Driveway Extensions & Parking Pads in Kettering, OH

Driveway extensions and parking pads are some of the most common jobs in Kettering. Homes built in the 1950s and 1960s usually got a single-car driveway leading to a one-car garage. Today, many households have two or three vehicles, plus a boat, camper or work trailer. Widening the driveway or adding a pad beside it gets cars off the street and the lawn.

The permit step

Kettering's residential construction guidance says driveway extensions need a zoning permit from Planning and Development. If the extension also changes the drive apron or curb in the public right-of-way, an Engineering permit is needed as well, and work there must follow the City's right-of-way rules. We help you sort out which applies before anything is built.

Building it right

The most common problem with extensions is a crack along the seam between the old driveway and the new strip. It happens when the new section is built shallower than the old one or the old edge is left ragged. We saw-cut the existing driveway to a straight, solid edge, dig the extension to the same depth, build the same compacted gravel base, and pave so the two sections meet flush.

Options

• Side widening: adds width along the full length of the drive
• Parking pad: a separate space beside the drive or garage
• Turnaround: a wider area near the garage so cars can turn and drive out forward
• Trailer or RV pad: built thicker for heavier loads

We lay out the shape with you so it fits your vehicles, your lot lines and the setbacks in the zoning permit.

Drainage

Adding pavement means more water running off the lot. We grade the extension so water goes toward the street or a lawn area that can take it, not toward the house or a neighbor's yard.

Combining with a replacement

If the existing driveway is also worn out, it often makes sense to replace it and widen it at the same time. One base, one paving day and no seam at all.

Setbacks and lot lines

Zoning permits exist partly to keep paving a set distance from property lines and to limit how much of a front yard can be paved. Before we draw an extension, we look at where your lot lines are and ask about any survey stakes or fence lines. Planning and Development can tell you the setback that applies; we lay out the extension to fit inside it.

Thickness for what parks there

A pad for a second car can match the main drive. A pad for a camper, boat or work trailer should be built heavier: cost guides cite 3 to 4 inches of asphalt over 8 to 10 inches of gravel for heavy vehicles. In summer, a board under trailer jacks keeps them from sinking into warm asphalt.