The Most Common Reasons Your Driveway Is Sinking (and How to Fix Them)

Whether your road was paved with cement, asphalt, paving stones, bricks, or other material, you may have noticed that it has begun to sag and crack in places.

Aside from aesthetics, it’s wise to find out the root cause of these problems so that you can do something about them, even if you’re unable to repair your driveway. Here are some of the most common causes of flooding and how to fix them—at least temporarily—or prevent further damage.

Why the entrance fails and how to fix it

When parts of your driveway begin to sag and crack, the surface becomes uneven and, as a result, a potential safety hazard. Here are a few reasons why your driveway might be sagging and what to do to mitigate the damage if repairs aren’t possible.

The foundation is not strong

Like homes, driveways need a solid foundation to provide support and help hold everything in place.

“All driveways must have a hard-packed crushed stone or gravel base followed by aggregate,” Yusuf Ismail, e-commerce manager and paving specialist at Simply Paving , tells Lifehacker via email. “If your driveway was built with the wrong materials or not packed tight enough, you will experience cracking or subsidence of the foundation.”

Solution : Ismail recommends filling the sagging areas with a mixture of sand and cement – a process called “soil embedding”. While this will raise the sunken section, the repaired section will be visible and is only a temporary solution, he notes.

weather related erosion

If you live somewhere with hot summers, cold winters, and everything in between, erosion could be the culprit. Weather events such as heavy rains, flash floods, freeze and thaw cycles, and frequent humidity contribute to this process.

Here’s what’s going on, according to Airlift’s concrete experts :

Erosion can wash soil out from under the roadway. This creates a void or space under the roadway slab. In turn, voids under concrete slabs cause concrete to sink and crack. Your driveway may begin to sag in places where the soil has been eroded, creating unattractive and dangerous conditions.

Solution : Clogged gutters and downpipes can exacerbate roadway erosion, so check, clean and/or fix them. Also, make sure your yard has proper drainage to prevent water back up. While this won’t fix sections of the driveway that have already sunk, it will help prevent the situation from getting worse .

heavy vehicles

Over time, parking large, heavy vehicles such as SUVs or trucks in your driveway can cause it to sag, especially if it doesn’t have a solid foundation.

Solution : Park your heaviest vehicle on the opposite side of the roadway “to even out the weight and reduce the impact on cracked and sunken parts,” Ismail says.

Did you seal too often or not often enough

Similar to watering plants, you can damage your driveway by applying sealer too often or not often enough. According to Ismail, when the top layer of the driveway is not sealed, it becomes vulnerable to damage. But don’t try to make up for it too often: compacting too often or adding too many layers can make your driveway more prone to cracking, he adds.

Solution : Check the caulking instructions for how many coats are required for your driveway material. When in doubt, Ismail suggests applying the sealant once a year.