The Ultimate Guide to Driveways and Walkways
The driveway and walkways of your home are more than just functional elements; they contribute significantly to the overall curb appeal and value of your property. Proper planning and execution are essential to ensure these features are not only durable and practical but also aesthetically pleasing.
Today we are joined by Cullen Linkenheimer, the owner of Missing Link Landscaping & Excavation, a company renowned for its expertise in creating stunning driveways and walkways. Cullen will share his insights on the importance of meticulous planning and execution in these projects, offering valuable advice for homeowners who are in the information-gathering phase before hiring a contractor. Join us as we explore the key considerations and best practices for designing and building exceptional driveways and walkways.
About Missing Link Landscaping and Excavation
“Hey Cullen, thanks for joining me today, looking forward to having this discussion on driveways and walkways. So start out by telling us about Missing Link Landscaping and Excavation and the range of services that you offer related to drive and walkways.”
“Here at Missing Link Landscaping and Excavating we offer a very wide range of services, especially when it comes to sidewalks, driveways, stuff in that area. We have the machines and ability to pretty much remodel your whole entire driveway. If you go to a walkway, we can, you know, fix walkway or if you’re looking to create a new outdoor patio area or a new walkway around your house to up the aesthetics, we also have the ability to do that as well.”
First Steps in Planning a Driveway or Walkway
“That’s awesome, I’m sure it’s very popular in your area of the world in Pennsylvania. So the second question that people have is what are the first steps homeowners should take when planning a new driveway or walkway project?”
“The first steps that everybody should take is, you know, one, kind of think about whether you want concrete or pavers. You know those are the two biggest materials that are used around this area, either concreting a driveway or walkway or using pavers, which are very similar to concrete but, you know, they are different and they have much more variety. And then after you figure that out is pretty much picking a style. We here at Missing Link, we can help you with the style and give you our recommendations, but as a homeowner it’s to, you know, take the time, sit down, think about it, talk to your spouse, and see what type of color, texture, and design that you would like. There’s, you know, we send people all the time to go look at samples, that way you can physically see what the product will look like before, you know, you move forward and actually put that on your property.”
Choosing the Best Materials
“That’s great. Now how do you help clients choose the best materials for their driveways and walkways, considering factors like durability, maintenance, and aesthetic?”
“Absolutely, you know, everything has its pros and cons, whether, you know, concrete has pros and cons and so does pavers. And the biggest thing is too is cost. So, you know, pavers can sometimes cost more depending on the style of pavers that you get, and so can concrete. You know, concrete is pretty straightforward, but there’s also a thing called stamp concrete, which gives you that paver look but it’s stamped in, you know, in the concrete, hence why they call it the stamp concrete. But, you know, we can work together, looking at budget, you know, what the terrain looks like, the area that you’re in, you know, what we would recommend would work the best as well as last the longest. You know, durability is definitely a big thing, especially when making this big of an investment in your property. You know this can, they can be a little bit more pricey, but they help with the, you know, overall aesthetics of the house, they help with durability, and they help with water, you know, any water problems with water I guess draining you could say.”
“Those are huge things to consider, especially the drainage and durability, making sure that, you know, that project is going to last a long time for the homeowner because you don’t want to be redoing it again in a couple of years, right?”
“Absolutely.”
A Memorable Project Example
“Now can you share a memorable project where you transformed a driveway or walkway that made it stand out?”
“So there’s been a couple of, you know, driveways and walkways that we have done. The biggest ones that we see are driveways, for example, that are slanted down towards the house. Like if you have a garage that, you know, you’re down into the hill and water’s rushing down there. We have seen times where there wasn’t the proper drainage put in for that type of driveway, and, you know, we’ve gotten called out there because water is passing the drain or there’s no drain. It’s going into the garage, it’s flooding the basement and stuff like that. You know, you don’t want water running to your house, you want to divert that as best as possible.
