Concrete driveways are permanent add-ons to your home that require little maintenance, can improve its appearance, provide kids with a safe place to ride the moped, reduce erosion, and keep your car clean more easily. Building one is an expensive and labor-intensive project, but for diehard do-it-yourselfers, building a driveway can be a daunting but very rewarding undertaking. Pay attention to the safety instructions below when working with concrete!
Steps
Step 1. Develop a plan for your driveway
You will need to consider several things in order to make the driveway functional, aesthetically pleasing, and durable. Here are some considerations.
- Which direction will you take with your car to enter the street? If your house is next to a blind spot where oncoming traffic can create dangerous situations, it may be useful to create a "roundabout", so that you have the advantage of seeing the road when you exit the driveway, or make the road wide. enough to be able to turn when you leave.
- What is the environment in which you build? If you are building on a hill, you will have to pay attention to drainage to limit soil erosion, as well as to make sure that the profile is not too steep, to prevent your car from touching the ground.
- What are the obstacles to your project? Large stones or trees can be difficult to remove without heavy equipment, and it is often best to leave these items in place. It is therefore essential to determine the path of the driveway by bypassing obstacles or bypassing them.
Step 2. Make an economic estimate of the driveway
To do this, calculate the amount of concrete you will need, the type of templates you will need, and any reinforcing materials you will add to the concrete slab. You will also need to estimate the cost of any equipment you will hire to level or refine and the cost of labor if you intend to hire workers to help you with the project.
Step 3. Check with local agencies to determine what requirements and building permits you will need to build the driveway
Since you are probably bounded by or connected to a residential road, the driveway outlet will be on a municipal or provincial passage. This can impact on underground utilities, rainwater outflows or other public elements present.
Step 4. Determine the characteristics of the soil on which you will build the project
Soft, clayey, loosely packed or sandy soils need modifications to support the driveway. You can add clay to sandy soils, sand or gravel to clay soils, or you can mechanically compact the soil. If in doubt, consult an experienced builder or civil engineer before proceeding, as an unsuitable foundation could ruin the concrete after investing time, work and money.
Step 5. Arrange the sides of the driveway
You can do this by placing wooden or metal poles where the driveway joins the road, then where it ends near the house, then tying some twine along the same posts to visualize the path of the driveway.
Step 6. Measure the width of the driveway to match your design
This is the time to consider the width chosen for the driveway. A minimum width for a residential driveway is about 2.5 meters, but even for a single lane street, 3.5 meters or 3.5 meters is a more appropriate width. For a dual carriageway, 5 meters wide will be the minimum to consider.
Step 7. Remove the sod and vegetation from the driveway location after determining the path with the twine
Remember, once again, that if the ground is particularly soft or unstable, you will need to remove enough of it so that you can add the reinforcing material underneath the driveway during construction. Remember that for particularly cold climates, a capillary fill material such as crushed stone or gravel is preferable to prevent the formation of cracks and openings due to the expansion of frozen water in freezing conditions.
Step 8. Check if there are underground utilities that need to be modified or installed before adding backfill material and preparing templates
Some of them may be electricity or outdoor lighting pipes, irrigation lines, telephone lines, or home drinking water pipes. The structure must also be sloped so that it can contain a rainwater drain pipe that transfers surface water from one side of the driveway to the other. Alternatively, you can make the structure border the road where the water falls perpendicular to the driveway, so that you can use an underground pipe that does not cause the flow to stagnate.
Step 9. Install the templates for your driveway
Usually, they consist of 19 x 89 mm or 38 x 89 mm wooden bundles, locked with wooden poles to sufficiently support the shaped boards. These posts are fixed to the ground with a hammer, with enough distance to keep the boards "level" and "perfectly aligned". For curved driveways, Masonite or plywood is useful, because they are strong enough to support the load of the concrete, yet flexible enough to bend a few degrees.
