Tips for Building a Concrete Driveway

One of the best options if you are in need of a driveway is one that is made out of concrete. While the price of having one is installed can be pretty steep most people find that it is well worth it. You can also save a great deal of money by doing it yourself, the following tips should help.

• Find out about the local building codes before you even start planning your driveway. A lot of cities and neighborhood associations have surprisingly detailed rules about what you can and can't do with your driveway. You may well find out that you can't even have a concrete driveway in your area. The last thing that you want is to get too far into the process only to find out that you have to change everything.

• Decide if you are going to do any or all of the work yourself. This is important to decide early as well since you are going to need to make sure that you schedule any necessary contractors well in advance. You may decide that you need a professional to excavate the driveway and that you can do the rest of the work yourself, or you may decide to do all of the work yourself, or none of it. This is largely going to be determined by your skills and what kind of equipment you have available.

• If you are going to use a contractor make sure that you do your research so that you can get a good one. Check references and ask about other jobs that they have done. Don't even think about using a contractor that is not licensed, bonded and insured.

• Draw up your plans. A surprising number of people try to build a driveway without plans, they make it up as they go, this rarely works out. Make sure that you get something down on paper, if you are going to be working with a contractor they can assist you in doing this.

• Buy any necessary supplies. This is only necessary if you are going to be doing the work yourself. Shop around to make sure that you get the best price and make sure that you get everything you need, the last thing that you want is to run out of cement before the job is done. If you need any equipment like an excavator or a cement mixer they can usually be rented.

• Check the weather before you start. When you are pouring a concrete driveway you are going to need at least a couple of days without rain so make sure that you check the weather forecast before you start pouring.

Beyond these tips you will of course need to know how to build and pour a concrete driveway. This is not all that hard to learn but the work itself can be pretty physical so make sure that you are prepared for that. Beyond that with a good book on how to pour concrete driveways you should not have any huge issues that you can't overcome.