Water Permeable Pavement

[Vic99]

Currently my driveway is an unpaved area of dirt next to my house. Obviously rainy spring and fall are terrible times of year for visiting guests. However, I don't want rain to runoff, I'd rather have a driveway that is permeable or semipermeable to water.

Anyone have one either with pavers or some asphalt/concrete modified product? Is it all that you had hoped?

 

[Highbeam]

I have seen and spec'd out both the pervious concrete and pervious pavers for residential and commerical applications. The concrete product resembles a rice crispy treat and really takes on water well. I would use it before futzing with pavers. The pavers look really nice but the surface is full of larger holes. Then there's also products like "grass-crete" that you loy down and then cover with soil and grass, the greasscrete stuff provides support for vehicles. The products have all worked as advertised.

What's the point? It will still rain and your little parking area is a drop in the bucket of impervious area. It is already saturated, which is why it turns to muck, so any more water that you try to expose it to will only lead to runoff whether it lands on that muck directly or after passing through a pervious pavement product.

Where pervious products work is places with great infiltration soils like sand. In those cases, the runoff would have soaked in and with traditional pavement you would prevent that.

 

[Vic99]

When it rains hard, runoff from the street forms small streams that cross through my driveway and head into the backyard (right through part of my splitting area). The erosion in the backyard has been pretty significant over the last 5 years, actually.

Not only do I want a hard surface so that muck is not an issue, but I was also hoping to partly solve the water flow issue. Since the driveway would be 2-3 cars long, I would like to change the water flow from ALL surface runoff to some substrate movement. Maybe one or two gravel layers under the top layer would help when the job is complete.

I have no delusions about it completely solving my problem, the water has to go somewhere, but perhaps if some of the water went into the substrate more quickly, I would have fewer "stream storms". Hoping that someone had some experience with the products that exist.

I do not have realistic options to change the driveway location.

 

[nate379]

Make a french drain where the water is draining to.

 

[begreen]

Maybe look into grass pavers?
http://www.paversearch.com/grass-pavers-menu.htm

 

[Huskyforlife]

Maybe look into grass pavers?
http://www.paversearch.com/grass-pavers-menu.htm

We used these in a large-scale building project last year (I think they were a LEED point). Downside is you have to mow them obviously.

 

[Vic99]

Thanks for the suggestions.

I've seen grass pavers, but am not interested. It is a northern exposure area with a lot of shade. The french drain is an idea worth considering.

Anyone else have any experience or knowledge about pervious pavers or pavement?

 

[ironpony]

sounds like you need to do some grade work,
just a thought without seeing pictures

 

[Vic99]

Yes, that's part of what I would want the pro that I hire to do.

 

[gpcollen1]

I am doing grass pavers for my wood splitting area and the loop from my driveway past the wood splitter and out to the road so i can just drive the trailer through instead of having to back it in - out - turn around - whatever. Mine is going to be large so not sure it is in the budget this year...

 

[Adios Pantalones]

I would raise the driveway with fill, pave normally, and drain around it- but then that shed is sort of in the way I suppose

 

[Highbeam]

Ah, you've got a drainage problem. You're muck soils won't allow water flow through the substrate in sufficient volume to remedy "streams". Abandon the idea unless you just happen to really like the way the pervious products look. Or have extra money to spend

Your problem can be solved by conventional means.

 

[heat seeker]

The street end of the driveway should have enough rise in it so that the street water passes by. When my town repaves a street, they add a miniature levee at the end of all driveways to divert the water. Better than a drain - no maintenance or clogging.

 

[mrurbplanner]

I agree with Highbeam. If the soil underneath the pavers won't absorb the water or does nor drain well, the pavers won't help.

Often the easiest thing to do when there is a drainage problem is to divert the water where you want it to go. Without looking at a photo it's hard to really comment on that. Do you have photos or Google Earth coordinates /address for us to have a "virtual look" at the site? This may allow for may allow for more/better advice.

 

[jebatty]

Consider diverting the water into rain gardens or the like, which can be not much more than depressions along the sides of the driveway designed to retain the runoff for a calculated rain event. These are not mud holes. With some water tolerant plantings, you could have a very attractive result.

 

[Reggie Dunlap]

I have no experience with pavers or permeable pavement but how would they hold up in a cold climate? If it rains hard and then the temp drops well below freezing the permeable pavement is going to freeze and heave. Around here even asphalt driveways and roads heave every winter, and that's with a relatively dry base underneath. If that roadbase was saturated with water it would be much worse.

Can pavers hold up to plowing? Seems like a plow could do a lot of damage very quickly, especially if they weren't frozen in.

I'd stick with the proven methods of road building in your area, starting with a good gravel base. Watch how the area handles a heavy rain and use ditches, swales, culverts, or french drains to make the water go where you want it.

 

[gpcollen1]

I have no experience with pavers or permeable pavement but how would they hold up in a cold climate? If it rains hard and then the temp drops well below freezing the permeable pavement is going to freeze and heave. Around here even asphalt driveways and roads heave every winter, and that's with a relatively dry base underneath. If that roadbase was saturated with water it would be much worse.

Can pavers hold up to plowing? Seems like a plow could do a lot of damage very quickly, especially if they weren't frozen in.

I'd stick with the proven methods of road building in your area, starting with a good gravel base. Watch how the area handles a heavy rain and use ditches, swales, culverts, or french drains to make the water go where you want it.

If you read the site for the pavers, they want you to build a traditional base for the pavers. Of course things will have and then they will go back to as close to normal as they can. That is why driveways dont last forever - adn the pavers may not last forever either but who cares. You can pull them out or let them be buried under grass.

They also note plowing and make some recommendations. I will just snow blow mine.