If you’re like many homeowners, you live in a home with a premade driveway, probably built without any input from you, so it might not fit your needs exactly. Maybe you’ve purchased another vehicle; you have someone new living with you, or you have some extra toys that need a place to sit.
For whatever reason, you want to extend your driveway, but it’s not within your budget to extend or widen it with asphalt or concrete.
Can you still extend a driveway if you can’t afford to use uniform materials? The answer is yes. Let’s go over the cheapest way to extend a driveway without breaking the bank.
Alternatives to Concrete and Asphalt
The biggest question you need to answer is what material to use to build your driveway if you can’t afford to have asphalt or concrete poured.
Plain, unstabilized gravel is the cheapest way to extend your driveway but won’t be very effective in the long-term. Unstabilized gravel will spread and become pulverized rather quickly, leading to ruts, mud, and dust that you wouldn’t want to deal with.
Installing stabilized gravel with permeable pavers, however, is the single cheapest and most effective solution to extending a driveway while providing long-term durability and functionality. TRUEGRID offers every type of paver you need to match your driveway situation.
These permeable pavers are made from 100% recycled plastic and can be installed so that they almost seamlessly blend into or alongside your current driveway. Even if your driveway is asphalt or concrete, you can extend it effortlessly with TRUEGRID’s permeable pavers.
How to Extend a Driveway with Permeable Pavers
The process is insanely simple and can even be done in DIY fashion. First, you measure your intended expansion area and order enough pavers to fit accordingly.
If your driveway doesn’t match the shape of the permeable paver grids exactly, these grids can be easily trimmed to fit your expansion area.
Next, the intended area is excavated to a depth of approx. 9 inches, depending on your preference. If you have compacted gravel and are not looking for more drainage, as little as 2 inches of excavation may be needed.
Then, a thin cloth is laid at the bottom of the excavated area to block weed growth from below. Gravel, limestone, or an angular aggregate of your choice is poured into the excavated area and compacted. The permeable pavers are then laid over the top and easily snapped into place.
After that, the pavers are filled and rolled with more aggregate, creating a level, solid surface. Use fill aggregate that complements your home and landscaping.That’s the entire process in a nutshell. It’s so simple and quick you can complete it in a single day.
The Benefits of TRUEGRID Pavers Over Other Materials
TRUEGRID’s pavers can be significantly less expensive than concrete pavers or brick pavers. TRUEGRID can be filled with grass or gravel to create a more natural aesthetic and add more drainage than asphalt, concrete, or other hardscape pavers. Made from highly-durable, 100% recycled plastic, these pavers can reduce upfront cost, overall maintenance, as well as installation.
If you extend your driveway with TRUEGRID pavers, it will also be permeable and protected from flooding. This is perfect for sloping driveways or driveways in a flood zone because the water drains right through the pavers and into the soil. TRUEGRID also offers erosion protection.
In addition to providing these benefits, TRUEGRID takes the utmost care to ensure that its products are tops in eco-friendliness. From production to installation, their products are designed to benefit the environment as much as possible. In addition to using and repurposing recycled plastic, TRUEGRID acts as a natural stormwater filter to allow infiltration and bioremediation to remove pollutants before they recharge our aquifers. There are no toxic sealants needed and the carbon footprint is a fraction of other paving alternatives. For this reason, you might prefer to extend your driveway with these pavers rather than asphalt or concrete.
Pavers are the Most Cost-Effective Way to Extend Your Driveway
No matter how your current driveway is made, if you want to extend it without breaking the bank, permeable pavers from TRUEGRID are the way to go. Their installation is so easy even your kids can help you, and the total cost can be outrageously low especially if you use TRUEGRID ROOT for stabilized grass parking. Whether you use grass or gravel with TRUEGRID, you’ll never have to spend money on maintenance, even years down the road.
In addition, their flood-prevention capability, eco-friendliness, stylistic variability, and long-term durability mean that using TRUEGRID permeable pavers is the best way to widen or lengthen your driveway without breaking the bank.
option for the base layer of a gravel driveway is item #4. Item #4 is comprised of sand, dirt, and golf ball-sized stones. This type of gravel is available in a few different variations including recycled item # 4, which is made up of recycled stones, brick, blacktop, concrete, and rock.
There is also quarry item # 4, or crushed limestone, gray item # 4 which appears dark grey in color, and crushed bluestone item #4. Crushed bluestone item #4 is usually found in municipal driveways, though.
The middle layer of a gravel driveway features stones closer to golf ball size, with #57 stone being the prominent type of gravel. Otherwise known simply as crushed gravel, #57 stone also helps promote drainage.
5 Types of The Best Surface Gravel for Driveaway
There isn’t a lot of variety for the bottom layers of a gravel driveway, however, there are more options when it comes to finding the best gravel for driveway surfaces. Among the other options are crushed stone #411, quarry process, pea gravel, jersey shore gravel, marble chips, and river rock. These are the best options for driveway surfaces gravel, because they are small stones combined with rock dust, which makes a more solid driving surface.
1. Crushed Stone #411
It is crushed up #57 stone combined with rock dust. This mixture is able to handle moderate traffic from heavy vehicles.
2. Quarry Process
It is also called “crusher run” and works well for the surface of both driveways and walkways. It’s made from stone dust fines and crushed stone.
The stone dust will settle and become compact to create a semisolid surface that is smooth. It is important that you know that this type of surface gravel needs to be sloped towards the sides of your driveway for better drainage.
3. Pea Gravel
Pea gravel is popular gravel for driveway aesthetics. It’s made up of round, small stones that can come in many different colors. This type of gravel will easily migrate and spread under the weight of vehicles, though, and needs to be stabilized for long-term, maintenance-free usage.
4. Jersey Shore Gravel
It is made of yellow, tan, white, gold, and brownstones and looks quite a bit like sand. It’s similar to pea gravel since it needs borders or stabilizing pavers to prevent it from spreading.
5. Marble Chips
Marble chips are white and they sparkle in the sunlight. They typically cost more than other gravel types but are another favorite when it comes to being the best gravel for driveway aesthetic appeal. This type of gravel also needs a border or stabilization to prevent it from spreading, migrating, and washing away.
6. Blackstar or Blacktrap Rock
A very attractive dark gray gravel, this is an excellent choice as it is angular and locks together. When combined with stabilizing grid paving system, this provides a super durable and beautiful driveway.
A Better Alternative to Typical Gravel Driveways
Some of the aforementioned gravel types require stabilization, but the best way to construct any gravel driveway is by using TRUEGRID permeable pavers to lock in your gravel.
TRUEGRID PRO LITE and PRO PLUS stabilizing pavers simply require fill gravel and surface gravel, although you can use the same type of gravel for both. The fill gravel is poured over the top of a piece of fabric at the bottom of the excavated area where you want your driveway that provides drainage for water and other liquids.
It is then compacted and leveled before TRUEGRID permeable pavers are snapped in place over the surface. Next, your surface gravel of choice is poured over the pavers and locked into place using a heavy roller or vehicle. This weighs the pavers down and locks them securely into place.
The main benefit of using TRUEGRID pavers to build a gravel driveway is that they will keep your gravel in place, eliminating the need for almost any maintenance during the course of your driveway’s lifetime.
A properly installed and maintained TRUEGRID gravel driveway is durable enough to handle all types of vehicle traffic and will last up to 60 years without cracking or breaking down in the sun, rain, or other types of weather like asphalt does.. Choosing the best gravel for driveway usage is only part of the equation.
If you want to build your gravel driveway the maintenance-free way, get in touch with the pavement professionals at TRUEGRID today for a quote.
