Daily travel to and from work, weekend trips, or neighborhood visits - these are just some of the activities your driveway sees every day, every year. In everything you do and everywhere you go, your driveway is ground zero. Whether you're heading out to Tampa Bay to go on a weekend boat trip or cheer the Buccaneers, your driveway is your start and end point. Now that it's worn down and has said goodbye to its best days, it’s time to have a new one installed. But knowing your active "Tampa lifestyle" maybe it is best to get a thicker concrete driveway to serve you for longer. But how thick does a concrete need to be?
Think of your driveway as the foundation for all your comings and goings. The national standard is 4-inch minimum thickness, which should suffice for light-duty use. It can handle regular foot traffic and vehicles like sedans and smaller SUVs.
But with Tampa being such a pickup truck fan, thicker slabs might provide a better solution. How so?
Well, cars and smaller SUVs weigh around 4,500 pounds. Meanwhile, trucks are heavier and can weigh between 5,000 and 7,500 pounds. Now, just imagine if you have a jet ski and RV. For this, you need to bump that weight up a few more times. In this scenario, adding one or two extra inches can save you the headache of dealing with repair due to untimely wear and tear.
Now that we’re done discussing weight, let’s now look into the ground beneath our feet. Though we love the fine sand and the beautiful beaches, they present challenges to our properties. Now, because Tampa sits on a coastal plain, our soil is a mix of sandy and clay soils. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages:
Tampa isn’t all beaches or historic rolling hills. Actually, 41.2% of properties in Tampa are in flood-hazard areas where efficient drainage is necessary. Since we are already talking about floods, let’s touch base on storms that bring them about. Take note that a massive storm can inundate thin concrete flooring. In the past, we’ve seen landscaping get washed out by storms that led to structural damage. What’s worse, there are even times when water finds its way through an underground slab and comes bubbling up through the floor. In such cases, adding an inch of poured concrete can mitigate the problem by channeling water away from your house.
But besides water pooling, another annoying problem is sinkholes, which are a common issue in Florida. We often have sinkholes because our city sits on a karst landscape. What does that mean? Simply put, it means our city is sitting on a bedrock made of limestone that erodes from water exposure. When water passes through it, the bedrock gets chipped away, leaving cavernous areas underground. As caverns grow bigger from erosion, sinkholes appear above ground. Don’t worry. A geotech can work with you to determine your risk for sinkholes. You’d typically be recommended to have 6+ inches of concrete with additional reinforcement.
We embrace the outdoors. We love going on and about our lives outside the house. Our spirit can’t simply be contained indoors. So we can pursue our chosen lifestyle, we buy boats or RVs. if you have one of these, then your driveway should be ready for the additional load. A thicker slab of at least 5 inches can handle the weight of trailers and frequent launches.
Even for those who prefer landlubber adventures, aesthetics play a big role. Exposed aggregate finishes are quite popular in Florida. They add a touch of sophistication and coastal charm. If you plan on having aggregate concrete or a paver driveway, you would need a chunkier slab to support the aggregate stones embedded in the concrete.
Sounds good right? Might as well get those thickset driveways to make sure your floor is safe and secure. But hold your horses. Before calling in the pros, you have to understand that more concrete also means higher installation costs. Why? Because then, you’d need more materials and more time to pour and cure the concrete - hence higher labor price.
To give you a rough idea of the costs involved, here are price estimates you can review:
Keep in mind that these are just rough estimates using basic concrete. Prices will change depending on the material you use, finishes you want to make, etc.
Tampa's got sunshine practically year-round, about 246 days out of 365. But that sunshine also means scorching summers that see an average of 90s (°F). Keep in mind that just like you, driveways are also affected by the heat. It is actually devastating to them.
But here’s what you can do. To keep your driveway (and your garage) a little cooler use lighter-colored concrete that reflects more sunlight and heat than darker-colored ones. This can not only make your driveway more comfortable to walk on during the dog days of summer, but it can also help reduce the urban heat island effect in your neighborhood.
