Asphalt thickness and cost check

[gsganzer]

I just got a quote to have part of my driveway paved. The driveway is currently compacted 1/2" flex base. Tired of the dust and tracking it into the house and cars.

Quote is to grade and repack existing base and then surface with 2.5" uncompacted, compacting to about 2".

Just shy of 3000 sq/ft, including under a carport. Price $5600

Sound reasonable??

 

[fried1765]

I just got a quote to have part of my driveway paved. The driveway is currently compacted 1/2" flex base. Tired of the dust and tracking it into the house and cars.

Quote is to grade and repack existing base and then surface with 2.5" uncompacted, compacting to about 2".

Just shy of 3000 sq/ft, including under a carport. Price $5600

Sound reasonable??

How deep (thick) is the compacted base?
What is under the compacted base?

 

[RNeumann]

Hard to say since it includes the prep. They will probably have two trucks with trailers and equipment to bring in and out, 3-6 workers and probably an easy day- again depending on the prep. AC varies with oil costs and region but I doubt you will find anything significantly cheaper.

BTW- all the specs sound right. It other words the contractor isn’t under or over selling you.

 

[HillStreet]

I had my driveway paved 3 years ago, 4,300 square feet for $10,400. Included a couple loads of gravel for prep.

 

[dodge man]

Going by memory here, but about two years ago I had roughly double that amount done for about double the price. Mine already had a couple of inches of asphalt but they did some crack repair also. They put down 2 inches of new asphalt down. I'd say that is a fair price.

Mine lasted about 12 to 15 years with about 2 inches the first time, laid over a gravel base that had bee in place for several years but was just an O.K base.

 

[Gary Fowler]

What does concrete sell for in your area. 3" of concrete would take about 28 cubic yards. If you have the time for laying the rebar, minimum prep of the compacted base is all that would be required and could be done easily with a tractor FEL and backblading to remove high spots. Anyone with a sledge hammer, level and a few nails could form up the sides for placing the concrete. A few of your friends to help screed it out and you are done. It doesn't need a super fine finish for a driveway or carport. Actually it would be better to be a little bit rough so it doesn't get slippery when wet.
If you have $5600 to do asphalt, then I would for sure look at it from a cost point for concrete.

 

[TnAndy]

Did my driveway 2 years ago. Concreted about 500' of it with some side areas.....25k. Asphalted the last 1000', 12' wide, also with some side areas. Ran 20k. The did a base material, no final top coat. Guy said that would work well, and it has. 4" compacted to about 2 1/2". They would have top coated it for another 5k.

No additional gravel needed....in fact, I took up a lot of what was there and used it on some woods road on the place.

Concrete was about double asphalt.....and I did all the form work (not the pours...there were 3) on the concrete to save money.

 

[gsganzer]

What does concrete sell for in your area. 3" of concrete would take about 28 cubic yards. If you have the time for laying the rebar, minimum prep of the compacted base is all that would be required and could be done easily with a tractor FEL and backblading to remove high spots. Anyone with a sledge hammer, level and a few nails could form up the sides for placing the concrete. A few of your friends to help screed it out and you are done. It doesn't need a super fine finish for a driveway or carport. Actually it would be better to be a little bit rough so it doesn't get slippery when wet.
If you have $5600 to do asphalt, then I would for sure look at it from a cost point for concrete.

I haven't priced concrete, but I suspect It would be crazy expensive with all the building going on in North Texas. I just had a 20' x 30' patio poured, grade beams, 12" footings with caged rebar and exposed aggregate and it was $7K+. Even though the driveway has a really solid gravel base that hasn't needed touch-up or grading in 3 years, my soil is expansive black clay so you there needs to be a lot of thought on rebar, grade beams and slab thickness. For just trying to control the dust when it's dry and mud when we have a weeks worth of rain, it seems like asphalt might do the trick. I'll give concrete some thought though.

 

[dodge man]

3 inches of concrete would be way to thin. 4" is normal for sidewalk and driveways are usually 6".

 

[ruffdog]

3 inches of concrete would be way to thin. 4" is normal for sidewalk and driveways are usually 6".

^^agree^^^ I went 6" 6 bag mix w/fiberglass.

