Paving near you

No surface is best on every lot. In a Canadian climate, the differences that count are how each one handles ground movement, where its water goes, how it stands up to a plow blade and what a repair looks like a few years on.

Every paved surface rests on the same principle: dig out topsoil and soft ground, replace it with crushed stone that drains, and compact that stone in thin layers until it no longer moves under a loaded vehicle. The surface spreads the load, but the base carries it. Where the native soil is clay or stays wet, a geotextile fabric or a deeper base keeps the stone from sinking into the soil beneath.

What changes from one material to the next is the top of the base. Asphalt is laid and rolled directly on the graded stone. Concrete needs forms, often reinforcement, and an even base so the slab is supported everywhere. Pavers sit on a thin screeded bedding layer held in by edge restraints, and permeable systems replace dense base stone with clean, open-graded stone that leaves room for water between the pieces. A quote should name the base material, its planned depth and the compaction method, since none of it can be checked once the surface is down.

A paved area turns rain and snowmelt into runoff, so the plan has to say where that water will go. The surface should fall away from the house and garage toward the street, a lawn, a swale or a drain, without sending water onto a neighbour's lot or leaving a pond at the garage door or the foot of the steps. The Government of Canada's property grading guidance notes that paved areas may need a slope different from the soil around them, set by a professional.

Conventional pavement sends water to the street and the storm sewer. Permeable systems let it pass through the surface into a stone reservoir below, where it soaks into the soil or drains away slowly through a perforated pipe. They can reduce puddles and runoff on the lot, and some municipalities encourage or require them for certain parking areas, so ask yours what applies before choosing a surface for a new or wider driveway.

The main options are permeable interlocking pavers with stone-filled joints, porous asphalt and pervious concrete made with open voids in the mix, and plastic or concrete grids filled with gravel or grass. All of them need somewhere for the water to go once it is below the surface: heavy clay, a high water table or a spot right beside a basement wall may call for an underdrain or another design. They also need regular cleaning so sand and grit don't clog the openings, which is why traction sand spread in winter should be swept up promptly.

Paving is warm-weather work in most of the country. Hot-mix asphalt has to be placed and rolled before it cools, so cold air, a cold base or rain shortens the working time and can leave a weaker surface. Concrete can go in during cool weather only with protection against freezing while it cures, and pavers and gravel need a base that is thawed, dry enough to compact and no longer saturated from the spring melt.

That makes late spring to early fall the busy season, and well-regarded contractors fill their schedules early. A job pushed late into the fall risks being finished in poor conditions or left half-done over the winter. If the start date slips, ask the contractor how they will protect the work, or whether waiting for spring would give a better result.

Resurfacing within the same outline rarely needs approval, but a new driveway, a wider one or an added parking pad often does. Municipalities commonly limit driveway width and how much of a front yard can be hard-surfaced, and they control anything at the curb or public sidewalk. Montreal, for example, requires a borough permit to create, remove or modify a curb cut, so the curb work has to be approved before paving day.

Paving excavation often goes deeper than owners expect, and gas, power and communications lines commonly run under driveways and front yards. Ontario law requires a free Ontario One Call locate at least 5 business days before digging, and in Quebec the RBQ asks contractors to book a free Info-Excavation locate at least 4 business days in advance. Lines the owner installed, such as power to a lamp post or a detached garage, are private and need a private locator.