How to Plan a Grade for a Driveway

Planning an appropriate grade for your driveway is an important task prior to its construction. Too steep a grade can mean that cars will scrape when pulling in, as well as the danger of faulty handbrakes leading to cars rolling out into traffic. Some slope is necessary for water drainage, but too much can be dangerous. Generally, building codes in most areas place a 15 percent grade limit on driveways, but you should check with your town's before proceeding.

2 Measuring tapes
Spirit level
Calculator

Instructions

- 1
  Determine the grade between your garage and the curb at your location.
- 2
  Measure the difference in height between the curb and your home. This can be done by holding a measuring tape vertically against the street held upright against a spirit level to ensure it is perfectly vertical.
- 3
  Hold a second measuring tape from the edge of your garage floor extended to the vertical measuring tape at the curb, kept level and checked with your spirit level. Record both measurements as rise (Step 2) and run (Step 3).
- 4
  Divide the rise by the run. Enter the vertical distance measured into your calculator, press the divide button followed by the distance measured between the garage floor and the measuring tape. Multiply this answer by 100 to get the grade of your planned driveway in percent.
- 5
  Check your local building code, if this code states that the grade must be less than what you determined the measured straight line distance to be, you will need to incorporate a switchback to halve the slope. If the slope percentage you measured is less than the maximum allowed in your local building code, you are fortunate enough to be able to build a straight line driveway from street's curb to your garage. This is by far the most economical approach.

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