People tend to view the cold winter months with mixed feelings all around. One the one hand, this is a beautiful time of the year. Crisp air, fluffy white snow floating in the breeze, all kinds of lights hanging from trees, lamp posts, and roof gables, good food on the table, and wood fires warming both our hearts and our wool sock-clad feet. It’s a romantic, cozy, and peaceful time of year, a time of year where we eat more, talk more, spend more time together, and where the hours just seem to slow down.
But it’s also a somewhat hazardous time of year, with more car accidents, slips, trips, and falls than any other time of year. The winter months bring frigid temperatures and icy, slippery, slick surfaces. Driving anywhere in the winter time becomes a hazard. Walking just about anywhere becomes a gamble on whether or not we will make it to our destination without slipping and falling at least once. Just getting out of the driveway in the morning can be a challenge by itself.
Now enter in permeable pavers, the new solution in permeable pavement, a solution to melting pesky snow and ice buildups before they have a chance to cause any real damage.
WHY WE NEEDED PERMEABLE SOLUTIONS
Before we talk about permeable pavers and their relation to snow and ice, let’s talk about how permeable pavers work. When we think of permeable pavers, we don’t normally attribute this fancy technology to the winter months. Permeable paving solutions are usually attributed to stormwater management, which is what they were initially designed for. Permeable pavers are the eco-friendly solution to paving, 365 days per year.
In the mid-2000s, booming cities across the Southeast, Northeast, and Midwest regions of the United States began implementing permeable pavers on their urban streets and parking lots, all in an effort to contend with increasing stormwater issues. Basically, cities were growing too fast, too much concrete was being poured, and outdated stormwater drainage systems were being overtaxed, overloaded, and essentially overpowered. Flooding became a real danger, and the ecosystems around the booming cities were suffering.
HOW PERMEABLE PAVERS WORK
Enter in permeable pavers, a system of paving that had been in use in Europe for some time. Permeable paver technology was brought to the U.S. where it basically erupted not only as an eco-solution but as a fashion and style statement too. These pavers offered an eco-minded system for diverting water through the pavers themselves and into aggregate rock layers and the soil beneath, and they looked great doing it too.
The way permeable pavers work is that the pavers themselves are porous, as are the cracks between each, individual paver. Water strikes the paver network, and it is immediately absorbed through and between the pavers. The water then passes through a series of aggregate rock bedding layers, passing through as many as three or four layers ranging from pea gravel at the top layer all the way down through larger aggregate stones at the bottom layer. Finally, after this filtration process, the water seeps into the soil beneath, returning to the groundwater, just as nature intended. The permeability of the pavers effectively drain the water into the soil, as though there were no pavers there at all.
PERMEABLE PAVERS – AN EFFECTIVE SOLUTION TO SNOW AND ICE REMOVAL IN THE WINTER’S “FREEZE-THAW” PERIOD
Permeable pavers won’t do it all, but they do much of it. We still need our snow plows, and we still need some deicing and salting. A plow still needs to come through and remove the majority of the snow from the paved surface, but once a small amount of salt or deicing material is applied to the remaining snow, the snow melts, turns to water, and vanishes beneath the pavers. In reality, probably the single best feature of permeable pavers in the wintertime is that melted snow does not pool on the paved surface and then freeze into ice overnight. It simply seeps through the pavers and into the soil beneath.
After that, any fresh snow that falls onto the paved surface immediately melts and also seeps through the pavers and into the groundwater below. At night, when the temperatures drop, there is no remaining water or slush to freeze into hard packed, slippery surfaces, as it has all transferred through the pavers and into the aggregate rock beds and soils below.
PERMEABLE PAVER MAINTENANCE
As a side note, when addressing snow buildup on permeable-paved surfaces, it is best to use rubber-tipped snowplows and snow shovels, to avoid scratching or damaging the aesthetic and meticulously designed surfaces of the pavers themselves. Furthermore, it is also wise to use an eco-friendly deicer like magnesium chloride, something that isn’t as workable on concrete, but which is very effective and eco-friendly for permeable pavers. This substance gets the deicing job done and it does so without harming the pavers, passing cars, or machinery.
