Let's talk driveways
 

As I'm driving through TV, I see so many gorgeous driveways, from stone, stamped concrete, painted, etc ... For those of you with a fancy driveway, could you share the cost, type and maintenance?

Could you provide the company that did your driveway?

Thank you so much!

My fancy plain concrete driveway was constructed by the Villages builder. The driveway looks great with no maintenance whatsoever.

Painted/stained driveway, Driveways by Jay, around 10 years ago, no maintenance except for an occasional power wash, NO sealing. At the time was around $2/sq ft and there were several others done in the same block, all still looking great.

Thank you so much! Did you have a design? Wondering if that's more.

You can't compare prices even from 2 years ago, everything is much higher. Get some real time quotes if you want to know what it will cost.

Thank you. This will give me at least a point of reference and helpful information.

Ours looks like cobble stone with an outside border area, I do not recall any additional charge, however if you are thinking about an artistic rendering, I would expect an additional charge just based on all of the additional work.

I love the cobblestone look. That's the driveway we are most interested in but don't want to spend a fortune on it either because it's cosmetic only.

Waste of money…….

Painted is easy to keep clean.

For resale, keep it simple, use colors used on the garage door and exterior of home.

Make sure they use an anti-slip additive.

I had the driveway done a few months ago. I used Custom Ram Designs, they were running about two years out. I think it was about $7k. I’m in District 13, which happens to be the toughest district re: driveways. My first submitted drawing was denied. I resubmitted an amended drawing AND attended the hearing personally, that one was approved. I learned the importance of being present.

Not my driveway because I never clean my plain concrete driveway. It gets cleaned when it rains.

I sent you a PM.

Custom Ram is the elite of driveway designers, as evidenced by their wait list. The owner is an artist.

Another driveway enhancement process is concrete overlay. We had this done 13 years ago. Would not do it again. It involves applying a colored concrete-like coating to the surface, then sealing. The colors fade in the sun and the sealing wears off. The vendors for this process seem to be a revolving door of going in, then going out of business. Our driveway is in need of patching, color, and sealing for the 3rd or 4th time and I don't know who to call.

Whereas, Custom Ram has been in business a long time because we got a quote from him all those years ago.

We have a concrete overlay stone look driveway done by Hand Designs. Very pleased with this company, they are very professional, easy to work with and stand by their work. Very honest people.

I had my previously painted driveway redone by 1st Choice Home Improvement. Unlike the other quotes I got, they didn't think grinding the old paint was necessary. I went with them for the cheaper quote, but there has been some peeling off in certain areas. They came back to fix the spots, but it's happening again. I think you're looking for painting a 'virgin' concrete, so that's a different scenario than mine, but for others, I recommend going with the grinding of the old paint.

mother.....mine cost about $1800 several years ago. 1 1/2 wide driveway. They had to sandblast the old design off, powerwash and install the new paint job. Edison ConCreations did the work. No maintenance, just re-seal and powerwash every 3 years ( which i call them to do). Still looks beautiful with a palm tree design.

Ram is the best.

There is one other company in TV doing this type of work.....but have heard issues with the other company.

Ram is much better than paint.

Concrete creations
 

I had Edison Concrete Creations do my lanai it came out beautiful. They are going to do my two car driveway cost around two thousand no design allowed in the courtyard villa neighborhood that we own.

Very helpful, thank you. Do you know how long a painted driveway typically lasts?

This looks gorgeous!

Edison Concreation's is the best. I had looked around to see what I liked for a design and between the 2 of us we came up with the design and he is VERY meticulous. Prior to having Edison stain the driveway, we had to frequently power wash the algae off the driveway. 3 years out and we haven't had to do that yet. Great investment and got tons of compliments. Also be sure that the correct amount of slip resistance is mixed into the paint or topcoat to reduce the risk of slipping. He does that perfectly. I got 4 quotes and got ripped off by one who took a deposit and never returned. Unless Edison has changed, he never asks for any money up front. Very talented group of workers who work well together. Don't waste your time going with anyone else, go with Edison.

Our recent experience with driveway painting
 

We had Edison Concreations do our driveway last June. $3,400 for the driveway and lanai. Need to reseal it in 3 years. 2 car and golf car house. We're very happy with the driveway and the service.

