"Wade Lippman" wrote in message
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I am in Upstate NY.
My front yard is somewhat higher than my garage. When I bought the house
water would flow in and "flood" the garage. Well, an inch in the front
and less in the back; still it wasn't good. I drilled some holes in the
floor and that helped, but not enough.
I had a new driveway put in 15 years ago. They said they couldn't put an
actual drain it because it would just disintegrate, but they would put a
low point in near the garage, and have it drain to one side where it was a
bit lower. It worked to a degree, until the low spot got to be like a
pond, and then the garage flooded again.
I had some landscaping done and put a drain in the low spot.
The problem is pretty well solved now, except that water still pools in
low spots in the driveway, and that seems to be causing it to fall apart.
The low spots are a combination of the swale they put in to divert the
water and ruts from where the tires go; for some reason the ruts are only
evident around the swale, maybe the driveway is thinner there?

My wife is nagging me to put in a new driveway because the 15 year old one
is getting pretty rough.
So:
1) Is it reasonable to extend the drain I have right next to the driveway
to put it in the driveway. It would work much better, but the last guy
told me it couldn't be done. Yet I have seen driveways with drains in
them; so either he is wrong, or I just haven't seen them after they fail.
2) Is concrete an option? I rarely see it around here; is that because it
is not suited for the climate or what? I presume it would hold up better
than asphalt.
You need a different paving company. Slit drains near the garage on
reverse-slope driveways are quite routine. Basically a U-shaped trench or
slit pipe buried in the driveway, with removable grates on top for cleanout.
It slopes to one or both sides, into collector boxes, again with a lift-off
top for cleanout, and the overflow from the collector box goes to a daylight
drain or large drywell as far from the house as you can work into the lot.
Used to be concrete with metal lids exclusively, some vendors now have
cheaper plastic ones available. Concrete vs. asphalt is mainly a matter of
money and local soil conditions. If you get a lot of frost heave, asphalt is
a little more forgiving- it'll sprout cracks, but driveway will still be
usable. If money is no object, enough gravel underneath, concrete thickness
and rebar will let you put concrete anywhere. With either, proper subsurface
prep is the key. The tire ruts are probably from not enough gravel under the
low spot, and/or they made the low spot by feathering the thickness of the
asphalt. If it is over mud, yeah, it'll flex. Asphalt is not a solid, it is
like taffy. That is what makes it sort of self-healing.

aem sends...