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Home Repair Building a Home Design Dilemma

Driveway incline is so steep my car scrapes the asphalt

Dianne Fabricant

last month

last modified: last month

I just moved into my new construction. My house is on a hill, so I knew I would have a steep driveway. The problem is that the incline from the street is so steep, the bottom of my car scrapes the asphalt going in and out. I pointed it out to my contractor when the driveway was first constructed. He said they would fix it after the house was nearly finished when they added the final coat. That didn’t fix the problem. Then they tried adding more asphalt near the street, but my car is still scraping. The driveway was $15,000. Am I wrong to think that they need to make it right even if they have to regrade it?

Featured Answer

3onthetree

last month

A lot of internet photos are photoshopped.

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Comments (34)

just_janni
last month
is there a hump? how are they going to regrade it? ultimately you have a fixed elevation on one end and a fixed elevation on the other end. Usually city regs require going up intot he driveway and you may be required to have a flat spot for a (future) sidewalk.

Unless there's something wonky - this just may be what it is and there's no resolving...

But yes - I see this kind of driveway nightmare more and more - and those of us who drive lower slung sports (sporty) cars are the victims!
Dianne Fabricant thanked just_janni
worthy
last month
last modified: last month

Like this?

Improved version *

*********

In any case, best to use a wheelchock.

Contact your local authority having jurisdiction to see if there are published standards.
Dianne Fabricant thanked worthy
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PRO
BeverlyFLADeziner
last month
Did the architectural site drawings indicate the slope for the driveway? Was the driveway built to that slope? Those are the questions I would start with to see who might be at fault.

I don't know how you fix this but I do know that approaching the driveway on the diagonal helps the vehicle clear the slope in many cases.
Dianne Fabricant thanked BeverlyFLADeziner
chispa
last month
I hope you don't live in an area with snow and ice that can make your driveway steep and dangerous. Do you have it in writing where he said he would fix it? If you do, keep forwarding that message and asking when it will get done.
Dianne Fabricant thanked chispa
chispa
last month
Why does that matter? Even if Toll Brothers built her house, that is still her "contractor". Who else is going to fix it, but the person who built it?
Dianne Fabricant thanked chispa
elcieg
last month
last modified: last month
Your "contractor" had to pull permits to build (on what may be on his subdivided property).

How did the approved plan address steep driveways? Run off is a big issue (conservation).

Turn to your town/city for help.
Dianne Fabricant thanked elcieg
jackowskib
last month
Is yours the only drive like that in neighboring homes? Yikes! Hope you can get resolved.
Dianne Fabricant thanked jackowskib
K L
last month
I wish I could understand how this happens and how to put a stop to it.
Dianne Fabricant thanked K L
K L
last month
I'd like to know who the infants and children are. Developers? Home-buyers?
PRO
Mark Bischak, Architect
last month
I use to have the same problem. We solved it by buying a different car.
Dianne Fabricant thanked Mark Bischak, Architect
LH CO/FL
last month
Where we built, driveways can't have more than a 10% grade. Check your local codes. And until then, as mentioned above, approach on an angle.
Dianne Fabricant thanked LH CO/FL
fissfiss
last month
We actually had this exact problem in our tract home in SoCal 25 years ago,and it got worse over time. Although it was not so steep and long to start with! One of our problems was that the contractor had failed to put rebar in the driveway. If this is a new build, address it now, through the city and codes and you 1 year home warenty. Otherwise, eventually, the solution will be totally on your nickel.
Dianne Fabricant thanked fissfiss
CeeWhy
last month
Maybe try something like this, my asphalt-scraping neighbor got one and it solved the problem.

www.bridjit.com
Dianne Fabricant thanked CeeWhy
kudzu9
last month
last modified: last month
Given the geometry of the driveway and the car, I'm not sure there is any easy solution. You can't change the elevation of the street, and you can't change the distance from the street to the garage, so the only way to have less of an incline with the garage in that location would be to lower the floor of the garage, which would be an incredibly expensive redo. Unfortunately, it would probably be cheaper to trade the car in for something else that rides higher or has a shorter wheelbase.
Dianne Fabricant thanked kudzu9
Dianne Fabricant
last month
last modified: last month
I should have mentioned that my car is a Hyundai Accord. It's a pretty common compact car.
Dianne Fabricant
last month
worthy Thanks for the picture. I'll show it to the contractor I hired to do this job, as well as the paver.
Dianne Fabricant
last month
kudzu9 I think if the initial entry from the road was not so immediatly steep it would help. If it went in at a lower angle far enough for the length of the car to get off the road and then went up it might not scrape. It's a problem between the road and the driveway, not the garage.
PRO
Norwood Architects
last month
As someone else suggested check with your local zoning or building department to see if your contractor has constructed your driveway at too steep and angle.
Dianne Fabricant thanked Norwood Architects
Dianne Fabricant
last month
BeverlyFLADeziner I get that the approach can help. I don't want to have to explain to anyone who visits, that they have to come up the driveway at an angle or the bottom of their car might scrape the asphalt. The sound of that happening is terrible. My car is a Hyundai which is a pretty common car. It makes me think that other compact cars could have the same problem.
Dianne Fabricant
last month
CeeWhy Thank you. That's a great idea. I'll suggest adding that to the guy that paved the driveway.
Dianne Fabricant
last month
Mark Bischak, Architect I more worried about the cars driven by people that visit me. A lot of my friends drive compact cars similar to mine.
Stax
last month
You bought a new house and YOU separately hired a " ....contractor I hired to do this job, as well as the paver."
Dianne Fabricant
last month
Stax I hired a contracting company to build my new house. He took care of hiring all the subcontractors to do their various jobs. I did meet the paver though. Sorry if I didn't explain it correctly. The house contractor assured me that, even though it was a "tricky" job, the paver he hired could do it right.
PRO
Patricia Colwell Consulting
last month
I did not catch that . Now the guy who built the driveway is the only guy you can approach .
3onthetree
last month
Pictures are worth a thousand words.
Dianne Fabricant
last month
Patricia Colwell Consulting No, I'm still going through the contractor. I just wanted to get other people's opinions and ideas. I did meet the paver and demostrated what was happening when I drove in and out. He said he would fix it but it's not any better. I'm trying to get some ideas on ways to fix it that I can mention to him. I'm sure they don't want to do anything major. maybe I should get a second opinion from another company n how they would have constructeed it.
PRO
Virgil Carter Fine Art
last month

How's this...?
Dianne Fabricant
last month
Virgil Carter Fine Art Holy God! Is that San Fransisco! it looks like a roller coaster ride!
PRO
GN Builders L.L.C
last month
Post a few pictures if you can that would help.
Dianne Fabricant
last month
3onthetree So true. I'll take some today
chispa
last month
We lived in LA for 10 years and some of the driveways on hillside houses were crazy. Luckily no snow or ice to deal with otherwise lots of people would be driving/sliding off the hills every year!
Dianne Fabricant thanked chispa
PRO
GN Builders L.L.C
last month
I have seen a few houses with steep driveways that installed electric heating systems so you never have snow or ice build-up, it cost a bit more but you save in the long run.

That said the driveway doesn't have to be steep, I have seen driveway aprons installed wrong and the cars would scrape entering from the roadway onto an apron, especially nowadays with some cars designed to be low to the ground or they attach skit extensions and bumpers lip spoiler kits, etc in some cases you cannot open the door unless they car is far enough from the curb.
3onthetree
last month
It's a thang now on Ytube and TikTk where bystanders video cars going up steep aprons, many low cars have to tripod it (on 3 wheels from the angle).

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