How to Build a Driveway Apron | This Old House

Senior technical editor Mark Powers shows how to install a driveway apron. (See below for a shopping list and tools.)

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What is a driveway apron?
It’s the area where your residential driveway meets the street pavement. You can transform that plain patch of tarmac by tearing up the section above the curb and replacing it with materials that look like they were taken from the streets of Brussels itself.

But instead of laying cobblestone one by one, check out these time-saving manufactured concrete cobbles. They're produced in mats like those for mosaic backsplash tiles, and they install almost as easily. Follow along as senior technical editor Mark Powers shows you how.

Shopping List for How to Build a Driveway Apron:
- Cobblestone mats with cast-in grid. Have your supplier help determine the amount you need.
- Permeable epoxy grout
- Leveling sand. A 1/2-cubic-foot bag covers 6 square feet at 1 inch deep.

Tools for How to Build a Driveway Apron:
- tape measure
- nails to stake the chalk line in asphalt
- chalk line
- safety glasses
- hearing protection
- 14-inch gas-powered concrete saw with segmented diamond blade
- garden hose
- hammer drill with chisel bit to break up the driveway surface
- pick mattock to remove broken-up chunks
- work gloves for handling asphalt and cobbles
- stakes
- mason's line
- bow rake
- plate compactor to tamp base and pavers
- side-cutting pliers
- chalk stick
- mason's chisel with hand guard
- hand sledge
- brick hammer
- hand tamper to fix uneven spots during installation
- duct tape
- cement mixer
- double-foam squeegee to spread grout into joints
- push broom to remove excess grout

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How to Build a Driveway Apron | This Old House
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