Drainage

Proper preparation of the permanent driveway and walk is important if a trouble-free job is desired. Drainage facilities, although they may seem costly at the start, are extremely important, especially if the soil is not naturally well drained. The better the natural soil drainage, the less important becomes the sub-surface drainage problem under your driveway and walks.

Although most garages are built 10 feet wide, outside dimensions of doorways are usually about 7 1/2 or 8 feet wide as the average car is about 6 feet wide. This means that space is available on either side of the driveway where meets the garage doors. All too often the apron or sloping concrete slab that extends out from the garage to meet the driveway is located so that it extends the full 10-foot width of the building, thus making it impossible to put vines or small plants at the corners of the garage. If you can control the construction before it is completed, you might ask the builder to make the apron only as wide as the garage door itself. That will enable you to make corner plantings.

Drain in Driveway

In connection with driveway locations and construction it may be noted that if the surface drainage problem is such that the water flows from the street toward your house, and if you have arranged for surface drains as described earlier, one of the best places to locate such an open drain is at the lowest point in your driveway. Here you can have a rather large inlet or collection drain without marring the appearance of your lawn.

Turning Space

With modern traffic conditions the way they are, it is advisable, if space is available, to provide for turning your car around on your property so that you can drive forward onto the street instead of having to back out into traffic. And if you doesn’t have yet a turning space and planning to have one you can use diesel powered lawn mower to clean your available space.

Plans and sketches help, but the best way to locate and lay out such a turn-around area is with your own car. Better try it several times. You will find that it will probably take up more space than you imagined, but the safety afforded will be well worth it.