The Tear out and the New Driveway

What Kind of Driveway?

This is a process of a thousand decisions. As Chuck Weiss taught me, you make the best decision with the information at hand and don't look back. We spent a lot of time getting information and the contractors were great at presenting options but it still isn't easy. If you don't like the color of your house, you can always change it next time you paint, probably a few years out. Rock, walls and driveways tend to be more permanent.

One thing we had clear in our mind was that we liked the look of a driveway made up of individual pavers. We thought about concrete, exposed aggregate, stamped concrete and even loose gravel. But as we walked around the neighborhood we kept coming back to the pavers. It was worth it.

Tearing out the Driveway Before we could make new, we had to tear out the old.

The old driveway had to come out. We decided to extend the pavers to create a parking area to the right and around into the back yard to provide a continuous flow to the back patio.

We also wanted to replace the wooden fence with a stucco wall, so it came out too.

Luann and the BobCat Luann liked the BobCat.

In one day they had the old driveway out, dug up some roots from trees long since gone, scooped out the old dirt, added crushed base rock and decomposed aggregate and shaped and sloped the whole thing to ensure good runoff.

Luann in Bricks Luann in the Bricks.

The previous owner used brick for a patio and walkway around the house. Bricks are nice but we started getting too many competing colors and textures so we decided (gulp!) to tear out the bricks.

The first thing everyone says is "You'll be able to sell all those used bricks." Unfortunately, the huge Sugar plant just got torn down in Spreckels and flooded the marked with 12 million used brick.

The New Driveway.

The driveway looks great. We must have had twenty people stop and ask about it or compliment the new look so that was reassuring. Luann went with a random pattern and double soldier border (decisions) and the whole package looks terrific. There's a center circle and a nice mix of colors and sizes. No more standing in puddles when washing the car, the pavers drain naturally and the rest runs down to the back lawn.

The DriveWay Circle The Circle.

Luann had them put a cicle in the middle and put some curves in the sides and edges - breaking away from the straight lines of the old concrete drive and parking area. Good idea.

The Stones (not Mick and the boys).

Here's a shot that shows the driveway and the parking area off to the side. The stones continue into the backyard. The framing is for the stucco wall. There will be a double gate to the back yard.

September 5, 1996

Here's the place after clearing out the old growth, tearing out the side fence and putting in the new driveway.

Front

Side

Rudy Rugebregt - rudy@rugebregt.com - Updated: September 5, 1996