It’s no secret that standing water can be a big nuisance, and most people are aware that you do not want to allow standing water to collect on roadways or surfaces of areas that are used for walking or running. However, many people do not think about the drainage that is associated with their driveway as being of chief importance. There are many reasons your driveway needs to have proper drainage installed and in place.
Beyond the obvious unsightly or inconvenient nature of standing water, there are more important reasons that you need to prevent standing water on your driveway. Being sure that your driveway is safe to use and will last for years is tied directly to the drainage solutions that are in place to protect it. A driveway that is not draining properly can actually fail, and this can lead to lots of heartache and expense that could have been avoided.
Importance of Driveway Drainage
There are many reasons that the safety of your business and home, as well as its function, can be impacted by driveway drainage issues. You might not have thought of these problems, but they are very real possibilities related to a driveway that does not have the right drainage installed. Many people who live in areas that do not get a lot of rain believe that they can skip driveway drainage, but this is not actually the case. In places where rain is only an occasional event, flooding is much more serious, and you will not want to allow this kind of flash flood scenario to undermine your home’s safety when it does take place.
1. Prevents Destabilization of the Driveway Base
The most important reason that your driveway needs to drain properly is that a driveway with lots of standing water on it and under it can become unstable and can actually fail. No matter what material your driveway is made of, standing water can slowly eat away at the base which supports it and cause it to crack or slide or even sink.
This is also an issue for the stability of structures like garages, which are often built right next to the driveway or are connected to it. You do not want any structural issues to impact this part of your home or business either, and that is a key reason that drainage under and around your driveway is so critical.
2. Protects The Foundation
No matter where the driveway is located near a home or a business, the water that is standing on it or around it will likely impact the safety of the structure that is connected to the driveway. Standing water can be very bad for the foundation of a building, and allowing standing water to collect near your driveway can make it possible for water to run down into the basement or to pool around the foundation and break it down.,
Foundation drainage is critical for a safe and stable building, and you do not want to let your driveway be the weak link that causes your home or business to suffer severe structural issues. Allowing your foundation to be damaged can lead to costly repairs, and you might even be forced to completely replace the foundation in some areas, which can be very specialized and expensive work. Always make sure that your foundation is not being damaged by standing water by taking care of the drainage on your driveway properly.
3. Prevents Discoloration
Driveways that are allowed to have standing water on them long-term will often become discolored. This can be due to mineral content in the water that is collected on the surface, but it can also be due to debris and grime that collects in the standing water and sits against the driveway’s surface. This is particularly true of brick or stone driveways, but it can also impact concrete or asphalt driveways.
Discoloration can be impossible to remove in some cases, and you might have to replace the driveway or at least the section in question to remove the discolored spot. If you don’t handle the drainage issue before you provide this kind of repair, you will just doom the new section of the driveway to the same fate. You should always consider installing drainage a prerequisite to making repairs to damaged sections of your driveway.
4. Maintains Safety
Standing water might not seem like it is a big deal for your and your family’s safety or for the safety of those who visit your business, but this is not actually the case. While the standing water might not be deep enough to cause issues with slips and falls by itself, standing water can lead to algae growth and dirt and grime accumulation that can create slimy, sludgy residue. This slimy and slippery substance can lead to slips and falls during all seasons, and you will want to avoid this for sure.
Additionally, if you live in an area that gets snow and ice each year, standing water can lead to ice skating rink-style areas on your driveway that make it hard to park and even harder to walk on your driveway. You will want to avoid all of these possible risks for injury and accident by removing the standing water from your driveway with proper drainage. The cost of medical bills related to this kind of injury will almost always outweigh the small cost of the installation of correct drainage for your driveway area.
5. Improves Curb Appeal
Standing water just doesn’t look very nice, and this can impact the curb appeal of your business or your home. You do not want to have slimy and green puddles standing around all over your driveway or stains and other discolorations on your driveway from water that has collected long-term on the surface. No one wants to have to walk through a bunch of puddles to get to the front door or to look at sloppy and messy puddles that might be creating stains.
Keeping your driveway clear of standing water makes your property look much more appealing and much safer to visit. You will get an immediate boost to the curb appeal of a building if you keep the standing water on the property and the driveway under control.
6. Prevents Damage to Flowers and Landscaping
Flowers and grass that grows near the driveway can be damaged by the standing water that is related to a lack of driveway drainage. This can be really frustrating since there is no real way to prevent this issue without installing correct drainage. If you want your landscaping to look its best, you need to be sure that you are not allowing standing water to sit near the driveway surface on the lawn or the planter beds.
Just as in the case of the foundation of your home, plantings that are located near the driveway can actually be flooded out or undermined over time due to erosion caused by standing water. You do not want to create muddy sinkholes near the driveway, but you could easily do this if the driveway is not draining right.
7. Health Risks
Black mold, mosquitos, and other kinds of health issues can be related to standing water on and around your driveway. This is something that people do not always realize can be a factor, but you can actually create a significant health risk in some cases by allowing standing water to collect on and around your driveway. Avoiding these health issues can be critical, particularly in places where there is a lot of rainfall each year or in a location that has a lot of humidity in the air at all times. In some cases, the standing water can also become brackish and smell quite bad.
Caring For Your Driveway Requires Good Drainage
You need to be sure that you do not skip over the important step of creating the proper drainage for your driveway. Between the risks of slips and falls and the chance that your yard or the foundation of your home or business can be damaged, there is no reason to leave the drainage of your driveway up to chance. There are many ways to install this kind of drainage, and more of them are quite affordable. Most of the consequences of incorrect drainage are much harder to resolve and much more expensive than a correct drainage installation.
Having a skilled installation team put in your driveway drainage will make the process very simple, but there are also prefabricated drainage systems that you can use to install a simple driveway drain on your own. You should never skip over this important step when building a driveway, and you will want to be certain that you have this work in mind when you work on your driveway to change or upgrade it.
Proper drainage for your driveway can ensure that your property is safe, healthy, and looks its best during every season of the year.
