Removing curb for driveway

I'm not sure what you mean by backup space?

You mean, backing up the car?

funny when you both not looking at the same thing together.

What's with the avatar, Chai?

I thought we were friends.

OK, stared a bit. I can imagine your original driveway being an eensy bit wider at some point, say, a gravel courtyard with an outlet as original driveway to the presumed garage... even with a possible tree in the middle.
Can't agree with the new double space driveway myself, although, given whatever city rules, maybe you can do that.

Or I can picture a rectangular courtyard, permeably covered that will take the weight of cars... that is attached to the original driveway... only some of which is used to park a second car.

Getting more negative to the second driveway than I started..

Yes, backing up the car. Sometimes there is a 26 foot back up/turnabout rule, not so much in single family residencies, though I try to make room for it. Always nice though.



I'd be surprised if they let you do the second driveway.

It doesn't look like you have room for a semicircular driveway (possibly with a space off of), but maybe.

Tell me again why you want to park a car in the yard? Not to be grouchy, but what you may do is potentially pretty ugly even if they say ok, and fairly expensive. I still can see some kind of gravel or paver rectangle off of the original driveway... but am not enthused even about that.
Thinking Pergola Carport in the original driveway, but those are probably prohibited re the setback line, and... would still involve one person backing out for the other.

oh, ok...a couple of clarifications.

the original drive IS wider, I just could get it all to fit into that image.
There is no garage, the original driveway runs down the side of the house as well, again, not included in the image. The problem is twofold. The Man could move his van up far enough for me to pull in behind him, but, well, he just doesn't. Also, that factor of, "I've got to go so you have to move your van/car.

The 2nd driveway....well, actually I just wanted it wide enough for a full size car, I guess my whatdayacall, perceptions are off. That driveway can be narrower, and the raised planter can be correspondingly wider. As long as I can fill it with easy care perinneals, I'm happy.

See, that's the thing, I love color, just don't get into digging in the dirt.

The origianl driveway outlet? Not understanding what you're saying. When the van pulls in straight, the driver door of the van usually ends up where the top of the planter along side the original driveway is. The darker orange area is all sidewalk, curving around to meet the main sidewalk that runs up the center.

How would you solve the problem of parking 2 cars in one driveway that runs from the street and alongside the side of the house (not shown in image)? I'm thinking if you curved the driveway, you then get that big circular deal I was mentioning in the drewdad post. That would make the front of the house look like a parking lot, especially with a high profile van.

The front yard is not really that big. For instance, when you actuall stand on the city sidewalk in front of the house, you can see that the space I'm talking about for the 2nd driveway is basically big enough to park a car. I guess it looks wider in the picture. Our lot is narrow but loooong...when people walk into the house for the first time, they look past the living room/library area and say something like "wow, I didn't know this went back so far."

I'm getting sleepy, will keep posting but don't pay attention, as most know I get loopier when tired.

In the meantime, how wide is your original driveway?

oh no! you're not being grouchy at all!

I find this very helpful.

when you say a gravel or paver rectangle off the original driveway....do you mean one person would pull straight in and up, and the other person would pull in and veer to the left?

Would that mean that second vehicle is parked in front of the house in the yard anyway?

Naw I really don't want a carport, wouldn't really serve any purpose.

26 foot backup rule....meaning the driveway has to be 26 feet long? The area I think is just about 26 feet long.

Driveway. Chai...osso... so tired... so very tired... what is going on? what did I say?

that's okay...go get some rest, I grow weary too.

actually, I think I'm going to ditch the whole idea and just let the capyberas roam free out there.

Never mind the 26 feet, it doesn't really apply here.

I tried to post this and it, er, failed -

I'm getting sleepy, will keep posting but don't pay attention, as most know I get loopier when tired.

In the meantime, how wide is your original driveway?

I'm fooling around, not trying to solve your problem online. (I don't solve people's problems even with a first visit, generally.)

With any luck I can a) antagonize you into surety of your pov, or b) suggest other ways, and c) support your check with the city.






OK, past that, you can park two cars easily in 16 feet wide, 20 feet long, vans being troublesome and cars usually being much narrower... and given curved access. That's what I'm thinking about as I pour some rum and apricot juice over ice cubes.

More I'm thinking about having a permeably paved area that looks like a courtyard that is parkable-in, that makes sense with the house, even good with the house. Not there yet. But no 2nd driveway.

But, who knows. See what the city says.

osso, you're my muse!

Got to thinking about the "ugly factor" and decided to get more accurate with the dimensions.

OK - some adjustments
As you can see, the steps leading down from the porch don't come down directly from the center of the house....The front door, thus the front steps, actually are over to about one third of the width of the house.

The original driveway is 8' wide, I put a black line to the right of it indicating a barrier that separates our driveway from our neighbour to the right. (picture all this as if you are standing on the city sidewalk, looking upwards/foward to the front of the house.

That makes the area on the left side of the house as far as yard a lot smaller, and the area on the right side a lot bigger.

I was WAY overkill on the width of the proposed 2nd driveway, I reduced it to 8' too. Well, actually a little more, so I wouldn't keep opening my door and potentially hitting the little wall to the left, or the raised planter to the right, also giving a little move around space, like when unloading, etc.

I also put 2 vehicles in the driveways, which are accurate as far as size of the car and van.

