Interlocking Paver Driveways

Considering A New Interlocking Paver Driveway?

Is An Interlocking Paver Driveway The Best Choice For Your Home?

• Which driveway surface is best when choosing between interlocking pavers, asphalt, concrete and gravel?
• What are the benefits of an interlocking paver driveway vs asphalt driveways or concrete driveways?
• What type of ongoing maintenance do interlocking paver driveways require?

These are all very important things to consider when it comes to choosing a new driveway.

All About Interlocking Paver Driveways

Whether you call them interlocking pavers, concrete pavers, brick pavers or simply just pavers… they’re all basically the same when it comes to the the looks and installation process. But not all pavers are manufactured the same!

Brick pavers are baked at extremely high temperatures and concrete or interlocking pavers are formed and dried in a controlled climate settings.

However, while brick pavers, interlocking pavers and concrete pavers provide a solid driveway surface that mainly shed water off of the driveway, permeable pavers allow water to penetrate into the soil or sub-grade beneath the pavers allowing much less water runoff. Permable paver driveways are much more environmentally friendly allowing less pollutants winding up into our rivers, creeks, streams and lakes.

How common are paver driveways?

The further South we travel in the United States, the more likely we see concrete driveways and paver driveways. The further North we travel in the United States, the more likely we see asphalt driveways. This is due to the amount of freeze and thaw cycles that occur in the colder regions and the minimal freeze and thaw cycles we see in the warmer regions.

Paver driveways can be somewhat pliable since there are so many edges to allow for movement from freeze and thaw cycles, therefore, cracking rarely happens. But minor heaving can become an issue since it’s much easier for water to reach the sub-grade and freeze and thaw. Keep in mind also, if you live in a snowy region, shoveling paver driveways can be a chore as there are many edges to catch a shovel on. However, paver driveways are extremely durable and can withstand de-icing products like salt, magnesium chloride and other de-icing chemicals.

Depending on the size and scope of work involved, the construction of a new paver driveway can be installed by an experienced paver installation contractor generally over a 5 to 7 day period, depending on the size. Paver driveway installation is very labor intensive. Most of the work is done manually so you can expect the average paver driveway to take as much as 5 to 7 days before being able to drive on it and use it.

If you already own an interlocking paver driveway and it’s beginning to show the signs of aging and deterioration, has a tremendous amount of weeds, heaving issues, removing and replacing the interlocking paver driveway and starting from scratch may be in order! This absolutely should be performed by a reputable interlocking paver company that will do it right the first time. If the existing interlocking paver driveway shows signs of unstable sub-grade, the soil should be excavated and new base or structural material installed and then the new interlocking paver driveway installed for a solid, long lasting interlocking paver driveway.

Life Expectancy Of Interlocking Paver Driveways

Types of ongoing maintenance you can
expect to perform on an interlocking paver driveway?

Interlocking paver driveways require such little ongoing maintenance, that when comparing the up front costs to an asphalt or concrete driveway, essentially what you’re doing is trading the long term ongoing maintenance costs over the lifetime of an asphalt, concrete or even gravel driveways for the up front cost of the installation of an interlocking paver driveway. Some interlocking paver installation contractors offer a lifetime warranty! But keep in mind that a company’s warranty is only as good as the contractor that’s installing it. What good is a lifetime warranty if the contractor who installed it isn’t around to make good on it?

Choosing The Right Driveway For Your Home

When choosing between an interlocking paver driveway and the other three types of driveways, take into the consideration these things:

If the short term, up front cost is a deciding factor, Gravel Driveways or Asphalt Driveways are excellent, low cost options, depending on the size of your driveway. The long term trade off, however, is more ongoing maintenance costs. If up front costs are not as much of an important factor and aesthetics are, then Concrete Driveways or interlocking paver driveways are the alternative for a hard surface driveway. While initially the up front costs are much higher, long term they require less maintenance costs especially when you live in a snowy region.

Also, take into consideration the effects of an interlocking paver
driveway if it’s not maintained properly or how it can look as it ages.

There is nothing unfortunate about an interlocking paver driveway other than if it is installed improperly or sub standard materials are used for installation. Interlocking paver driveways are the best choice for a sold surface driveway!