Driveway Styles and Materials | Choosing the Right Type of Driveway for Your Home

As if building or remodeling a home wasn’t hard enough, one of the most overlooked features of your home is the driveway! The driveway in front of your home is one of the key first impressions a visitor or prospective buyer is going to see. We all know how important curb appeal and first impressions can be, so it only makes sense to make sure you choose the right type of driveway material for your budget and your home.

In this Driveway Guide, we’ll take a look at several of the factors that can help you choose the best driveway for your home. We’ll explore things like your budget, and the cost of a new driveway as well as how the driveway size plays an important role. The climate where you live and its effect on the driveway, and we’ll also explain how your use of the driveway will have an impact on the type you choose. Comments and user feedback are welcome at the end of the guide.

4 Factors that Will Effect Driveway Choices

Review the main factors below that will have the most impact on the driveway you choose to have installed.

1 – Cost of the New Driveway and Your Budget

We’d be lying if we said that cost was not a factor in the the selection process for a new driveway. The amount of money you budget for the driveway is going to either limit the choices you have, or open up a whole new world of high-end driveways for your home. If you’re on a tight budget but still want a great looking driveway, consider a concrete, standard brick pavers, or an asphalt driveway. There are many options like stamping and painting or rubberizing, that can not only make these types of driveways look beautiful, they will last a very long time.

Of course, if money is no object and you just want the most beautiful driveway in your neighborhood, you might want to opt for a granite driveway, or even one of the latest trends in driveway design, a travertine tile driveway!

Review all of the different driveway types and learn which is right for your budget.

2 – Long Driveways

Many people with long driveways just choose asphalt or concrete due to the high cost involved with paving something as long as a street! Just because you have a 500 yard long driveway doesn’t mean you can’t go high end with the design if you use a bit of planning.

The way to make a long driveway look better is to use lower cost driveway materials for the long drive in, then install a nice driveway gate or some other landscape feature that separates the long drive from the main driveway section leading directly to the front of your home. At that separation point, switch to a higher grade material to dress up the appearance and make your grand statement!

3 – Local Climate and the Effect on Driveway Choices

If you’re fortunate enough to live in a 2-3 season climate like Tampa Florida or San Diego CA, you can pretty much choose any type of driveway you want to be installed at your home. For the rest of the country however, they have to take things like snow, excessive heat, and other environmental conditions into account. You would not want to put a grass driveway (unless its artificial turf)  in an area that you have to water it all season long.

Before you drop a bunch of money into having an expensive brick paver driveway in your northern Michigan home, it may be better to invest in a heated driveway system instead, since in your area, it makes more sense to avoid shoveling than it does to look good for the 4 months you can see it!

4 – How You Use the Driveway Makes a Big Difference

Are you going to be working on your own cars in the driveway? Do you have children who might want a basketball goal installed, so they can play ball with their friends? If you plan on living on your driveway, your best bet is to just stick with a solid, durable and easy to clean surface like concrete or asphalt.

If you have to worry about children or your kids have grown and the only purpose your driveway serves is to park your collection of cars or increase the visual curb appeal of your beautiful home, then take it to the limit and choose a high end style to suit your needs.