Interlocking Driveways in Eringate–Centennial

The streets around Centennial Park in west Etobicoke filled up in the 1960s and 70s with side-splits, back-splits and bungalows. On a side-split, the driveway rarely ends at a flat front door. It runs beside a short flight of steps, a landing and sometimes a low wall holding the upper level, all poured or laid at different times over fifty years. Replacing the driveway alone usually leaves a crisp new surface next to crumbling concrete steps.

That's why we treat the entrance and the driveway as one job. The top of the driveway, the bottom riser and the landing have to agree on height, and the steps need even risers, since uneven ones are the ones people trip on. Rebuilding them together means one base, one paver or slab family and one set of borders. Precast steps and natural stone slabs both work, depending on how formal the house looks.

Because this is Toronto, the City's rules apply rather than Mississauga's width by-law. Inside your lot, it's a zoning matter, and the zoning keeps a share of each front yard as soft landscaping. A change to the curb, the apron or the City boulevard needs a Transportation Services permit, and front-yard parking falls under Municipal Code Chapter 918. Original driveways from this era were often laid on a thin base, which is why so many have sunk at the edges and lifted near tree roots; the new one is dug out properly and built up in compacted lifts.