“So there have been times where we have gone and, you know, we had to rip up the driveway, we put the proper draining in, and, you know, clients have been very pleased because they no longer have water running into their basement. They have water now, you know, diverting away from the house. And same way with walkways, as we see it as well. If the concrete walkway, if you have a negative slope where it’s falling backwards, say, towards the house or somewhere where you don’t want it, again, you get the same issues where water is puddling against the house instead of going away from the house. So there have been, you know, a good amount of times where we’ve had to come in, ripped it up, put the proper drainage and the proper slope to help make sure the water gets away from the house.”
“Very important fact there that, you know, water going towards your house is always going to cause some kind of an issue and then, you know, it causes problems with rot in the house and, you know, freeze-thaw aspects and also just create more damage to that concrete.”
Common Planning Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
“So what are some common mistakes that homeowners make during the planning phase of the driveway/walkway projects, and how can they avoid them?”
“I would say some, just some basic common mistakes, you know, is look at where, well the biggest thing is we can help you on determining what, you know, you want to put in around your house or in front of your house or what type of driveway. But think of the area that you’re located in, whether you’re on a hill, whether, you know, you have slope, you don’t have slope, whether you’re flat. A lot of times we get calls that sometimes we come out there and they want to do, you know, pavers on a super steep hill or somewhere that doesn’t get, you know, a lot of attention. But, you know, sometimes we’ll recommend maybe doing concrete just for the fact that water has a better chance on a super steep slope to kind of roll downhill, you know, less problems down the road. It’s more just taking the time to, you know, let us review the options with you, show you the different options. We can go over the pros and cons, and then that way nothing is rushed, and you know, you guys, the owners, can make an executive decision on what they would like to do. At the end of the day, it’s their property. We’re here to help, so, you know, that’s what we’re here to do.”
Ensuring Proper Drainage and Foundation
“That leads directly into the next question: how do you ensure you’re getting proper drainage and foundation for the driveways and walkways so you prevent future issues like cracking or water damage?”
“So, you know, there’s things such as laser levels and other lab that we use on site to make sure that when we are grading the base of either a concrete driveway pad or patio or anything in that nature, whether we’re using pavers or concrete, you know, we have lasers on site, we have, we obviously use levels and everything else, but we make sure that the grade of the base and everything is, you know, flowing the way that we want it to flow, and we have water going away from the house.
“And just like the example I gave earlier, if we have a driveway that’s going down towards a house, we need to make sure we put things called a channel drain right inside the concrete, which are very common, you know, in this area because it’s a very hilly area. So it’s nothing unusual, but you want to make sure that you’re collecting that water somewhere in some type of drain, even on a patio with pavers, that way water can, you know, disperse and not puddle up.”
The Role of Design and Homeowner Preferences
“Now, so speaking of design and, you know, getting water away from the patio or the driveway or walkway, what role does design play in the overall success of a driveway or walkway project, and how do you incorporate the homeowner’s style preferences into the design?”
“The design plays a big role, you know, especially when we’re wrapping a walkway around the house or, again, with a driveway or patio. These structures are very close to the house, you know, they’re usually leading right into a door or around the house. So we just got to keep in mind that when we’re laying this project out and designing it on paper that we have, you know, that we’re going with the grade. If we have any grade issues, how are we going to handle them? Do we need to bring the ground up, do we need to drop the ground? Any of those things we take into consideration before, you know, we even break ground. That goes all into the planning phase on our end of the project, on how can we make this patio or concrete last the longevity of its time.
