I'll be looking at houses in Sun City in late August or September. What types of materials are good for driveways to be made of(besides sand!) Here in New England we have blacktop driveways and sometimes concrete - is concrete used in the Sun City driveways? Any tips of what types of driveways are good is appreciated.
As far as I know ALL the driveways in Sun City are concrete. An interesting fact is that although Sun City is unincorporated, The state periodically resurfaces the streets. At that time you kind of have to coordinated getting out of your garage and the time that your street is resurfaced. The divided streets are done one side at a time. I try not to drive over the new asphalt. I have a white car!
Driveways are concrete - A lot of Sun City Folks have their Driveways "coated" with some sort of material that can be made into nice designs. Some people have their driveways painted. These two "looks" have their downfalls -- later in years as it does get old...it begins to start the look of wear & tear & sun-damaged. Some folks have begun to get "pavers" -- or bricks placed into their drive ways.(removing the concrete) That look is nice, certain that would wear well with our heat and sun.
The pavers are lovely, but the ones put in near me were a big project indeed as the concrete had to be jackhammered out and all. I'm not wild about the painting and the "cool-top" versions with the fiberglass and all as it's like Anita Mae stated, they show wear and will be an on-going expense. Another option is a pebble on-lay that also requires some upkeep, but the timetable on those, don't know.
I had that coating stuff" on my nice-large outdoor back yard patio....I have no idea who put it in or when it was done -- it was here when I purchased my home. Then - - afew yrs. after I move in - - cracks arose in the coating - - rippled and bubbled - - It appeared that the past owner had a hot tub on this beautiful patio - which caused a bad deterioration of the patio and coating. I recently had it all busted up -- old concrete, coating, and all - - - I replaced it with just plain simple gray cement !!! AND I love it -- what is wrong with just cement ? concrete ? like we all had when growing up ! It lasts and is durable for many many years -- with no additional costs of the "re-coating" every few years ! Make life simple ! !! :friendly_wink:
Most of the pavers are concrete too. The color does fade (my red went to pinkish), but since it is mixed into the concrete it doesn't chip off like if you paint. I just added very white concrete stairs on my house. They get a bit dirty but here's something great I learned---they do not get hot even when the sun has been baking them. If I step on my pink pavers ouch! but the white is very cool.
BTW Anita, I love grey concrete. Some of the finishes are better than others, but personally I love standard concrete. Of course it's nice to mix it up with other stuff (pavers, rocks, plants)
Cynthia - - - there are many types, sizes and colors of rocks that people have in their yards. Normally not of a dark color. White ? In this heat -- might stay cooler -- -but.. HOT is HOT ! ! Have you ever visited Sun City, Cynthia ? ---- to view our area for yourself ?
I've been to Phoenix a few times. And I know hot, I lived in the Philippines for 2 years. Without electricity. Forget air conditioning, with no electricity there aren't even fans. I tell you the white white steps are something unique as far as not holding heat. They are not merely a bit cooler than the rest of the concrete, they do not get hot. The rest of the concrete I have is burning hot but these steps stay cool. I used white Portland cement in the concrete mix. I didn't know they would be cool, I just did it for the appearance. But I have found even after an entire day of hot direct sun I can stand on them barefoot. I cannot do that on any other concrete. Granted, Los Angeles is not as hot Sun City but it's still direct sun.
Have you ever heard about the sand in some beaches (some in Florida) of white coral sand? People walk on it in the baking heat and it is cool, it never gets hot.
I found an article on white cement and the fact that it not only reflects the sun/heat but needs less light at night. They don't say what I do, that it's so cool to step on, however my bare feet know the truth. You might want to consider this if you are putting in new concrete...make it as white as possible. It looks good too, in my opinion. It is more expensive though. http://www.cement.org/decorative/sustainability.asp
