For many homes, it isn’t uncommon to see gravel driveways going up to concrete garage floors in the summer months. For those who live in colder climates, gravel is still a popular driveway choice but there are times when you will need to seal and heat protect your gravel driveway so that your vehicle can maintain its footing throughout the winter. Heat is one of the worst things that can damage any driveway, so sealing and protecting your gravel driveway is extremely important. Plus, gravel driveways don’t take as much maintenance as asphalt ones and they are less likely to crack or rot.
Your gravel driveway will help to prevent moisture build up or puddling and water that can collect on the surface of your driveway. This occurs when water seeps underneath the top layer of the driveway and collects at the bottom. The more water that gets into the cracks, the more damage occurs. Once the water has collected, it will typically cause the base layer of the driveway to expand, which can cause potholes to form. Sealing your gravel driveway will help to stop this from happening.
Another thing that you can do to protect your gravel driveway is to install a layer of geotextile fabric beneath the existing top layer. This layer of geotextile fabric will help to keep your driveway cooler in the hot summer months and warmer in the winter. You can purchase this in several different forms such as rolls of fabric or similar products. It is important that you buy the right size of fabric so that it will be effective, since larger rolls will be able to absorb more heat before they begin to deteriorate.
The next step to protecting your gravel driveway is to fill in the gaps between your gravel layer and the potholes you already have. You can use a filler between each gravel or pebble you have to fill in the spaces, however, it is important that you only use a filler that is four inches deep. The reason that this is important is because you don’t want to add any extra weight to your vehicle, especially if you are using a chain drive. If you need to be concerned about adding anything to your vehicle, you should always opt for a heavier duty filler than you would with a wheel drive.
In addition to protecting your gravel driveway from becoming damaged from heat and precipitation, you may also want to protect it from killing weeds in your lawn. There are two ways that you can go about doing this, the first being a simple weed barrier. You can buy plastic-type weed barrier which will help to stop weeds from growing in your gravel driveway. There are other options that you can use when trying to prevent weeds from growing in your gravel driveway however, such as laying sod over the gravel. This will help to keep the soil moist, which will help to keep weeds from growing as quickly.
