When was the last time you considered renovating the driveway? Most people renovate their homes room by room but it’s the exterior of the home that often gets left behind. You don’t think about the driveway while you’re driving over it, but you should! It’s the place your car rests each day and you should do all that you can to make sure that you have a driveway that’s as beautiful as the inside of the house that you’ve been working on.
Your driveway is going to experience a whole range of damage over time, whether it’s a few potholes or giant cracks. The damage comes from the constant movement and weight of the car over the surface of the driveway, and although the driveway is just a patch of the exterior of the house, it’s something that can be pretty expensive to fix up. Renovation is a big job, and if you ensure that you have the help of companies like Flex Fleet Rental, you don’t have to worry about the clear up that’ll come with digging up the drive. You can’t have a driveway packed with holes and cracks. Not only will it bring down the value of your house, it’ll make your car lose its integrity and you can cause some serious damage.
Signs your driveway needs to be repaired
If your driveway is a new one, you might only notice the minor issues here and there. When these crop up, a sealant is going to help you to plug the gaps and do simple repairs. This will ensure that the driveway lasts a while longer and the damage won’t spread as much. You’ll also save some serious cash on repairs. There are some issues that you might come up against that will tell you that you need only do minor maintenance on the job:
- Tiny cracks. As long as the cracks are tiny and not noticeably wide, you can repair them yourself. This will prevent them from any further spreading and if you live in a cold place, the water that could freeze in the cracks won’t make them wider.
- It’s faded. The color of the driveway isn’t something that most people address, as it’s something that’ll happen over time anyway. However, it’s the one thing that you can do yourself that adds curb appeal to the place. Adding color will help you to improve the look of your home overall. You can add sealant to bring it back to life and with a good pressure wash, you can clean it completely.
- You’ve got sunken areas. Some driveways develop sinking areas where the driveway is lower than the garage floor.
- There are potholes. You can actually get potholes repaired yourself if you don’t want to call out an expert. A pothole is repairable and all you have to do is fill it with stone and dirt and more concrete. Top it off with asphalt and you can level it out with the rest of the driveway. This will work for a while just keep an eye on the car and see it’s not damaging your vehicle.
Your driveway isn’t supposed to last forever. It can’t physically do that when there is a car driving up and down it all the time. You can get a couple of years from your driveway if you treat it well and a part of that comes in knowing when it’s time to replace the driveway entirely. Some of the signs that your driveway is supposed to be replaced in its entirety include:
- There are too many cracks to fill. The smaller cracks are easy to repair but when they spread right out, it’s important that you can get the whole thing replaced.
- Too many potholes aren’t going to be easy to fill yourself. You need to think about how far deep they go into the foundations because all of the water collects in the foundations and can cause deeper issues that will need your help.
- You want to sell the house. If you want to sell your house and the driveway is old, you’re going to need to replace the driveway to ensure that you can boost your curb appeal. You should replace the driveway then allow it to deteriorate and it’ll be an investment but it’s worth it.
Maintaining your driveway is going to be the best thing that you can do to ensure that your driveway is functional and looks good. You want your home to remain undamaged and that’s how you can do it!