I have a confession to make: I hate my driveway.
It’s a weird gripe to have about a house, right? Most homeowners would lament an outdated kitchen or bathroom, perhaps too little storage. And don’t get me wrong: Off-street parking is a beautiful thing in a place like New York City.
My husband and I live in Staten Island, where it’s arguably much easier to park than in any of the other four boroughs, even though we have the highest number of cars, averaging 1.52 per household, according to a local analysis of 2016 data. Most of the houses on our street have a driveway, too, so there’s plenty of on-street parking as well. So, I do have some nerve complaining about having another spot to park our car.
But it’s the condition of our driveway that’s getting to me. It’s a lumpy, bumpy mess thanks to inconsiderate tree roots stretching and wreaking havoc beneath the asphalt.
Plus, there’s our driveway’s size. It’s plenty long, but it’s just wide enough for a car to slip in. A residential one-car driveway should be a minimum of 10 to 12 feet wide, according to home services company Angi.
I haven’t measured our driveway, though I’m pretty sure whoever built it ignored this advice because when I get out of the car, I have to step onto the grass. If my husband and I are in the car together, whoever is in the driver’s seat will stop at the foot of the driveway to let the other out before pulling in. If that doesn’t happen, one of us has to step out into a tangle of scratchy bushes that separate our yard from the next.
The solution is obvious: We need to widen and repave our driveway. But as with all homeowner decisions, it’s a bit more complicated than that. And as always, it starts with the big question: How much will it cost?
[The Pros and Cons of Stamped Concrete Patios and Driveways]
How Much Does Repaving a Driveway Cost?
Given that everything seems more expensive in New York, especially in the home improvement arena, we knew repaving our driveway couldn’t be cheap. We put out some feelers about a new concrete driveway a few months ago. Why concrete? We figured it was a sturdy and attractive enough upgrade from asphalt, especially those nice stamped concrete designs, but cheaper than the high-end aesthetic of brick pavers.
The quotes came back in the vicinity of $13,000, including widening the driveway to the proper size. Ouch. That hurt more than getting a faceful of twigs upon exiting the car.
[READ: Driveway Ideas to Maximize Curb Appeal.]
Perhaps we could consider using some other driveway materials. As a home improvement writer who has access to some of the top experts in the business, I reached out to Mallory Micetich, home care expert at Angi, to find out what some of the most popular driveway materials were and how much they cost. Here’s what I learned:
Concrete
Cost: $8 to $18 per square foot
Longevity: About 40 years
“Concrete can be an ideal driveway material in warm climates, but it tends to crack in extremely cold temperatures,” Micetich says. Since it’s been quite cold these past few winters in New York City, perhaps concrete isn’t the best option for us.
Asphalt
Cost: Between $7 and $13 per square foot
Longevity: 15 to 20 years
Asphalt is often used in parking lots, but I promise you, my current driveway does not resemble a parking spot at the mall. There’s a nice border of brick pavers to offset the blacktop, so the curb appeal is still present. I’ve even spotted quite a few asphalt driveways when driving through a part of town known for its seven-figure properties, so I know we’re not wrong in considering asphalt again.
Pavers
Cost: $10 to $50 per square foot
Longevity: 50 years
Pavers are beautiful. But seeing what those tree roots did to our asphalt makes me reluctant to choose individual pavers, even though Micetich says they’re easy to repair.
As it turns out, though, there’s an even bigger reason to pass on pavers. “I recommend staying away from pavers if you live in a snowy climate because they can make it difficult to shovel away ice and snow,” Micetich says. Indeed, when shoveling out during the last snowstorm, I cringed every time the edge of my shovel slammed into a brick paver on the border of my driveway, but I didn’t care at all when it scraped against the asphalt.
Gravel
Cost: $1 to $3 per square foot
Longevity: Up to 100 years
I loved the look of the gravel driveway at the beach house we rented a few years ago. But despite its affordability and century-long durability, I never gave gravel serious thought for our home, and it turns out that’s a good thing. Micetich says, “I don’t recommend gravel for people in cold climates because it can be difficult, if not impossible, to remove ice and snow from gravel driveways.”
Fair point. If I was upset about nicking paving stones with my shovel, imagine how I’d feel about shoveling up gravel with the snow in winter.
[Read: What Is Digital Curb Appeal?]
Should We Repave Our Driveway?
In the home improvement world, we’re always discussing the return on investment, or ROI, of a project. We could get back between $5,000 and $7,000 on a new driveway, according to home improvement site HomeAdvisor, of which Angi is a parent company. That’s good, but not great if we’re going with the $13,000 price tag we were initially given. I do believe that a freshly paved driveway could attract a quicker sale, though, as potential buyers would be charmed by the curb appeal and appreciate having one less project to tackle upon moving in.
But an ROI also refers to the convenience or enjoyment the homeowner will get out of a renovation. For me, a new driveway is certainly convenient. I would enjoy having a wide enough driveway so that we no longer have to take turns getting in or out of the car.
So, while the return is there on multiple levels, it’s all about whether we want to make the investment at all. Of course, there would be no discussion if we had a leaky roof or an inoperable bathroom. We would have to spend the money on a renovation. But our driveway is functional enough for now. If it were to degrade to the point that it was unusable, we’d call back those paving contractors and make some decisions.
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Why I Hate My Driveway originally appeared on usnews.com