 

[hawkeye08]

Here in eastern Washington, asphalt is considered temporary and concrete permanent, and taxed accordingly. We had asphalt done on our 100' by 20-24' (24' at garage and then narrows to about 20 at county road) for $6000 by fly by night outfit. It is compacted and at least 2" thick. The local asphalt businesses wanted $8-10k and I was too busy to mess with concrete myself. We have DOT fabric with 6" of crushed gravel packed down for 20+ years. Asphalt company that did it smoothed it out with skid steer and bucket, compacted with vibrating roller, put the asphalt down and compacted it with vibrating roller... a few hours start to finish. They top sealed it for an additional charge, it needs it again now (yes, I will buy some 5 gallon buckets and get it done)..

 

[Oldoak]

3" thick concrete for a driveway? My basement floor is 3500# concrete w/fiberglass, 4" thick , the garage and outside pad is 4000# concrete w/fiberglass and wire mesh, 6" thick as well as my pole building floor.

Would you believe, one county in my area, not mine, is taxing property owners on the amount of square footage of their paved driveways (concrete or asphalt). Something to do with rain water runoff and stressing the area's watershed. Gravel driveways are considered permeable and are not taxed.

To the O.P., I think you got a fair price and have a good idea of what others have paid for asphalt. Of course there are always variables that affect prices.

 

[Looking4new]

IMHO, if you concrete or asphalt your driveway you are telling every thief that drives by that you have money. It is like waving a red flag in front of a bull.

 

[TnAndy]

I can understand that line of thinking. Friend of mine had a place up on top a mountain....drive was a jeep rut of a road that went thru somebody else's yard at the bottom to even start...you would never have suspected it went to his place without air photos. I called it the "Stealth Driveway"

However, we have a 1500' driveway with an electric operated gate that we keep closed unless I'm expecting someone or a delivery. You can't even see the house from the county road side of the gate, so potential thieves don't even know how long a hike they have to get up here.

Then there are a several of driveway alerts (Dakota Alert) that let us know when something trips them. Then there are 2 outside dogs, that aren't vicious, but bark at anything strange. Then there is a well armed homeowner at the end of that chain.....with an excavator....and a lot of places to bury things. Based on our experiences since 1982, all thieves have wisely chosen to seek softer targets. Not saying we'll never be hit....but I'm going to enjoy my place, including the drive it took us years to save up for, and not really worry about what is on some crook's agenda.

 

[EddieWalker]

I personally like asphalt over concrete for driveways.

One of my clients works as the office manager for the asphalt plant here in Tyler and they are constantly being sued. From what she told me, their are a lot of ways to cut corners when they mix up a batch of asphalt, and if you do not specify what you want with your contractor, they can save a lot of money on material going with lesser materials. You absolutely have to make sure that you get the same mix that the city and county uses for their roads. Terminology differs, and I would never trust a paving company to be honest with me on what that is. If I ever pave my driveway, I'm going to go to the plant personally and find out what the mix is used by the city. Then I am going to make sure to see the tickets issued to the paving company showing that is what they are using.

As for the base, if they add or remove any materials, in order to get it compacted, they will have to have a water truck there along with the roller. Right after I got out of the Marines, my first job was driving a water truck in CA for a large variety of construction sites. Getting soil and rock compacted takes a lot of effort and it has to be done in layers with the right amount of water. The size of the roller will decide in how thick of a layer you can go. Then before pavement was laid, the inspector would test the base for compaction. If we didn't get it, they tore it all apart, down to virgin soil, and did it again. Too much water is worse then not enough, but not enough water will also cause failure.

If they are doing all of that, then your price sounds very reasonable.

 

[LS Tractor Owner]

Not a price for hot asphalt, but recycled asphalt. Guy measured 12' wide by 2400' long (28,800 sq ft). He would regrade the existing gravel drive for 'crown', compact the base with vibratory roller, lay 4" of recycled crushed asphalt and compact that with the roller. Cost was $28,000 !! (About $1 per sq ft) . Your price for hot asphalt is about $1.86 sq ft....probably not that bad. Needless to say, I 'm not having it done....gonna put more crushed gravel down and grade it myself.