Clearly, there is a bit of a learning curve and maintenance curve that goes along with keeping a permeable-paved surface operating well in the winter-time, but the benefits far outweigh any learning curve or maintenance tasks that one must contend with as a result.
HOW PERMEABLE PAVERS ARE THE BEST ECO-FRIENDLY PAVING AND HARDSCAPE SOLUTION, 365 DAYS A YEAR
Not only are permeable pavers a brilliant solution to keeping snow and ice off of our roads, sidewalks, parking lots, walking paths, entryways, and driveways this winter, but the permeable approach is the eco-friendly approach as well. A permeable-paved surface directs melting snow and ice through the pavers themselves and into the rock layers and soil beneath. In this way, the now filtered water recharges underground water supplies, aquifers, etc. just as nature intended.
And another benefit to using permeable pavers for snow and ice removal and mediation is that cities experience a major reduction in the need for salt and other ice-melting chemicals. This is ultimately far better for the environment and the local eco-system. Some cities in the Midwest and the Northeast have estimated reductions of up to eighty percent in salt usage throughout the winter months on any surface that was constructed with permeable pavers rather than traditional asphalt or concrete. A huge bonus.
SAFE WINTERS THANKS TO THE USE OF PERMEABLE PAVERS, EFFICIENT SNOW REMOVAL, SNOWMELT, AND ECO-FRIENDLY DEICING
Permeable pavers are the 21st-century solution to snow removal, snowmelt, and deicing. Are you ready to make full use of a permeable paving system? Are you considering a permeable approach for your commercial lot, community parking area, residential driveway, commercial entryway, community sidewalk, or city path? After more than a decade in business, Permeable Pavers LLC is now the top contractor and innovator in permeable paving systems, and we are ready to offer our abundant services to you in tackling your next hardscape or landscape design project.
MAKING THE SHIFT TO PERMEABLE FOR A BETTER LANDSCAPING AND HARDSCAPE OPTION
At Permeable Pavers LLC, we offer our full design, installation, and maintenance for any and everything outdoors. From hardscape design to permeable pavement, permeable maintenance and management, permeable paver installation, landscaping, driveway and parking lot construction, snow and ice removal and deicing, rainwater and stormwater remediation, gutter installation and maintenance, screened in deck and porch builds, outdoor patio and fireplace construction and maintenance, tree trimming and outdoor plant care, etc. we do it all.
We specialize in custom builds and we have a strong focus on keeping our projects eco-friendly. We’ll work hard to design and create a safe and efficient permeable system that is a perfect copy of your own vision. Your landscaping or hardscape project with us will not only be one that meets your needs, but it will be one that also offers safety benefits, eco-friendly aspects, and peace of mind for you and your family, all year round. And it will last. Call our direct line today to get started, (615) 266-6360.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
When asking “Who is the best hardscaping contractor in Nashville?” or, “Who installs pavers near me?” or, “Where can I find the best paving professional in Nashville?” look no further than Permeable Pavers LLC. Our team will work with you, every step of the way, to make your dream a reality in the form of landscape architecture and hardscaping. To learn more about paving stones, block paving, brick pavers, and permeable pavers, call our office at (615) 266-6360. Or, to get some questions answered right away, check out our FAQ below:
Can you install permeable pavers on a commercial property?
Absolutely, and we encourage it. If you are tired of dealing with snow build up on your commercial lot every winter, a pervious concrete paver system might be the perfect solution for you.
How long does it take to install a permeable paver driveway or parking lot?
That depends entirely on the size of the job, but our team completes most jobs in one to three weeks.
Where do you get your pavers from?
We use the best manufacturers in the paving industry, namely Belgard, Keystone, Aqualine, and Red River.
What are the benefits of a permeable paver system to a commercial developer?
Huge benefits. When you design and develop a property with permeable pavers as your paving method, you are able to get more out of your real estate parcel. This is because you do not have to take up land space with rain gardens or water retention ponds. The pavers take care of all storm and rain water. This gives you more room to build.