I will be lucky to get the "driver of the van" to pull up enough on a daily basis to allow him to open his door and step right onto the new walkway. So, as you can see, there wouldn't be enough space for a smaller car to pull in behind and turn to an open area to the left created for it. I live in reality, and I could see myself not being able to pull into such an area because of it being blocked. Oh....I suppose we could see a marriage counselor over the "how many times must I ask you to pull up further" but we're just too darn busy and too much in love.

On the left side, my neighbors don't have a driveway on that side, there's is one the other side of my house.

On my block, the houses run like this....
House, driveway driveway, house house, driveway driveway, house house, etc.

We are the 2nd house in a driveway driveway, house house, driveway driveway sequence.

What?

Even though our property line goes a couple of feet to the left of where the 2nd driveway is proposed, I don't want to do that since there is a beautiful round flowering shrub right on the border of the line. It's about 10 feet tall and lovely, and I don't want to butt up against it.

In reality, if the proposed driveway was maybe 3 feet to the left, it would be in a natural place where a driveway would run up between the 2 hourses, as if that was where my neighbors driveway was.

The pathway/sidewalk could curve around the remaining yard, which now is significantly larger.

The raised planters remain for color and foliage, and I could deal with with more raised planters or urns spaced around what I think of as "the courtyard". A tree will be planted where the old one was, and a sitting area closer to the house.

I'm not sure what material I'd use around the tree/ potted plants/patio-sitting area.

Does this look any "less ugly" to you osso?

I just don't see how I can get a 2nd car off the street without it somehow at least partically being in front of the house.

Later, I redo a plan making the driveway existing a double one, and see how that looks.

Reading along with interest but very limited knowledge/ advice (Osso is totally the master here).

One spare thought is that, while I don't know how they grow in Texas, I'd recommend periwinkle as groundcover rather than container plants. I absolutely adore mine, but it doesn't provide color for much of the year -- it's mostly about a nice glossy green. It'd be great for the tan area surrounding the patio seating area -- low, green, hardy, shade-tolerant (in terms of the tree), sun-tolerant (in terms of until the tree grows), and no need to mow.

You can make what is currently containers raised beds, or just plonk the containers amongst the vinca/ periwinkle (if the containers are big enough, this looks really good), or carve out spaces with gravel or whatever.

Anyway, I think it'd be a great way for you to add a bunch of greenery that you can just plant and forget.

That looks much better than the first.. but I'm still doubting they'd let you do it.
What happens if you make the end of the original driveway up by the house 16 feet wide by 20 feet long, and gradually curve the interior edge in a kind of S curve to meet the original driveway cut. I know that comes over past the steps on the right, but can't guess how far.

I was also thinking you could do that on the left side of the lot instead and abandon the first driveway and cut, but that's a lot more money/effort, and besides, I see there is not quite enough room even if you liked that idea and they let you.

Those steps on the left are the main entry, aren't they?

(I'll go google some photos of permeable pavers.)

There are a lot of companies that make many versions of permeable paving.

http://www.icpi.org/homeowners/

http://www.concretenetwork.com/concrete/porous_concrete_pavers/example_of_permeable_pavers.htm


Another kind of permeable paving is called "grasscrete" - concrete or sturdy plastic block with cutouts where grass can grow. This is sometimes used in parks for maintenace truck/fire truck access, for example.

One can also use gravel over a soil base, cheaper, can have problems.

Mulling some more -
what if you draw a horizontal line twenty feet away from the bottom of the step that's to the far right...
and then a vertical line from the left edge of the main porch steps.

That'll give you a long pretty rectangular paved area.
Then, start the S curve sixteen feet in from the right edge and bring it down to meet the sidewalk and the original curb cut.

Xeriscape: Logical Landscapes for Green Living in Central Texas

If Austin insists on permeable paving, I doubt if all those interlocking type pavers are acceptable - probably only the ones that have fairly big spaces (12%) to let water through.
http://www.mutualmaterials.com/Professional_product.asp?pt_id=123&p_id=304

Probably Austin has a square footage limit for impermeable paving and anything over that has to let a certain amount of water through.

In my scouting around for examples of permeable paving, I've run into some mentions of porous paving, concrete or asphalt that has spaces to let water through - I've not run across that in California and don't know pros and cons about it.

Yeah, that's a good idea about the periwinkle in that tan area, with a few large urns/pots "plunked" into the middle.

I know you can't even kill periwinkle if you try, which is about my speed :wink:

I could just make sure it's edged over the by the walkways, creating a sort of carpet effect.....definatly will keep that in mind. During my research I purchases a big book, like an encylepedia, of perenials. There's over hardy ones that are good ground cover who don't care if they're in the sun/shade/drought conditions. Also, that would give more than enough, permeable ground space.

Osso....I'll have to print out what you said, and compare it to what I've done, so I can grok it.

I'll make changes and come back to see if I've got you straight.

Also, why would the city not allow a 2nd driveway? Especially if I did it in something like pea gravel that is water permeable?

Essentially, wouldn't that be like telling the city, "I want to cover a part of my lawn with gravel, with a well draining base underneath" Then, the only difference is cutting a driveway apron into it.

I wouldn't worry about the gravel getting lost in the rain too much, if each side is bordered by some type of hardscape to keep it in. If we put the right type of base, with no clay (which is a real problem right now), it won't get muddy, and the water would drain well.

anyway, I'm going to cypher what you said, and come back.

BBB
I Googled Austin Texas building code for private property driveway curb cuts and found lots of information which may help you.

BBB