OT: concrete driveway advise Options

[ConeDodger]

Thomas,
I am not sure others understand your dilemma. Having spent 23 years in the military, I spent a few weeks at a time in San Antonio. I once saw a thunderstorm come in and flood River Walk after only about 20 minutes. There is almost no civil engineering to handle rain water that I could tell... The cars on the freeway were practically at a standstill because of standing water. The prevailing local wisdom was that it is a flash flood - nothing you can do about that.

I'm no concrete expert but I do see your problem clearly...

[thomasotten]

You Got it ConeDodger, flooding is something they do not plan for. I did a petition and sent it to our council person after the flood of 98. She met with everyone, but did nothing.

[rmital]

If you are set on adding a "hump" you should cut out a section of the driveway and add in the hump as one big chunk of concrete. Make the hump a separate pour from the rest of the drive way. This way the driveway and the hump will react to the weigh of your cars as they roll over them separately and they will not crack.

URY914 wins the prize...replace "hump" with "lip curb" and your done. I'd be interested in seeing a pic of where the road meets your driveway.

[URY914]

So Ray....what's the prize?

[rmital]

So Ray....what's the prize?

...a sack of sakrete...good for lip curbs and speed bumps.

[thomasotten]

what exactly is a lip curb? Is that where the curb is shaped like a quarter pipe?

[rmital]

what exactly is a lip curb? Is that where the curb is shaped like a quarter pipe?

this section would span accross the front of your driveway....then it would transition back up to your normal curb height (at each end of course).

[statesblue]

Thomas,
Why don't you post a couple pics of the driveway. Maybe that would help getting some ideas for a fix.
From what I read so far there has been some really good suggestions. If your looking for a cheap fix I dont think there is one. I really like the trench drain and dry sump idea. If you make the dry sump big enough it should work quite well.
I have a drainage ditch running through my yard which drains the road. I went round and round with the H.O.A. and the City but got nowhere so I took matters into my own hands and made a few changes. Guess I will find out how good my ideas are when monsoons hit here in Az. I hate H.O.A.,s Bunch of Anal Boot lickers looking for Utopia.
Hey, Good Luck with your problem.

[Randal]

Can I ask a dumb question???

Wouldn't the city / county be responsible for drainage and shouldn't they keep water off your property? Aren't you doing them a favor by channeling their water?

II was going to post the same thing. My place is exactly like yours. High street with a steep (downhill) driveway right into the garage.

We also have a sump drain between two garages, but be careful here as if you get a ton of water and if the drain is clogged, your garage will flood. And it might happen in the middle of the night or when you are away. Ask me how I know. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/headbang.gif)

Anyway I called the city and told them their street engineering was flooding my garage and they came right out, put in a 4" asphalt burm and now the driveway doesn't get any runoff from the street.

[76-914]

Well, after 30+ years in the plumbing business (20+ in Texas and 3 of those in San Antonio I feel I should put my 2 cents in as well. 1st, locate the easement. DO NOT do any work on the city side of this without proper permits and/or bonds deeperunless you like REAL headaches. This is usually the area from the curb and in 42". Sometimes it is 60"+. I found one that was 25'. Telephone and utility poles will be located in the easements, many times. The city can provide you w/ this info. Secondly, DON'T paste any concrete on top off another pour of concrete. As mentioned above, cut out a strip and replace w/ raised section. If you must paste on your hump, then at least drill 3/8" holes in existing slab and dowell it. At least when it loses it's bond w/ existing slab it will remain in place until the hump itself begins to break into pieces. It will unless you reinforce the hump w/ rebar and do a 4-5 bag pour. BTW, can you still fix a ticket in SA w/ a small bribe? I really miss that!

[thomasotten]

Ok, here is the pic. This was taken after a big rainstorm had subsided, but you can see the problem. Also shown is this sort of No-mans land in between my driveway and the street. Why they didn't pour all the way to the street, I don't know, most neighbor's driveways go all the way to the street.

[thomasotten]

Here is just one idea that I have where I would have to pour a ramp, but place cobble-stone pavers over the existing slab in the front. I like this idea because it can be tackled in stages that I can do by myself. Plus, pavers look nice.

[swl]

That sucks - absolutely no road drainage at all! No ditch no nothing. Move (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

It really looks like that is standing water not just run off. You would almost need to run you lip curb 10 feet up the road.

BTW that "no man's land" on your diagram probably belongs to the municipality. Look for survey evidence as to where your property line is - probably 33' back from the centerline of the road. Someone suggested getting in touch with engineering department. I second that whole heartedly. You go changing public lands and sooner or later some PO'd official is going to show up and lay a beating on you.