Pave the Driveway – Do It Yourself

Pave the Driveway – Do It Yourself

It is a well-known fact that lending a hand or even completely owning a house is almost always worth gold.

This is also the case with the garage driveway, because this can be laid yourself with a little manual work.

All that is required is a few steps and the right paving stones that will not give in even after years of exposure to cars and the like.

Today’s parking in and out of the garage is more convenient than ever: a push of a button and the door operator starts moving. But first the car has to reach the garage safely, i.e. the driveway for the garage has to be properly paved.

Tips for laying pavement in general – we have already discussed in detail in an earlier article: laying pavement. Here are a few more tips that could be useful for you when paving the garage driveway in particular.

As a substructure for the driveway

When laying paving stones for the garage driveway, the substructure plays an important role so that the driveway can withstand the load.

The substructure for the garage driveway usually consists of two layers: gravel and high-grade gravel. First of all for the substructure you need to:

  • excavate the area for the driveway,
  • then fill up with gravel and finally
  • compact the gravel with a vibrator.

This is followed by the noble gravel. Premium chippings are known for their high load-bearing capacity and should therefore always be the first choice; Cheap alternatives are all the more expensive in the long run.

Regarding the thickness of the gravel layer: Nothing pollutes the ground of the property more than a car. As a result, the underground of a garage driveway must be particularly strong.

The gravel layer under garage driveways is therefore thicker than in other areas; While footpaths like garden paths can manage with 12 to 15 cm of gravel, the driveway should be around 25 cm.

Pave the driveway - lay stones

For paving the driveway

When paving, proceed as described in detail in the article Laying the pavement. The most important keywords for paving:

  • Cut paving stones and
  • place with the correct (always the same) side facing up
  • Do not knock the paving stones into the gravel layer, but rather
  • Lay stones only loosely on the gravel layer.

After you have arranged all the paving stones and the layered structure of the driveway is complete, you have to shake everything again.

It is important to note: paving stones are not elastic and can reach their breaking point and break if the pressure is too strong. For this reason, you should only use a rubber vibrator to shake the plaster layer. This way the surface of the stones remains intact.

Before paving: test drives

Regardless of the quality of the stone layers and the careful laying and shaking of the paving stones, the size and shape of the garage driveway naturally also play an important role. And of course you should plan this before you start digging the soil and filling up the sub-layers.

The best, our tip, if you want to get your garage driveway without a professional: Take a few test drives with your car and test the angles or turns that are best for driving in and out of the garage.

Because it’s easy to misjudge the turning circle, curve radius and width of the car. What seems to you to be sufficient and practical from the green table or purely optically can look completely different from the perspective you have when you are sitting in the car and want to maneuver the good piece into the garage.

Another tip for planning the driveway: To be on the safe side, plan and of course just build the driveway a little larger than absolutely necessary. If there is enough space, of course. After all , cars are getting bigger and bigger and your garage driveway should do its job for many years.

Pave the driveway - do it yourself

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