Old timer told me to broom my finish in the opposite direction of the grade

I was working a driveway in Akron a few summers back, this guy in his 70s walks up from the house next door. Said I was trapping water against the garage. I thought he was crazy because every video I watched shows you broom away from the structure. He pulled out his phone and showed me a pic of his own driveway that had a crack running the whole length because of it. I switched the direction on the last panel, and sure enough that section is still perfect 3 years later while the rest has some hairline issues. Anyone else ever get advice from a random bystander that actually worked better than the textbook way?

3 comments

3 Comments

hayes.casey1mo ago

Three years tells the story. Textbook is great until the driveway actually settles.

jakeb811mo ago

Reminds me of the old guy who told me to wet my concrete before floating it. Changed everything.

the_wendy1mo ago

Wait, are you saying you broom TOWARDS the structure or across the grade? I need to understand this better because I've been brooming away from houses for years now. I just watched a buddy's driveway fail exactly like you described, water pooled right up against his garage foundation and now there's a three foot crack zigzagging through his finish. The old man from next door sounds like he actually understood water flow on that specific lot, not just textbook rules. Textbooks tell you to broom away from structures but they don't account for how water actually runs across the whole slab. Sometimes the grade slopes toward the house at one end even if it slopes away at the other. I've learned the hard way that local conditions matter more than general rules. That old timer probably saw that driveway settle and crack over thirty years while the textbook writer was sitting in an office somewhere. You just proved that listening to experience beats following videos every time. Three years with no issues on that panel is proof enough for me.