A couple driveway issues...

[Wade Lippman]

I am in Upstate NY. My front yard is somewhat higher than my garage. When I bought the house water would flow in and "flood" the garage. Well, an inch in the front and less in the back; still it wasn't good. I drilled some holes in the floor and that helped, but not enough. I had a new driveway put in 15 years ago. They said they couldn't put an actual drain it because it would just disintegrate, but they would put a low point in near the garage, and have it drain to one side where it was a bit lower. It worked to a degree, until the low spot got to be like a pond, and then the garage flooded again. I had some landscaping done and put a drain in the low spot. The problem is pretty well solved now, except that water still pools in low spots in the driveway, and that seems to be causing it to fall apart. The low spots are a combination of the swale they put in to divert the water and ruts from where the tires go; for some reason the ruts are only evident around the swale, maybe the driveway is thinner there?

My wife is nagging me to put in a new driveway because the 15 year old one is getting pretty rough. So:

1) Is it reasonable to extend the drain I have right next to the driveway to put it in the driveway. It would work much better, but the last guy told me it couldn't be done. Yet I have seen driveways with drains in them; so either he is wrong, or I just haven't seen them after they fail. 2) Is concrete an option? I rarely see it around here; is that because it is not suited for the climate or what? I presume it would hold up better than asphalt.

[aemeijers]

You need a different paving company. Slit drains near the garage on reverse-slope driveways are quite routine. Basically a U-shaped trench or slit pipe buried in the driveway, with removable grates on top for cleanout. It slopes to one or both sides, into collector boxes, again with a lift-off top for cleanout, and the overflow from the collector box goes to a daylight drain or large drywell as far from the house as you can work into the lot. Used to be concrete with metal lids exclusively, some vendors now have cheaper plastic ones available. Concrete vs. asphalt is mainly a matter of money and local soil conditions. If you get a lot of frost heave, asphalt is a little more forgiving- it'll sprout cracks, but driveway will still be usable. If money is no object, enough gravel underneath, concrete thickness and rebar will let you put concrete anywhere. With either, proper subsurface prep is the key. The tire ruts are probably from not enough gravel under the low spot, and/or they made the low spot by feathering the thickness of the asphalt. If it is over mud, yeah, it'll flex. Asphalt is not a solid, it is like taffy. That is what makes it sort of self-healing.

aem sends...

[mm]

My friend has plastic grates in the midline of his 2-car garage, so he can wash the car etc. in the garage. When I heard this I thought they would look like junk, but they look incredibly like real cast iron. Rectangular with a set of race-track shaped holes side by side.