Interlocking Driveways – The Cost Effective Solution

The outside appearance of your home makes a strong impression on everyone who sees it. It is the sum total of your home design, landscaping and many small details that make people feel welcome, or turn them away.
This is particularly important if you are looking to sell your home. Today’s real estate market is very tight, and small differences can attract offers. One of the most important exterior details for any home is the driveway, sidewalks and walkways. These areas must be attractive and consistent with the overall look of your home in order to generate the maximum interest and appeal to potential buyers.
Benefits:

  • Interlocking driveways through bricks is a well-known, cost-effective way to get those buyer’s eyes looking your way, and in making that all-important first positive impression.
  • While some prefer cement or blacktop for their driveway, it can be easily shown that interlocking brick pavers are equivalent or superior to them in many applications.
  • When correctly sited and installed, brick pavers have a very long lifetime and hold up well under the worst climatic extremes. This long-lasting material can be seen in daily use in streets and roadways all over the world, wherever tradition is respected and high performance is demanded.

Factors to consider before installing Interlocking:
There are several factors to consider before installing interlocking brick paving.

  • First, it is important to determine if the brick style fits in with the overall look of the home. Modern production techniques have created an entire world of bricks, in many different styles, shapes and colors, so it is quite easy to find a brick that works well with your exterior décor. Any home store or landscaper will have examples of these different styles available for your examination, as well as access to many others including custom styles.
  • Once the color and shape of the individual brick pavers is decided upon, it’s time to survey the installation site. Every location is different, and each one requires special attention in order to make sure the installation is fast and easy.
  • Proper installation is critical to maintaining the good looks and functionality of the brick pavers for many years after they are set in place.

Process of Installing Interlocking Driveways

  • The installation itself is very simple. The old materials- concrete, blacktop or even crushed gravel – are cleared away and sent for disposal.
  • The installation site is then graded smooth, and any changes in orientation or shape are made either by hand or through the use of power equipment.
  • Once the site is shaped to fit, it is again smoothed and rolled in order to provide a firm base.
  • A layer of sand is applied to the installation site and is likewise smoothed and packed hard.
  • The individual pavers are delivered from the supplier on pallets, and it is quite remarkable to watch a trained installation crew at work. Each brick is placed according to the design plan, forming an interlocking network that provides great strength combined with visual appeal.
  • Special brick-cutting saws are on hand to cut and shape bricks as needed to fill awkward corners and create a pleasing overall look.
  • Then more sand is spread over the finished driveway, filling the gaps and adding strength. With proper attention to these installation details, it is possible to create a driveway that combines superior load-bearing strength with good looks.

Maintenance of such a driveway is simple; all that needs to be done is to remove any weeds that sprout between the pavers and ensure that the spaces are filled with sand. And best of all, such a brick paver driveway is very cost-effective to install
you can save thousands over poured concrete or blacktop. Consider all the advantages of this addition to your home, and plan to install a brick paver driveway soon.

Featured images:
  •  License: Creative Commons image source

Kelly Brook writes on behalf of OSCinc, a company which deals with interlock driveway maintenance.