As a long time lurker/reader of this forum I’ve decided to post here to try and generate some ideas on how to *correct* a few issues that I am currently faced with before I tackle my retrofit project.
My garage right now is a 2 car 20’ deep x 17’ wide that’s technically inside my basement (raised bungalow). If you look at the pictures you will notice that the garage door is recessed 5’ under the home, giving me 5’ x 17’ of unused space. I’d like to move my garage door forward 5’ so it’s flush with the house to make the garage 25’ x 17’.
The challenges:
1. Reverse sloped driveway.
2. Inadequate drainage for flash floods
3. Widening the driveway so that doors can be opened with two cars side by side.
With the current extreme weather that we’ve been getting (especially heavy rain) I am worried that it’s just a matter of time until my drain backs up or when it simply can’t handle the water inflow from the driveway. Because I plan on widening the driveway, this means the drain will have to accept even more water due to the higher surface area draining directly into it.
Currently if you notice the drain is the lowest point of the driveway, if it did back up, there is some safety as it acts as basin in case of overflow. However with my plan to move the door forward I can’t have that as the door will not close flush with the driveway.
I will need to raise the driveway in order to make it level for the door to close flush. My thoughts are to expand the drain from end and to make the safety basin (not sure what to call it) right in front of the newly proposed door closing line, that will provide the extra safety in case the drain backs up.
Something like this, but deeper (to hold more water just in case) and from edge to edge.
In addition to that I’d like to install some sort of a pump in my current drain that would be activated if the water level started rising. Ideally the way I envision this working is, while I have the driveway pulled up I’d run a conduit with a hose inside or some sort of a water channel that pump will utilize the pump the water back out to the street. Again I don’t know if this is a realistic solution, this is where I need input on what my options are.
With the driveway and garage being on the narrower side at 17’ plus the grass on the sides we have issues opening the doors the closer the cars are parked to the house. I’d like to widen the driveway by 3’ on the left side and about 5’ on the right side.
Lastly, I plan to keep this house for a long time so I’d like to build for the long term even if it costs a little more. I’d like to get ideas on what to use for retaining walls for both sides and what material to use for the driveway. Currently I am leaning towards concrete driveway/retaining walls, possibly stamped, input would be appreciated.
My garage right now is a 2 car 20’ deep x 17’ wide that’s technically inside my basement (raised bungalow). If you look at the pictures you will notice that the garage door is recessed 5’ under the home, giving me 5’ x 17’ of unused space. I’d like to move my garage door forward 5’ so it’s flush with the house to make the garage 25’ x 17’.
The challenges:
1. Reverse sloped driveway.
2. Inadequate drainage for flash floods
3. Widening the driveway so that doors can be opened with two cars side by side.
With the current extreme weather that we’ve been getting (especially heavy rain) I am worried that it’s just a matter of time until my drain backs up or when it simply can’t handle the water inflow from the driveway. Because I plan on widening the driveway, this means the drain will have to accept even more water due to the higher surface area draining directly into it.
Currently if you notice the drain is the lowest point of the driveway, if it did back up, there is some safety as it acts as basin in case of overflow. However with my plan to move the door forward I can’t have that as the door will not close flush with the driveway.
I will need to raise the driveway in order to make it level for the door to close flush. My thoughts are to expand the drain from end and to make the safety basin (not sure what to call it) right in front of the newly proposed door closing line, that will provide the extra safety in case the drain backs up.
Something like this, but deeper (to hold more water just in case) and from edge to edge.
In addition to that I’d like to install some sort of a pump in my current drain that would be activated if the water level started rising. Ideally the way I envision this working is, while I have the driveway pulled up I’d run a conduit with a hose inside or some sort of a water channel that pump will utilize the pump the water back out to the street. Again I don’t know if this is a realistic solution, this is where I need input on what my options are.
With the driveway and garage being on the narrower side at 17’ plus the grass on the sides we have issues opening the doors the closer the cars are parked to the house. I’d like to widen the driveway by 3’ on the left side and about 5’ on the right side.
Lastly, I plan to keep this house for a long time so I’d like to build for the long term even if it costs a little more. I’d like to get ideas on what to use for retaining walls for both sides and what material to use for the driveway. Currently I am leaning towards concrete driveway/retaining walls, possibly stamped, input would be appreciated.
Last edited:
