Do You Like Your Asphalt Driveway.??

[JDGreenGrass]

I am getting sick of tracking gravel into the house. Thinking about splurging and having it done with asphalt.

Any pro's and con's to this.

We get a lot of snow so my tractor would be on it quite often. And what about summer....is it safe to travel on it with the tractor or does this "emboss" the asphalt.??

Feedback please.......

 

[tulenutn2o]

I am getting sick of tracking gravel into the house. Thinking about splurging and having it done with asphalt.

Any pro's and con's to this.

We get a lot of snow so my tractor would be on it quite often. And what about summer....is it safe to travel on it with the tractor or does this "emboss" the asphalt.??

Feedback please.......

Have you looked at asphalt roads? They don't last. I would start at house and go out from there in concrete to the point that I could afford. Next year alittle more. etc.

 

[zzvyb6]

I switched to crushed asphalt instead of the splurge to rolled roadway. No more dust, noise, migration or cost. Still have some weeds to deal with. Triox solves that.

My neighbor went for the asphalt. A deliver truck smooshed tire tracks into it. Its already cracked and had to be resealed. Yes the preparation is what makes a difference. He can't walk on it with bare feet. Even the dogs know better.

 

[beenthere]

The tractor won't do any damage to the asphalt (if it is good asphalt, it will be hard).

It for sure solves the problem of tracking dirt (not just into the house, but the garage floor will be so much cleaner ).

The cons (I had gravel for 35 years, and asphalt for the last 10) are (IMO):
- Won't get the gravel worked up when plowing off snow, that gives good traction. The flip side, is the asphalt will attract more heat from the winter sun, and melt/dry the drive sooner than gravel.
- Expense after the asphalt is laid down, is getting it sealed every few years. And, after 10 years, it is now time to lay down another top coat because of shrinking and opening cracks. Also, a few areas that need to be ripped out and replaced.
- Crossing the drive with a new drain field line from the septic tank requires a section to be cut out and now replaced.
- Heavy trucks can sometimes be too much for the asphalt. With gravel, just didn't worry about them as much. The gas truck will make some "bird baths" the first couple years of new asphalt, from the brief setting while filling. Should have laid out some plywood pads for the truck to set on to avoid the bird baths.
- Asphalt is more expensive, even in the long run, but I like not having the dust and wet dust after a rain tracking into the garage (and yes, then into the house).

 

[brin]

I have had gravel and asphalt ..If asphalt is put down on a solid base and you spray the edges to keep grass at bay you should be fine. After about 6 months seal the asphalt drive but after that you should not have to seal it again..our on our farm is 1/4 mile long by 14 ft. wide and I have sealed it once and it still looks great..Once a year I take the tractor with FEL and lay the bucket flat and gently scrape the grass from the edges and that is all it takes.

If you decide to stay with gravel then have some real wet crusher run delivered spread and rolled and then top it with some portland cement in power form and water it in..I have seen that work well. Also as another poster mentioned you can use ground up asphalt...if you can find a road crew that is grinding an old asphalt road prior to resurfacing it ...sometimes you can get it dumped on your driveway for free and then all you have to do is spread it and roll it out..

 

[JDGreenGrass]

Nothing is perfect in an un-perfect world.

I guess I'll weigh my options.

Thanks.

In a perfect world I would lay brick. I love that look. $$$$$$.!!!!!

 

[955er]

You can asphalt, have it go out in 10-12 years and do it again for what concrete will cost. Also, eventually whatever you put down WILL crack. I would rather watch the asphalt crack than concrete. Easier to fill and seal.

 

[JDGreenGrass]

You can asphalt, have it go out in 10-12 years and do it again for what concrete will cost. Also, eventually whatever you put down WILL crack. I would rather watch the asphalt crack than concrete. Easier to fill and seal.

Concrete wouldn't be my first choice.

Just for kicks...how deep would you lay the concrete.??

 

[Highbeam]

Either material will work just fine during its normal service life IF you do it properly. The trouble with asphalt is that folks go cheap and only put down 2" on top of a thin layer of gravel. It looks great at first and the contractor gets his money but then it falls apart since it is only a thin blanket of material. Similarly, but much less common, is cheapskate concrete driveways with limited subgrade work but the forms almost always get you a good 4" of concrete. Seems that the concrete workers have more pride in their product than the asphalt guys.

You can pave a driveway with asphalt that will last decades, or you can pave one that will last 2 years.

Having a heavy truck create bird baths indicates that the job wasn't done or designed for that load and will have a short life with even normal traffic.

