Autumn brings one of the prettier sights of the year and one of the more overlooked driveway problems along with it. Fallen leaves gather in the low points of a driveway and, in particular, around drains and gullies. Left there, they turn from a tidy-up job into a drainage problem.
Why leaves matter more than they look
A few leaves are nothing. A season of them, wetted down and packed into a gully, is another matter. Once a drain is blocked, water has nowhere to go. It sits on the surface, works into any small cracks or joints, and over the colder months that trapped water is exactly what causes damage. Standing water is also a slip risk and, over time, encourages moss and staining.
A simple autumn routine
Keeping on top of it does not take much. Sweep leaves off the driveway regularly rather than letting them build up, and pay particular attention to any drains, channels or gullies. Clear them out by hand or with a stiff brush so water can run away freely. A quick check after heavy rain will soon tell you whether the water is draining as it should.
Water pooling where it never used to? That can be a sign the problem is more than surface leaves. We are happy to take a look and tell you honestly what is going on. Email or use our online contact form.
When it is more than housekeeping
If water regularly pools in the same spot even when the drains are clear, the issue may be with the fall of the driveway or the drainage design underneath rather than the leaves on top. That is not something a brush will fix, but it is very fixable with the right approach. Catching it in autumn, before winter puts pressure on the surface, is far better than discovering it in the depths of January.
