Perfect Pavers
Set in a bed of sand, pavers can move as the ground freezes and thaws. The only maintenance required is to occasionally replenish the joints. Like a granite countertop, a granite pathway—or one made of bluestone, marble, or weathered brick—lends ... [... more]
This Old House |
Here's How to Build a Perfect Path
BROAD STEPPING STONES laced with low-growing plants create an informal path that complements this rustic Vermont home and its free-form garden beds. GRAVEL AND CRUSHED STONE provide a low-cost, fast-draining surface MIXED MATERIALS, like the ... [... more]
This Old House |
Improving the View From the Curb
The garden during construction The garden before, with no landscaping A front yard makeover solved a major problem for these Park Ridge, Illinois, homeowners. A new U-shaped driveway provides needed off-street parking, and the planting beds in ... [... more]
This Old House |
Digging Out Your Car? Don't Damage the Driveway
Sure, you've got to get rid of that blanket of snow so you won't fall on your keister on the way to the car, but watch out for another kind of injury: dinging up your driveway's surface. Check out our handy tips for avoiding premature wear and ... [... more]
This Old House |
Driveways That Drain Away
The Gravelpave2 paving system, about $3 per square foot; Invisible Structures. A sample of pervious concrete; NECSA Gravel and other porous materials are rarely the first choice for driveways, which is unfortunate as they have definite benefits ... [... more]
This Old House |
Blacktop and Beyond
REMOVE dirt and weeds from cracks with a trowel or screwdriver and sweep out loose dirt and debris. CLEAN cracks with high-pressure spray from a hose, then treat them with weed killer before patching. PATCH cracks using one of the specialized ... [... more]
This Old House |
Driveway Jazz Up
A landscape with no details draws focus to the prominent garage door. Create a Diversion: Some garages can't be ignored, like the large bays that bookend this house. But a central planting area can focus a visitor's attention on the entry, while ... [... more]
This Old House |
The Well-Planned Driveway
The 18-year-old concrete drive, riddled with cracks, is broken up with a hydraulic jackhammer and hauled away. Concrete and asphalt can be pulverized and reused as roadbed, the gravelly base for pavement. The ground is leveled and firmed with a ... [... more]
This Old House |
A Better Driveway Border
The dilapidated edges of an old asphalt driveway get a first-class face-lift, thanks to neat rows of rugged Belgian block. The driveway's asphalt edges are crumbling. Rainwater is washing away mulch. Plus, cars are straying onto the grass, ... [... more]
This Old House |
Light Where You Need It
Lighting the outside of your home is not difficult, but if you stroll around your neighborhood after dark, you'll see how easy it is to make mistakes. On any given night you're sure to find front doors hidden in the shadows, walks that are unsafe ... [... more]
This Old House |
Building an Enduring Driveway
The "new" driveway we built in Milton harkened back to an earlier, more elegant time, when carriages and motorcars would crunch along the circular drive we saw in old photographs of the house. But before we could drive up in our own cars, a lot [... more]
This Old House |
How to Renew Concrete Surfaces: Overview
Doesn't require any particular skill, but you must work quickly to apply the concrete resurfacer before it hardens In the past, when a concrete patio or driveway started to show serious signs of aging, using a jackhammer or bringing in a ... [... more]
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