When you think you have a plan which suits your problem, plot it on the graph paper, and then measure it and stake it out on the ground. You can make doubly sure, before committing yourself to the expense or labor of executing the driveway, by waiting for dry weather; then driving your car along the staked driveway; backing up; turning around and in every way you can think of, giving it a final test. Then when you have reset the stakes (if you decide it needs revision) and tested it again, you can start to dig it out or have it bulldozed, or have the paving contractor lay it, if you are not doing the work yourself. Provide sufficient depth for sub-surface drainage, which a bed of gravel or cinders will supply, and crown the center to assist in draining it. Then whatever you do in the way of surfacing will be secure.

Consider the off-street parking as shown in our charts and see if you can adapt it to your own layout. This is well worth considering now, even though it may not all be done at one time. Bulldozer time spent now will cost less than a second trip later on; and if you are having a contractor figure the job, see how much more it would cost to have the parking area surfaced now, and how much it would be for the same job to be done separately later on. The difference may be more than the cost of the interest on a loan which, if taken out now, would allow you to get the job done and to have the use of it immediately. Payment can be made on a loan over several years. Of course, if you are doing it yourself, you'll probably want to spread the work over a long period of time anyhow, doing the driveway first, and then the parking area in sections. That way you will save the interest on the loan and the cost of the labor, too.