What Are the Plus Points of Concrete Driveways?

There are numerous materials that you could have your driveway made from. Tarmac makes a convenient connection with the public road beyond your drive whereas shingle generates a great crunching noise when you drive on it that signifies your arrival. However, concrete driveways should never be overlooked as a potential option, too. Why? What is it about concrete driveways that makes them so popular in certain quarters? Read on to find out why this material might be the best one for your home.

Inexpensive

Some people are put off having a concrete driveway fitted because they think it will cost them more. Although this can be the case — depending on the length and depth of the concrete pour — it does not look at the expenditure involved as a whole. Simply put, concrete is a very long-lasting material. With sufficient reinforcement, it can last a very long time with no maintenance whatsoever. Even if maintenance is required down the line, it will be inexpensive to carry out. Thanks to their ease of repair and longevity, concrete driveways often work out to be the cheapest option over their entire life cycle.

Load-Bearing

It is important to state that driveways made from concrete are extremely useful when they are handling heavy loads. If you ever need to get heavy construction equipment, trucks or agricultural machinery on and off your driveway, then concrete will be the best material to choose. Tarmac can often break up under a heavy load by comparison. Of course, if you only ever want to park a family car on your drive, then this won't be an issue, but consider the additional needs of vans or mobile homes if you ever intend on buying one of those vehicles.

Light Reflection

With many types of concrete, the sunlight that bears down on them will be reflected up again. Although this means you get a little more glare on sunny days compared to some other materials, your driveway should be consequently cooler due to less heat absorption. That's a good thing if you need to walk over your drive from time-to-time and it also means less wear on your tyres.

Attractive

You might think of concrete as a dull material, but it can be mixed with all sorts of resins and colourants these days. This means you can end up with a very attractive-looking driveway despite the material's rather unfair reputation for being a little drab.

Reach out to a professional for more information about concrete driveways.