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A paved driveway offers a number of advantages over one that is made of gravel. Not only does it look better but it is also easier to maintain. It also reduces the risk that your car will be scratched by a stone. Paving a driveway is a major job and it is not cheap. Therefore you have to make sure that you know how to find the best contractor for the job. In order to do this you have to know exactly what is involved in paving a driveway so that you know what to look for in a contractor’s bid. How much does a concrete driveway cost? That’s the question that most of all always ask well for me it depends of the area of your driveway and not only that the materials as well.

The most important thing that you have to look at when you are having a driveway paved is the prep work. You have to make sure that the driveway is poured on a well prepared base. This is something that you have to make sure that you discuss with your contractor. In most cases the cheapest bids that you will get will be from companies that do not do this part of the job properly. If you choose to use a cheap contractor you will find that your driveway does not last more than a couple of years.

A proper base for a driveway requires that the area be excavated to a depth of at least a foot; this is going to cost you quite a bit of money because excavating that deep is not easy. You will then need six to eight inches of aggregate put in as a sub-base. This is will support the whole driveway so it has to be done properly. The sub-base also needs to be thoroughly compacted and allow for efficient drainage of water. Make sure that any bid that you get from a contractor includes this work and that the depth and the amount of aggregate is specified in the bid.

The next part of the driveway is the base layer; this should be at least two inches thick. It is important to remember when you are getting a bid for your driveway that the bid specify that the base be at a compacted thickness of two inches. If not you may find that they pour two inches of asphalt and then compact it down to a much smaller amount. Two inches is necessary to make sure that your driveway can support the weight of your car.

After the base layer is done the final step in paving a driveway is the top layer which should be at least one and a half inches thick. The important thing here is to make sure that the proper asphalt mix is used. There are broadly speaking two classes of asphalt, class one is used for the base while class two is used for the top. There are a lot of different mixtures within the two classes and the right one will depend mainly on the climate where you live. For this you are largely going to have to trust that the contractor knows what he is doing and will use the proper asphalt. This is why you need to make sure that you work with somebody who has a lot of experience.

On last thing that you should make sure is included in the bid that you receive is the slope of the driveway to allow for drainage. You don’t want water pooling in the middle of your driveway so it should slope down from the center towards the sides. Normally a slope of a quarter inch for each foot of distance is ideal. A contractor will know the proper slope but you want to make sure that this is included in the bid so that there is no confusion.

Actually finding a contractor to pave your driveway should not be all that hard, there are a lot of them. The best place to start is to ask for referrals from people that you know. If you know somebody who has had their driveway paved they could probably recommend somebody. Another option is if you know any general contractors who build houses they could be a great source as they work with paving contractors all the time. The goal here is to make a list of at least five contractors that you can research further.

The next thing that you are going to want to do before you hire a paving contractor is a background check. This you can do with your state Attorney General’s office. They will be able to tell you if the contractor has had any complaints lodged against them; they will also be able to tell you if they are properly licensed. It is also a good idea to talk to the local Better Business Bureau to see if they have received any complaints about a contractor.

The next step is to contact the contractors that you are interested in and talk to them about the work that you need done. The main thing that you are looking for here is to find out how easy they are going to be to work with. You should also be able to get a good feel for whether or not they know what they are doing, it should be pretty obvious if they don’t. At this stage you are also going to want to make sure that they are bonded and insured, don’t even consider hiring a contractor who isn’t.

Once you have verified that a contractor is properly licensed, bonded and insured and that they are somebody that you are comfortable working with you will want to get bids from a few of them. You don’t need a bid from dozens of contractors, three should be sufficient. The big thing is to make sure that the bid specifies exactly what is included. This is why it is important that you know what is involved in paving a driveway so that you can make sure that everything that needs to be included is included. Once you have a few bids you will want to choose the one that will best meet your needs, rarely is this the cheapest one.

A paved driveway can really improve the look of your home. That being said depending on where you live a concrete driveway may be a better option. It is important to be able to decide which is better a paved or a concrete driveway.

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Whether working with an in-house art department or an outside agency, here’s a handy checklist to make sure your digital signage content achieves what you want. Vehicle signage Sydney is the most cost effective form of advertising for any business big or small, we will wrap your vehicle with professional appearance while on site.

Digital signage is going mainstream as a medium. Simply look around in retail stores, shopping malls, arenas, gas stations, hotel lobbies, restaurants, and just about any other place you can image, and you’re bound to see one or more digital signs.

However, even though digital signs are growing in popularity, they are likely to be a rather new medium for the majority of graphic artists and other media creators, like graphic designers and animators, which you may turn to create compelling content to achieve your communications goals.

Perhaps, you will be working with in-house graphic artists whose expertise is the design of brochures, reports and other printed collateral. Or, you may find yourself working with a creative agency that specializes in television commercials. Both are creative, talented and have an abundance of knowledge and experience to bring to the table. Your challenge will be communicating the unique demands of digital signage content to them and directing them so they deliver the message you need.

Following some or all of the recommendations on this handy checklist should help you focus your creative team’s talent regardless of their prior experience, or lack of experience, in creating a digital signage portfolio.

* Clearly state what you wish to accomplish. Explain precisely how the signs are to be used. Will they be informational in nature? Do you want to sell a product or service with the signs? Is the communication mission straightforward like that of a menu board or more nuanced?

* Define your target audience. Layout as much demographic information, i.e. age, sex, ethnic background, and psychographic information, including interests, attitudes and opinions, of your intended viewers as possible.

* Identify where the sign or signs will be located. Giving your creative team this information will inform decisions they make later about the appearance, placement and dwell time of content they will create.

* Explain desired quality. In today’s world, it is hard to imagine that the display or displays to be used won’t be HDTVs. But even if that’s the case, will they be 720p, 1080i or even 1080p displays? That information will be helpful when content is created and may reduce the need for up, down or cross conversion of video, graphics and animation content.

* Visual SPAM. Because digital signage is becoming more common, the level of “visual noise” is also increasing. This should be considered along with the sensibilities of the target demographic. Work with your designers in creating a pleasing visual environment that will be more readily received by a discerning audience. Avoid excessive in-your-face content that may wax against the shopping experience by overloading the senses. Too much eye candy is not a good thing -it can give eye pain.

* Define duration. On a macro level, your messaging will be used for a finite period before it must be updated or changed entirely. On a micro level, individual pieces of content will dwell on the screen before being updated by the next item in the list. Information about both will help your team in creating content that can accomplish its communications task in the allotted time on screen as well as give the team a way to begin building a workable content production schedule.

* Discuss the number of onscreen zones desired. Start out by giving your team an idea of how many discrete areas of onscreen real estate you envision to communicate your message and what you believe should be communicated in each. Don’t consider this the last word on the topic. Rather use your list as a point of departure to discuss and ultimately define how many zones actually will be used.

* Identify existing content resources. While you will want your content to be fresh, engaging and designed to meet your communications goals, there is no sense reinventing the wheel when existing resources can be used or repurposed. For example, if you intend to communicate to owners of high performance cars as they wait in a car dealer’s service area, an existing RSS feed of Formula One, Indy Car and NASCAR race results and news might be available already for an onscreen crawl.

Whether or not your designers are experienced with digital signage, they will appreciate the guidance you give by discussing the items in the checklist. More importantly, reviewing the points in the checklist will help ensure you receive the content you need to achieve your communications goals.

David Little is a charter member of the Digital Screenmedia Association with 20 years of experience helping professionals use technology to effectively communicate. For further digital signage insight from Keywest Technology, visit our website for many helpful tips and examples. For more in-depth research from Keywest Technology, download our free digital signage white papers and case studies.

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