“And then as the design part, there are a lot of options when it comes to the design. Like I said earlier, concrete is concrete. You can dye the concrete to an extent, you can do stamp concrete, but when it comes to the other option, which are pavers, there’s a lot of different styles you can do. There’s different patterns, there’s different sizes, you have small, you have large, there’s textured, there’s smooth. The possibilities, and that’s where every day they make a new style. So when we talk to a client, deal with a client, we like to either give them a pamphlet or a book to kind of look at different, you know, projects that have been done with that stone. And we also like to send them to the supply yard where we get our stuff, that way they can physically see each of these products instead of just seeing it on paper. A lot of times, you know, in person it looks different than what you’re looking at on a computer. So we kind of work with them, we set, we give them the tools, we set them up to kind of help pick, help them pick the best choice that they like. And, you know, once they decide what kind of style they want, we can move ahead and then, you know, take care of the project for them.”
Handling Uneven Terrain and Existing Landscaping
“Sounds awesome, sounds like you’ve got a good handle on how to help people, you know, plan their whole project right, the design aspect of the walkway or the driveway or patio. Now, how do you handle challenges such as uneven terrain or existing landscaping when planning and executing driveway and walkway projects?”
“So just like any job, you know, the base, the base is always the most important, okay. You know, the base, whether you’re doing a concrete base or you’re doing a PA base now. Pavers require a much deeper base than say a concrete pad or a concrete driveway. So whenever we’re dealing with that, we have to take a look, we have to take things such as soil condition, what’s the slope, just like I mentioned, you know, in the previous question, the slope and the grade of the current ground. But we take all this into consideration to make sure again that we have, one, a stable ground, we’re not putting something on loose soil, and two, about longevity. If we take the time, and when we take the time to kind of make sure that the base of either concrete or pavers are solid and up to our standards, then that patio or driveway or walkway, whatever you decide, we make sure that it lasts the test of time because we take the extra time to make sure that the ground is in stable condition.”
Maintenance Tips for Long-Term Durability
“Perfect, now talk about maintenance. What advice would you give homeowners on maintaining their driveways and walkways to ensure longevity and continued aesthetic appeal?”
“Both require their different types of maintenance, whether you choose concrete or pavers. You know, a basic one for doing, if you decide to do concrete, is sealing it, you know, a concrete sealer. We put that on usually, you know, after we pour as well, to help the longevity of the concrete. But again, this is Pittsburgh, so you’re going to run into some bumps in the roads when we have salt and we have freeze and we have… Now, to help mitigate any issues down the road, the biggest thing is, one, after every season try to keep it, try to give it a good pressure wash, keep it clean. And after a couple years, depending on the type of sealer, make sure you reapply that sealer. What it does for concrete, and even for pavers—they make sealer for both—is that it’s supposed to protect it against all the elements, such as salt, rain, debris, anything that runs against it. Especially whenever, you know, you’re doing a big investment such as a driveway or something in your house, you want to keep it for as long as you can. So the more that you keep it maintenance, the more life you’re going to get out of that project.”
Importance of Hiring a Professional Contractor
“All right, last question. Can you discuss the importance of hiring a professional contractor like Missing Link Landscaping and Excavation for driveway and walkway projects, and the value it brings to the homeowner?”
“Yes, this is definitely an important one. You know, there’s been many circumstances, like I mentioned earlier, where not, there’s not enough time, I guess, spent in the beginning of the project, such as getting the base correct or using the right material. Such as, for example, we’ve seen companies use, you know, very thin rebar, you know, not tying the rebar correctly, using not enough. We’ve also seen people put pavers on, you know, very shallow ground, which, you know, every pavers require usually a six-inch bed of rock tamped down and then one inch of bedding and then your pavers. But we’ve seen it where, you know, usually those numbers are cut in half.
“So the biggest thing, and the biggest thing for homeowners is, when it’s coming to choosing a company, you know, us here at Missing Link, we have the experience and we make sure that it’s done right. Because again, you know, pavers are expensive, and concrete can be as well. So we want to make sure that whenever you’re paying, that you’re getting your money’s worth for, you know, what you’re looking to get done.”
“Awesome. All right, thanks so much for your time today, Colin. Hopefully we’ll get to hear some more advice from you in the days to come.”
“Absolutely, thank you.”
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