The fact that there is a clear connection between how the driveway is made and the car’s load-carrying on it should be quite obvious, and yet, people often do not consider it enough. As a result, their driveways begin to crack and stain, a long time before they should. Whether you have a new car in mind or if you are thinking about replacing that old concrete driveway in front of the factory, go through the following helpful pointers before making a decision on either front.
How Your Choice of Cars Affect Your Driveway
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Before you spend money on repairing or building a new driveway, understand that you will need to consider the following aspects first.
- Weight of the car/cars you expect to be driving through it on a fairly regular basis
- Type of vehicles (commercial or personal) and their maximum load-carrying capacity
- Number of cars you expect to be driven on the driveway regularly
- Weather conditions of the area where your home/office is
Quite simply, you need to choose a driveway that can handle the kind of load it is likely to bear. As to what options there are in that department, we will elaborate on that next.
Concrete
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Concrete is a popular choice because this durable material lasts a fairly long time and requires very little maintenance. That being said, concrete driveways are also known for staining easily, which is soon going to become an eyesore, as oil spills on a driveway are pretty much inevitable.
On top of that, if and when the concrete does crack, you will have to replace the entire driveway again. This makes it a comparatively inferior option to asphalt in very cold climates. Nevertheless, properly installed concrete driveways can resist cracking for more than a decade or two, even in industrial driveways. It’s a good choice for commercial driveways and in homes where there are multiple heavy vehicles.
Asphalt
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Asphalt is, in many ways, a superior material for driveways than concrete, as well as all the other commonly used materials for driveways, such as gravel, crushed basalt, cobblestone, brick, and dirt. First and foremost, it can outlast even concrete, if you follow the simple maintenance steps that this asphalt contractors blog suggests for extending the life of asphalt driveways.
Secondly, it’s just as long-lasting as concrete, but with three major advantages over its lighter-colored counterpart:
- Due to asphalt being inherently dark in color, it does not stain easily, and stains are not as visible as they are on concrete
- While asphalt cracks quicker than concrete under due stress, they can be patched up easily, unlike concrete, which needs to be replaced completely
- Installing asphalt driveways is a lot cheaper than installing concrete driveways
Do keep in mind, though, asphalt’s durability is only valid if you manage to patch up those cracks in time. They are suitable for both commercial and residential driveways. They can last up to 30 years in residential sectors, even if you have a dozen Ford pickup trucks at home!
Other options such as crushed basalt, gravel, dirt, etc. are more suitable in rural, residential areas. Cobblestone and bricks are both beautiful choices, though, provided that you are not looking for them to withstand heavy traffic loads. They also have a much shorter lifespan when compared to asphalt and concrete.
