Permeable driveways give you the opportunity to hold heavy items, such as cars, securely while also keeping your home as environmentally-friendly as possible. If it's time for you to redo your driveway, seriously consider a permeable driveway option. They come in many materials and provide many benefits for you and the environment. 

Materials

Permeable driveways allow for plenty of material options including:

• Brick

Brick can produce a permeable effect if properly spaced. Rainwater runs off into space in between the bricks. 

• Dry-laid pavers

Pavers are concrete based blocks of stone that will be placed with room in between them for grass to grow. When it does rain, water will simply run into the grass. 

• Grass

You can opt for a grass driveway that will support your vehicles while keeping your property green and permeable. 

• Gravel/stone

Stone permeable driveways typically use flagstone and slate, but there are several types of stones that can be used. Gravel would fill up the space in between the stones. Stone is naturally permeable.

• Paving strips

You can run thin residential paving strips to hold the weight of your vehicle without compromising the integrity of your home's drainage system. 

• Permeable concrete

How It's Done

Permeable driveways consist of four layers. The bottom layer is a bed of sand. The third layer is a layer of filter fabric. The second layer is a 6-inch bed of gravel. Finally, the top layer is made of your choice of permeable material. 

Benefits of Permeable Driveways

More and more people are opting for permeable paving options than ever before for their amazing benefits. The benefits include:

• Saves money

You save money during the installation process because the contractor doesn't need to spend as much on a drainage or retention system. Not only will your job require less money in materials, but it will also take less time. 

• Environmentally friendly

Most people use permeable materials to save money, but it has great benefits for our environment as well. By being its own drainage system, it reduces runoff that could contain contaminants. It also prevents runoff from contributing to flooding of local bodies of water. Finally, it adds to the groundwater reservoir. 

• Attractive

Permeable driveways look just as good if not better than standard concrete options. They also allow for unique patterns that you can't create with concrete. Design options include open porous block cells, open porous hexagonal cells, open porous cross cells, open porous diamond cells, open porous circular cells, and open porous diamond-cross cells.