Step 10. Level the backfill or the soil itself so that the concrete "slab" is of the right depth and thickness; in case of heavier vehicles or difficulties in stabilizing the soil conditions, it is advisable to use a thicker concrete
Leveling is achieved by placing a ruler or tying a string on the tops of the shapes and measuring on the ground, at the correct depth. Remove or add the filling material with a shovel. You can also "thicken" the edges, or make them deeper, to give more strength and reduce the risk of cracks. Often, these small compact bases are about 20cm deep and 20 to 30cm wide.
Step 11. Compact the backfill using a compacting plate, which you can rent from specialist suppliers, or, alternatively, a hand compactor that can be purchased from a home tool dealer
You can also compact the soil by driving a vehicle over the area several times, being careful not to get bogged down if the soil is too soft at first. The important thing to remember is that firm soil will primarily serve to support concrete, as well as vehicles that will cross the driveway, so the importance of having firm, firm backfill shouldn't be exaggerated.
Step 12. Install reinforcing steel if you prefer
You can install a layer of steel bars to reinforce, usually # 4 bars, 12.7mm diameter, 152 x 152cm welded bars, available at supply stores. Another option is the reinforcing polypropylene fiber added to the cement slurry in the concrete mixer.
Step 13. Carefully plan the "pour", ie the place to pour the concrete
You will need the right equipment, concrete help and the ability to have a trace or method of that kind to be able to pour the concrete into the templates. Wheelbarrowing fresh concrete the full length of the driveway is very hard work, so if you are unable to trace paths so that you can dump the concrete directly into the templates, try hiring a contractor who has a pump to the concrete and pour the material in your place.
Step 14. Refine the plate as you like
You will need to make the surface as flat as possible (which does not mean level) to avoid man-made puddles or standing water on the road. Try not to make the finishes even too smooth or slippery enough to compromise the traction of your car. Rough or canvas-like surfaces are the most used. Both can be created by dragging a broom or hessian over the still slightly fresh concrete, thus leaving a rough texture on the surface.
Step 15. Take care of the concrete
You can do this by creating a moisture barrier on the surface of the concrete, with a layer of plastic, or by applying a protective chemical compound to prevent the concrete from drying too quickly. Try to protect the concrete driveway from extreme weather conditions for at least three, preferably seven days, so that it reaches maximum strength.
Step 16. Do a test drive on the driveway
When the concrete is strong enough to support the vehicle… after at least three days, preferably more, drive the car onto the driveway to test its usability.
Step 17. Remove the shapes and repair the environment along the edges where the lawn was damaged by the driveway shaping process
Advice
- Select the area in which to build the driveway carefully, considering any future projects or adding other elements to the home or building that may interfere with it.
- Be careful when letting the cement delivery truck in. These vehicles often weigh more than 30 tons. In areas with soft or even slightly damp soil these vehicles can leave deep grooves with their wheels in the ground that are difficult to repair due to soil compression. It is often best when pouring to keep the truck on a freshly prepared base with compacted gravel. Be careful getting vehicles into where the sidewalks are, as they could break the edges of both the sidewalks and the roadway.
- Consult with some experts to check the requirements for this type of job in the area. It is common to have public standards of thickness and reinforcement for the part of the driveway (often called the forecourt) that connects to the road or sidewalk or acts as a connecting element.
- Consider alternative driveway materials, such as brick, compacted stone, or concrete slabs.
- Consider using "permeable" concrete or other materials such as decomposed granite if the drainage of rainwater causes problems.
Warnings
- Wear and use all personal safety equipment during each step of the job. Cement can cause severe burns and contact dermatitis. Avoid skin contact, especially by kneeling on concrete or getting it into your boots. Wash each affected area immediately and thoroughly. In case of contact with your eyes, rinse them quickly and contact a doctor immediately. Burns may appear after a few hours and not immediately.
- Concrete can be difficult to smooth, level and finish. Mistakes in refinement could cause unwanted results.
- Cement is a very heavy material, which can reach more than 60 kg per cubic meter. Shoveling, lifting, raking or transporting concrete in buckets can cause severe muscle strain in the back, arms, or legs.
