Choosing A New Driveway For Your Home
One of the most useful features of a home in the 21st century is a driveway, especially in towns and villages where parking may be difficult otherwise. In fact, if you live in some urban areas, you might have to park overnight a quarter of a mile away, or even more, unless you want to pay a small fortune in parking fees.
A driveway will often add value to a home and make it more marketable, too. If you are building a new home, then you should definitely allow for a driveway, but if you have a front garden and no driveway, you might want to consider the benefits of converting some or all of it to provide off-street parking. Of course, if you want to build a new driveway, you will need a drop kerb, but fortunately, at Base Driveways, we are fully approved by Kent Highways and Medway Council to install drop kerbs anywhere in the county.
Multiple Choices Of Materials
When it comes to the driveway itself there are multiple choices of materials that you can use for it. Quite obviously, it will have an impact on the appearance of your home, so you need to take that into consideration. You also want something that is capable of withstanding the weight of vehicles driving on to it, especially if you have heavier vehicles such as a 4 x 4. You need to choose a material that will last.
One material that is relatively inexpensive is tarmac. And no, before you ask, it doesn’t have to be black. Tarmac is available in a range of different colours. It is also very strong. However, you will need good drainage because water won’t just soak away. That means that if your driveway is flat, you will need a drainage channel constructed and connected to a soakaway, and that also means that you will need planning permission.
There is also the question of aesthetics. Some people just don’t like the look of tarmac. In addition, it can be difficult to manoeuvre the machinery needed to lay tarmac in a small area.
A great alternative would be block paving in Sittingbourne. This is extremely hard-wearing, and it comes in an almost limitless choice of colours, finishes, and shapes and sizes, so you can create almost endless patterns with it. Block paving can also be permeable, so the water won’t sit on it and form puddles but simply soak away through the paving, which is a big advantage. It also means you won’t need planning permission.
