Concrete Driveways Vancouver

Vancouver’s Concrete Contractors

Concrete Driveways

Driveways are one of the first things that are seen when you approach a residence. Having it durable and long lasting will bring additional value and elegance to your home for years to come. Concrete has the longest life of all other products for driveways, including asphalt and paving stones. There are many reasons why builders all over the world consider concrete their first choice for driveways over other products available.

Durability

Being a Vancouver concrete contractor one of our most common areas of construction is driveways and building to high standards is crucial for long-term success. Concrete Driveways are poured on a compacted Gravel base, to a minimum 98% proctor density. We most commonly pour 100mm thick driveway slabs with ½ inch rebar 18 inch on centres. This specification is sufficient for regular cars and small trucks and is also much stronger than any other choice for driveways. When large trucks, trailers or heavy equipment are going to be using a driveway regularly than this spec can be increased to a 6 or 8-inch slab with ⅝ inch rebar far surpassing the competition’s strengths. But the durability of Concrete is a given, so let’s talk about finish options.

Broomfinish Concrete Driveway

This is the most common driveway; colour can be added to add a decorative concrete element to this basic driveway. The cure and seal sealer is used as with a float finish driveway. Broom finish driveways require no real ongoing maintenance such as sealing, as decorative driveways do.

Float Finish Concrete Driveway

This is an upgrade from a broom Concrete driveway with either hand cuts or saw cuts. Float finish driveways sometimes have colour added or acid stains. Sealer is upgraded to acrylic sealer when acid stains are used. Recommend for stepper grades when penetrating concrete sealer is used and not a high gloss concrete sealer.

Architectural Sandblast Concrete Driveway

Exposed Aggregate Concrete Driveways

This is the most popular decorative concrete driveway, this Concrete finished is achieved by washing or sandblasting the surface and exposing the top layer of aggregate in the concrete slab. Please take a look at the exposed aggregate concrete section for more information about exposed Aggregate Concrete. As a decorative concrete upgrade, Exposed driveways are often used in conjunction with stamped concrete borders.

Stamped Driveway

Rubber Mats are used to imprint textures and patterns in the concrete to represent slate, stone or brick. The patterned stamped concrete finish is usually coloured before it is stamped. See the stamped concrete section for more information on stamped concrete. High gloss sealers are most often used to bring the colours to life, which also can make this style of driveway slippery. Not recommend on steep grades.

Concrete Driveways with Borders

Concrete borders are most often poured separately from the rest of the driveway. They can be used to divide up a driveway making a huge slab no longer like a commercial parking lot, instead of creating an attractive decorative addition to your landscaping. All of the above Concrete driveway finishes can be for either the main area or bordered area. You can mix and match any concrete finish and colour between the borders and main driveway areas, making the combination almost endless.

Cost of a Driveway

The cost of a basic large broom finish driveway can be as low as $9.00 a foot square, with no base work required. Decorative concrete driveways prices go up from there. We are happy to make an onsite visit and give an accurate quote for any of the driveway styles you may be interested in having on your driveway and show more examples of the many combinations available. For more concrete driveway project information click here. For many of our past and current projects check us out on your favourite social media below.