Went with paint
 

We went with a painted and sealed coating. They did the driveway, porch area, and the garage floor. It was about $3400 in 2023 (only $2100 without garage). The company was Aesthetic Concrete Design (run by hard-working women). They did a good job and it looks great! They have several designs that have no extra cost (still very nice), and some that do cost more. We went with a basic one because it was a nice design anyway. They allow 3 colors with the basic cost. It's only been a year, and it's holding up well. We are supposed to get it resealed after a while, but we'll see how it goes. Drive around and take pictures of driveways you like, then you can show the people you hire.

Thanks for this info. I’m in District 13 also (DeLuna), and I’m guessing some of the driveway paint jobs I’ve seen here aren’t ARC approved based on your comment. There’s designs and colors I don’t think would’ve ever been approved. Gonna keep minding my own business, lol, but will get approval when we’re ready to do ours.

Not the case down here in the south where reclaimed water is used for irrigation. Everywhere the water sprays it leaves a brown-ish rusty looking stain. The unpainted driveways down here are an eyesore. We’ll do ours eventually, but not until after we’ve redone our landscaping.

Note that courtyard villas have more restrictions on what you can do to your driveway, including the color.

Wondering if the father is still involved.....
https://www.talkofthevillages.com/fo...654-post1.html

Don't know how you prevent the mold buildup on YOUR driveway!
 

Annual (or more) power wash.

I went with Hand Designs. Beautiful, great quality, and very professional. Highly recommend if they have a style you like.

I’ve sold a lot of homes in Florida including 5 in the villages , no one ever said to me oh your home is lovely but your driveway has a brown spot so we won’t be buying , I always have nice landscaping, I don’t even notice the driveway being any different then the expensive customized ones , I also don’t care about the garage floor or insulating it , ,I don’t live in it ,I’m just passing through to my beautiful decorated home

You must be Larry who is always on the ************* with useless, nasty comments.

Excuse Me
 

I apologize for this post because it is completely off-topic. Can anyone tell me how I go about posting something on TOTV? I've looked the site over and have been unsuccessful in finding any instructions to post a question. If you'd like to send me a PM, that would be great, but then I'll need to jump through the hoops to locate the message. Thanks.

Look at your options
 

My research on TOTV led me to get quotes from:
- Edison ConCreations (352)406-8775 multiple reccos, great reviews
- DECORATIVE CONCRETE OF CENTRAL FLORIDA, INC., Cliff, (352) 620-9561 or 352-220-8766 multi reccos
- B&D Driveway Designs 352-455-9614 multi reccos

On the design, we spent several months (riding our bikes through the neighborhoods) looking at other driveways, deciding which ones we liked and what we thought would look good with our house colors. We did not care for the matte finish ones, but did ensure that although ours is slightly shiny it has good traction when wet. We opted for a design that was not really 'artistic', so it blends with the house instead of drawing attention to itself - personal preference, and the result of a LOT of looking and discussing.

We found that the companies that gave bids all had binders of examples and could pretty much do most of the patterns we saw. Our job wasn't just the driveway/front walk; we also had a birdcage that had been badly painted and was peeling which needed to be ground off then treated, plus a large concrete patio.

Our bids ranged from $3k to $5k, and I think any of the three would have done a great job. I suspect it would have been higher if it had been a complicated and artistic depiction.

Go to "forum", and then "all forums home". Select a forum topic and then click on "post a new thread".

You don't have to seal it occasionally? Has it faded?

I'm not Larry, and I don't think my post was nasty, just truthful. I don't clean my concrete driveway.

Kinda like an (acid) rain wash! ;)

Before moving from the North (Michigan) to the South (North Carolina), I had never heard of the concept of fancy driveways. I could not see what the point of them was or how they could be worth the cost. When we retired and moved to The Villages, I saw lots of them but it didn't change my mind. After three years of living happily without one, we moved to a different (and rather nicer) house in a different neighborhood. After all, aren't we required to own 3 or more houses during our stays here? Anyway, the new one has a painted driveway that extends right into the garage and the birdcage has a matching finish. We love it and can't imagine having boring, grey concrete slabs for our driveway, garage or birdcage. As for maintenance, I am clueless and will be following this thread to see what we're going to be needing to do in the future to keep these looking good.