brick pavers also bring with them a more expensive look and may just help command a higher resale price for your home someday.
But, pavers are not without some maintenance. They do need periodic power washings to bring back their more intense colors and, in warmer climes, to remove the moss that tends to grow in the spaces between the brick pavers.
Still, when you weigh the pros and cons, brick pavers for a driveway provide a much better option than concrete or asphalt.
If your budget allows and you feel daring, check out this option. You may just start a neighborhood trend.