Our driveways can see a lot of use, which is why they tend to look aged or broken long before the rest of our hardscaping does. Think about how often you drive into or out of your driveway. Married couples can double that amount. If you have other adults living in the home, or children old enough to drive you can add even more wear and tear. Not to mention the sheer weight of the vehicles you have parked on the driveway at almost all times.
Now that you have a solid understanding of why your driveway appears so beat up and dreary, let us talk about what you can do about it. One of the best options is to have a custom brick driveway laid out. There are several key benefits to this, which we will discuss below.
Return on Investment
Laying out a brick driveway gives homeowners a much higher return on investment than concrete drives do. While the initial installation tends to be slightly more costly, custom brick is laid over a thin concrete sheet. This offers extra protection against breakage, whereas flat concrete drives tend towards easier breakage. Your custom drive will last for years – possibly decades – to come.
No Cracks or Discoloration
If you need any visual for how well brick withstands the test of time just look at any historical home. Brick was often used because of its easy accessibility and exacting standards of durability. There are even some homes over 200 years old with the original brick still inside.
What this means for your driveway is that you will be left with a durable product that will maintain an elevated level of aesthetic appeal for quite some time. Brick does not tend towards cracking the way concrete does, and it does not discolor as easily as some other paving materials.
Easy Repairs
Another benefit is that brickwork is easy to repair. If a crack, hole, nick, etc. appears in varying flat-laid materials than you may have to cut out large chunks of material or replace the entire setting – depending on the extent of the damage, of course. Yes, you can always repair small cracks. But repairing too many can harm the structural integrity of your driveway.
With brick repairs can be as simple as excavating a single piece and replacing it with a new one. Not only is the repair easily done, but most people will never know it was fixed in the first place.
Uniquely Yours
A custom brick driveway is something uniquely yours. You choose the type and color of the bricks, which can then be laid out in a few distinct patterns. Even if your neighbors wanted to replicate your idea the fact that each brick is laid out by hand means their drive will still differ slightly from yours. This makes custom brick drives the perfect choice for homeowners who would like to really stand out amongst their neighbors.