 

[Egon]

(if it is good asphalt, it will be hard).

Different climate areas may have different asphalt design. The north will have a softer asphalt that may take tire impressions on very hot days.

Asphalt starts deteriorating the day you lay it down. Concrete keeps getting harder.

 

[Duffster]

Concrete wouldn't be my first choice.

Just for kicks...how deep would you lay the concrete.??

IMO Concrete is the ONLY choice.

4-6".

Tractors are not good on asphalt.

 

[crazyal]

How long is your driveway? If it's short the cement is more of an option. If it's long then maybe you can just do near the house and live with gravel in the middle. How long have you lived there? In the spring (mud season) are there any places that tend to get soft or hold water? Frost does a number on blacktop but it will ruin concrete. Also things like salt take their toll on Concrete.

My father's driveway was gravel. There was a tree they had to remove before building the house. They never filled in the stump hole correctly and for 2 decades he had to add fill every other year. When it finally stopped sinking he put down asphalt. A few years later it started sinking again. It's about 6" to 8" low but the asphalt got nothing more than a few cracks. Concrete would have broke and needed replacing. However the concrete pad in front of his garage was poured 10 years earlier and is fine.

 

[Duffster]

In our area, contractors tend to use 2x4s for their forms. Today's 2x4 is only 3.5" wide, so you don't get the total 4" that's advertised.

Slab thickness has nothing to do with the lumber/form dimension.

 

[Diamondpilot]

I just went though this. I had a 6" deep 40x16 concrete slab poured in front of my barn and had the rest paved. The pavement was 2" of 8D base and 1" of 12 top coat. Its been down for a month so only time will tell. I can not remember the length but its 4,600 sq ft worth according to the invoice.

The guy who did mine did my dads in 1981 and it still looks good. He has had it sealed every 4 years. Same for my neighbors. They have been in the house for 25 years and it was done when they moved in.

Here in Indiana we have a full gamete of weather. Highs around 100 in the summer and lows around -20 in the winter. Yes there is a few cracks but filling it and sealing takes care of that.

Chris

 

[ultrarunner]

Just asking...

The paved residential street in front of my parents home was paved once... in 1956-57.

Still looks great today and has never warranted any repairs... asphalt pavement with concrete curbs and sidewalks. All manor of trucks use the road daily... mostly for deliveries or turning around when they get lost.

A friend father was tired of mud at their family Tahoe cabin and had the drive paved in the 60's... never had a single problem... although only the family's passenger cars use it.

I hear so many people experiencing pavement problems... there must be a way to insure a good paving job.

The paving here at work is 5.5" minimum... it was designed for Safeway type semi trucks and has on-going problems...

 

[lostcause]

I hear so many people experiencing pavement problems... there must be a way to insure a good paving job.

one issue is climate. when the ground is thawed or frozen up here everything is fine. when the frost is going out, but the ground is not totally thawed, that's when we have a lot of issues. heavy trucks are not allowed on a lot of roads in that time frame, unless the temperature is below freezing. when the roads are in this transition period, the supporting ground is not stable enough so the heavy vehicle weight would crack the asphalt pavement. probably not as big of an issue for residential, but the frost and vehicle weight still does crack private drives.

 

[Toyboy]

I have blacktop and like it, especially in the winter when the sun dries it out. But if money was no object, I'd have pavers instead. Never have to worry about cracks or heaving from frost. But they cost $$$

 

[MW66]

If money is not an object, then concrete. I just had them finish our 180' driveway last week. They did 3TS binder asphalt. We had a pad on the side of the garage too. The 3TS is supposed to hold up to heavier use. It's 3 inches think on a solid crusher run base.

 

[Highbeam]

To get an asphalt road to last you need a good subgrade and good compaction. You also need to pave to an adequate thickness of asphalt. Our minimum road thickness is 4" for residential streets. That's on top of 12" of curshed rock subgrade on top of fabric on top of firm and unyielding native soils.

The problem with asphalt driveways is cheapskate contractors putting it down improperly.

 

[Duffster]

To get an asphalt road to last you need a good subgrade and good compaction. You also need to pave to an adequate thickness of asphalt. Our minimum road thickness is 4" for residential streets. That's on top of 12" of cursed rock subgrade on top of fabric on top of firm and unyielding native soils.

Sometimes I curse that rock too. :laughing:

The problem with asphalt driveways is cheapskate contractors putting it down improperly.

I think the blame could be equally laid on cheapskate homeowners too.