A driveway in Orlando gets more rain in a typical summer month than some parts of the country see in a season, and a lot of it arrives in an hour. Where that water goes decides whether the driveway lasts. It also decides whether the garage floods, whether the lawn beside the drive turns to mud, and whether the neighbour gets your runoff. Drainage is not an add-on to a driveway project. It is the first design question.
Grading is the primary tool
Most driveway drainage is handled by the shape of the surface itself. A driveway that slopes gently away from the house toward the street moves water in the right direction. A crown along the centre, or a cross-slope to one side, sheds water off the edges before it can run the full length. Even a modest fall is enough if it is consistent, and the most common failure we see is not a lack of slope but a low spot partway down that catches water and holds it. Our post on standing water on your driveway covers that specific problem.
The catch is where the water ends up. A driveway that drains toward the street on a lot with a curb and gutter is straightforward. One that drains toward the house, or toward a neighbour's lot, needs a way to intercept it.
Options for intercepting water
- Swales. Shallow grassed channels beside the driveway that carry water to a lower point. Common on older lots in Apopka, Sanford and Oviedo, and effective when kept clear and mowed.
- Trench drains. A slotted channel set into the pavement across the driveway, usually at the garage door, that catches water flowing toward the house and pipes it away. The right answer for driveways that slope toward the garage.
- Edge drains and gravel strips. A perforated pipe in a gravel trench along the low edge of the driveway, catching water that runs off the side before it saturates the ground beside the pavement.
- Dry wells. A buried gravel-filled pit that accepts piped water and lets it soak into the sandy soil. Works well in Central Florida's sand where the water table allows it.
Every driveway drains somewhere. The only question is whether you chose the somewhere or the water did.
Why the water table matters here
In much of Central Florida the water table is close to the surface, especially in the wet season and on lots near lakes in Winter Park, Lake Mary or Kissimmee. That limits how much water the ground can absorb and makes dry wells and soakaways less reliable in some spots. It also means that water sitting beside a driveway does not always drain down. It can sit in the base and soften it. Our post on drainage and grading in Florida explains how that softening leads to failure.
Planning it into the project
Drainage is cheapest to get right when the driveway is being built or rebuilt, because the grade, the base and any drains go in together. Retrofitting a trench drain into an existing driveway is possible but involves cutting the pavement and tying the drain into the base. When we quote a driveway, we look at where the water comes from, where it can go, and what is between the two before we talk about asphalt.
One more thing to check: gutters and downspouts. A downspout that discharges onto the driveway adds the whole roof's runoff to the surface. Redirecting it is often the single cheapest drainage improvement on the property.
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Iron Ridge Pavement LLC designs drainage into every driveway we build across Orlando, Winter Park, Apopka, Kissimmee and Central Florida. Ask us to look at your lot.
