Most owners don’t give a lot thought to the peak of their driveway, however that quickly modifications when a bodged driveway resurfacing job leaves the floor uneven or excessively excessive.
This drawback may end up when the brand new floor layer of your driveway concept – whether or not that’s asphalt, concrete, paving or one other materials – is laid on prime of an previous floor that has structural points or has not been eliminated correctly.
“It’s fairly widespread with cover-up jobs, and we’ve taken out driveways the place individuals have made this error,” says Lee Bestall, backyard designer at Sheffield-based, Bestall & Co. “You’ll usually see it the place property builders have paid for a fast job to make a property look extra glamorous, and there are simply layers upon layers of driveway surfaces.”
As we’ll see, this isn’t the one cause why some driveways prove excessively excessive.
Multi-award-winning backyard designer Lee Bestall supplies every day tips about backyard design and upkeep as @thenortherndesigner on Instagram and YouTube. In 2026, Bestall will embark on a tour of Britain, serving to individuals across the nation to revamp their gardens.
What causes extra peak in a driveway floor?
An efficient resurfacing job will produce a stage floor with an applicable peak. This requires a secure, correctly ready ‘sub-base’, which is the underlying layer of load-bearing, compacted driveway materials.
Issues with the sub-base could cause points with the peak or evenness of the floor. For instance, if you happen to don’t take away sufficient of the present floor and sub-base materials to accommodate the brand new floor layer’s thickness, then the resurfaced driveway may find yourself larger than meant. That is particularly probably when the brand new floor materials is of a particular depth, as is the case with block paving.
In the meantime, imperfections within the sub-base can translate into floor irregularities. “The highest floor is barely going to be pretty much as good because the sub-base,” says Bestall. “If there are cracks within the sub-base these can finally present by, particularly with a floor materials like resin, which numerous individuals use for resurfacing.”
Jake Boak, founding father of Peak View Landscaping in Chesterfield, provides that improper compaction of the sub-base could cause sinkage, resulting in an uneven floor. “If you’re continually driving over one space the place the sub-base has not been correctly compacted, this can provide the phantasm that some areas have risen, however the actuality is that different areas have really sunk,” he says.
Incorrect utility of the floor materials is one other driveway mistake and the reason for extra driveway peak. An excessive amount of materials is typically utilized as a consequence of poor planning or human error throughout resurfacing.
In the meantime, improper grading can lead to an uneven driveway floor. Grading is the method of forming and levelling the sub-base so that there’s a clean slope of appropriate steepness for automobiles to drive over, with allowance for driveway drainage. If grading creates an incorrect slope, or if it isn’t accounted for within the planning or utility of the floor materials, then this may result in an uneven driveway floor with excessive factors.
Boak factors out one other potential reason behind a excessive or uneven driveway: underlying tree roots.
“Actions from bushes could cause block paving to rise, which is an issue it is advisable kind out,” he says. “For the sake of the tree’s well being, you wouldn’t wish to be chopping off loads of roots near the trunk, however you may restrict the driveway problem by eradicating them to a sure level.”
Jake Boak is the founding father of Peak View Landscaping, a Chesterfield-based landscaping firm serving giant areas of South Yorkshire and the East Midlands. The agency’s companies embrace landscaping, paving, walling, decking, backyard design and resin driveways.
The results: why a driveway being too excessive is an issue
Essentially the most severe potential consequence of a driveway being too excessive is impaired drainage, which may consequence from excessive factors attributable to incorrect grading. Water might pool above the excessive factors earlier than ultimately operating off in an uncontrolled method. This may undermine the driveway’s integrity, whereas doubtlessly inflicting pooling or flooding points on adjoining land.
One other threat is {that a} excessive driveway could also be troublesome to barter for automobiles accessing the driveway from the highway, and likewise for pedestrians strolling onto the driveway, for whom it might pose a visit hazard. After all, the driveway’s interface with the general public pavement additionally impacts the property’s look and kerb enchantment.
Bestall notes that extreme driveway peak can even result in damp issues, when the driveway is abutting an exterior wall of the property. “You need the driveway floor to be 150mm under the damp-proof course, as a result of there could be damp points if the driveway bridges it,” he says.
