DIY driveway: Tips and advice

Making a driveway involves many decisions, including whether you want to use it solely for cars. Some people use their driveways for basketball, tennis and cricket, and this will influence the type of surface to use. Surfaces need to be both practical and attractive. The size of the driveway is an important consideration as well.

How to plan your new driveway

Before beginning work, spend some time planning the size, shape and materials you want. Mark out the area you think you will need, with marker spray paint or string, leaving enough room for garden features. Give consideration to the required size bearing in mind the space needed by vehicles to manoeuvre into a garage or parking space, and other possible applications for the space, such as use for a sporting activity.

Decide on the surface you want, bearing in mind durability and wear, fit with the rest of the house and garden design, as well as colours and safety. Scoria and rough gravel, for instance, can cause unpleasant injuries if fallen on, and this may be a consideration.

Driveway: Surface material options

Surface materials can include gravel, paving, concrete, and a large range of other materials including porous surfaces. The material you choose will affect how you build the driveway. Plan the shape and space carefully and mark this out accurately, then begin construction. Read these tips:

• Regardless of what material is going to be used a first step will be to create a level and this may require some excavation. Using pavers or gravel will require creating a level with some kind of underlying material first, usually sand.
• Getting advice from a professional and consulting with your local council as to any requirements regarding how the driveway intersects with the public road, various planning laws etc. is also recommended.
• Create a stable base, by hiring a compactor and using it to stabilise about six inches (12 - 15cms) of gravel and clay mix. Ensuring this is level with string lines is absolutely vital
• Lay the surface material if it is pavers, gravel or other loose materials. Pavers will need the greatest care with levels, and should be laid from the middle out, in the desired pattern
• For pavers, fill in the spaces with fine sand
• Concrete should be laid carefully in fine weather, over a sound sand base. Depth should be at least 100mm. Timber 'formwork', or little walls to hold in the wet concrete, needs to be constructed around the edges of the driveway. Concrete should be poured from the bottom of a slope, pouring then flattening small mounds and working your way up the slope

DIY driveway: Other information

Making your own driveway requires checking of council regulations before proceeding. Consider the uses your driveway will need to be put to, and plan around those. Simple driveways can be constructed in a day or two with proper planning, and even concrete driveways can be a successful DIY project.