“Aesthetically, the driveway shouldn’t contact the home in any respect. A border of planting appears to be like nice as a barrier, and you may additionally put a cobble edge across the perimeter.”
Merchandise to assist guarantee an accurate driveway peak
Spudulica
Spudulica Weed Membrane Geotextile Non-Woven White Backyard Barrier Safety Cloth
{A partially} permeable membrane comparable to this geotextile sort can sit between the sub-base and the floor of the driveway, permitting water by whereas stopping switch of fabric and unevenness on the floor.
In case your driveway is excessive, you may minimise the aesthetic affect by including edging alongside the edges and increase adjoining backyard beds. EverEdge is a premium provider.
YouGarden
English Lavender ‘hidcote’ Hedging (12 X 9cm Pots)
Planting alongside a excessive driveway is one other fast aesthetic repair. Bestall recommends utilizing floppy vegetation comparable to lavender.
How to make sure the right driveway peak
The secret is correct preparation of the sub-base. In accordance with Bestall, there are two faculties of thought on tips on how to obtain this important basis.
“In case your precedence is sustainability, it’s good to reuse the present sub-base,” he says. “For instance, if you happen to’re resurfacing with gravel over an present gravel driveway that’s in good situation, it’s okay to not take away a lot of the floor materials.”
In the meantime, eradicating extra of the present sub-base is advisable when the fabric is in poor situation. “The easiest way long-term is to take away it down to some extent the place you’re assured that it’s agency and secure,” says Bestall. “You’ll be able to then put down a geo-textile membrane to behave as a stabiliser, stopping the brand new floor materials from bleeding into the previous.”
After all, the sub-base should be eliminated to an applicable depth to accommodate the chosen floor materials, and it must be graded appropriately to forestall excessive factors and unevenness whereas permitting a fall for drainage.
Because the house owner, you’re extremely unlikely to do your personal sub-base preparation and driveway resurfacing. So, select your contractor fastidiously, and ask for an in depth rationalization of the location preparation course of, together with how base compaction and grading will probably be dealt with, earlier than you fee the work.
FAQs
How are you going to repair a driveway that’s too excessive?
In some instances, there’s no various however to partially dig up the driveway and resurface it appropriately. Nonetheless, Bestall suggests some inexpensive, lower-effort options that will probably be viable in lots of instances.
“You’ll be able to cease a driveway from being too excessive on the entry level by eradicating a piece of the place it meets the highway and including a cobble element on a slope, to take out the peak distinction between the driveway and the highway,” he says. “In addition to accounting for the change in stage, it will probably look nice too.”
In the meantime, landscaping and planting strategies can enhance the looks of a excessive driveway. “If it appears to be like ugly, put a cobble element across the edge, and you may elevate the soil within the borders to make it look stage,” says Bestall. “You possibly can put steel edging across the perimeter and construct the soil larger to make the driveway seem decrease, and plant one thing floppy like lavender to visually soften the perimeters.”
How excessive ought to a driveway be?
It’s typically suggested {that a} driveway ought to meet the adjoining pavement flush, however Boak advises that it ought to sit barely larger than adjoining flower beds. “You do in all probability need flower beds barely decrease than the driveway, as a result of if the floor materials shouldn’t be porous it will permit for the floor water to flee,” he says. “Beds or lawns could be raised near the peak of the driveway with additional soil and edges.”
In the meantime, the best depth of the driveway floor materials will range relying on elements together with the chosen floor materials and the driveway’s meant use. “Each materials is barely completely different, and it relies upon whether or not the driveway will probably be utilized by regular vehicles, obtain occasional deliveries by vans, or be used routinely by heavier automobiles,” says Bestall.
“Usually, to be used with regular vehicles you’d wish to obtain a 200mm of sub-base earlier than your chosen floor. For supply vans and heavier automobiles, you’d need to seek advice from a structural groundworks specialist, as a result of it’s case by case and is determined by the soil.
“It’s additionally essential that you simply guarantee it meets any SuDS laws,” he provides.
In the event you’re left with little alternative however to resurface your driveway as a consequence of its extreme peak, take a second to contemplate different works that might be accomplished on the identical time. It is a uncommon alternative to contemplate choices comparable to heated driveways and even rotating driveways with a automotive turntable.
