Pave Your Own Driveway?

[Jstpssng]

Concrete is 135$/yard here.

 

[Creamer]

Thanks for all the comments! Much appreciated. They made me think about watching an industrial floor getting poured where the machines spanned the area they were pouring. A paving machine has wheels under the middle which would make it very difficult to rod or wire held up off the ground - kind of a stopper and the "What am I forgetting" factor that stops this whole idea. I sure do not want heavy trucks on non-reinforced concrete.

Eddie - I understand the concrete expansion and contraction. Don't you just saw cut it afterwards for that? Then what do you fill the cuts with to keep water from getting underneath?

I am hearing the amount of work over and over - and agree my manning was very light.

I have not had a concrete drive quoted but I would not think it would be much more than what the asphalt was and I know I would much rather have a concrete drive than asphalt for durability. I have normally figured it is a little over double the price of the concrete assuming it is a sizable job which this certainly is.

 

[MossRoad]

I only have to do half of the 1/4 mile long driveway which is where I got my numbers from. Sorry about the confusion.

1/8 mile then your price is more in-line. Thanks for straightening me out.

 

[4570Man]

Thanks for all the comments! Much appreciated. They made me think about watching an industrial floor getting poured where the machines spanned the area they were pouring. A paving machine has wheels under the middle which would make it very difficult to rod or wire held up off the ground - kind of a stopper and the "What am I forgetting" factor that stops this whole idea. I sure do not want heavy trucks on non-reinforced concrete.

Eddie - I understand the concrete expansion and contraction. Don't you just saw cut it afterwards for that? Then what do you fill the cuts with to keep water from getting underneath?

I am hearing the amount of work over and over - and agree my manning was very light.

I have not had a concrete drive quoted but I would not think it would be much more than what the asphalt was and I know I would much rather have a concrete drive than asphalt for durability. I have normally figured it is a little over double the price of the concrete assuming it is a sizable job which this certainly is.

Concrete isn’t a considerable difference in asphalt IF you have the grade work done, the steel laid, forms built and you’re just paying a crew to finish it. Doing all of that is a lot of work. Expect considerable difference if you’re getting a crew to do the whole job.

 

[bdhsfz6]

25 years ago I had washouts on my hilly drive and brought in 3 truckloads of recycled asphalt that we compacted with the dump trucks wheels.
I did say 25 years.
Only this year did I need to do repairs* and nowadays they shred it so it is much easier to spread and compact.
Best of all, recycled is a tad cheaper than crushed stone and IMHO, easier to do a nice job than concrete certainly with a CUT and minimal and raking.
The hot sun does the rest.

*mostly due to frost heaving buried rocks that we neglected to remove.

With recycled asphalt a good truck driver can lay it down to whatever thickness you desire.

Around here, the material is called "millings". It does indeed make a good driveway if it's put down on a stable base and compacted properly.

Another thing some people do here is to "oil" their packed gravel drives. The oil is a thin tar which acts as a binder. It's similar to the tar they use with the tar & chip road resurfacing process. It's messy, needs to be put down correctly with a spreader and takes time to set properly. If done right, the surface lasts for many years.

 

[Torvy]

One advantage to asphalt I learned when we lived in Wisconsin...snow melts considerably faster on asphalt than concrete. Even at 20 degrees or less I could often partially clear the asphalt driveway and let the sun do the rest...even on a cloudy day. The concrete sidewalk...not so much. Maybe color the concrete black?

 

[tradosaurus]

I got a quote to pave my 1,000 ft. driveway. I quickly learned to love my gravel driveway.

 

[MossRoad]

One advantage to asphalt I learned when we lived in Wisconsin...snow melts considerably faster on asphalt than concrete. Even at 20 degrees or less I could often partially clear the asphalt driveway and let the sun do the rest...even on a cloudy day. The concrete sidewalk...not so much. Maybe color the concrete black?

Yes. We have an asphalt driveway that runs east-west on the north side of our house. After I plow it, the font part and back parts, which are not shaded by the house, melt right down to the asphalt on any days above 20ish, while the part in the shade does not. And our concrete sidewalk in the sun will remain ice-covered right next to the melted off asphalt. It's the color of the asphalt that absorbs the sun's energy while the white concrete reflects it.

 

[RickB]

I only have to do half of the 1/4 mile long driveway which is where I got my numbers from. Sorry about the confusion.

Just post lots of videos.

 

[AGreenFarmer]

I got a quote to pave my 1,000 ft. driveway. I quickly learned to love my gravel driveway.

I am with you on that brother!

 

[Egon]

Forgive me, but I thought asphalt was all the same. What are the mixes you speak of?

Both concrete and asphalt mixes may have different granular grain size compositions. There are different types of asphalt and cement may be mixed with different ingredients for specific purposes.

The cost of each will vary as to what was used and the temperature the asphalt is mixed at.

A yard = A Yard only in exterior dimensions. The densities can vary considerably.

The cost of the granular mix can vary greatly as to how it is graded, the rock type and availability.

End result cost per yard from one area to the next area has great latitude for difference.

As a note concrete/asphalt deliveries for small jobs have been known to be rejects from jobs requiring testing.

 

[EddieWalker]

...

Eddie - I understand the concrete expansion and contraction. Don't you just saw cut it afterwards for that? Then what do you fill the cuts with to keep water from getting underneath?

...

Expansion joints and cutting the concrete for cracking are two different things. When concrete is exposed to the sun, it expands as it gets hot. When it gets cold, it contract acts. The bigger the slab, the hotter it gets outside, the more it moves. If there was not a space for this movement, the concrete would destroy itself. Most of the time, a 1x4 is plenty of space for this to happen. If you ever drive across a highway you'll notice this by the noise your car makes hitting every expansion joint. Bridges are the same way, but they use something a lot more expensive then wood. Some don't use anything at all in their spacing between each slab.

Cutting the concrete after it's poured helps hide the cracking from using too much water in the mix. It creates a week line in the concrete that allows the concrete to crack in a straight line, so you don't see it. Depending on how big the slab is, and how hot it gets, cutting might allow enough movement in the slab if the cut is big enough to allow for expansion of the concrete when it's hot. I've seen people use 30 pound tar paper for this with good results.

This is not needed when building a house since the inside of the house is always at a constant temperature, so the concrete does not expand or contract.

 

[Streetcar]

Where the heck are people getting concrete anywhere close to $100 a yard on a truck? $170 here.

Concrete will not go thru an asphalt paver. It will not flow out to the edges.

I was finally going to surface my gravel drive this year, 45’x70’. After the sixth bid, 3 bit, 3 crete, I gave up and said maybe next year.

Concrete paver is not the same as asphalt paver, two different machines

 

[Streetcar]

Expansion joints and cutting the concrete for cracking are two different things. When concrete is exposed to the sun, it expands as it gets hot. When it gets cold, it contract acts. The bigger the slab, the hotter it gets outside, the more it moves. If there was not a space for this movement, the concrete would destroy itself. Most of the time, a 1x4 is plenty of space for this to happen. If you ever drive across a highway you'll notice this by the noise your car makes hitting every expansion joint. Bridges are the same way, but they use something a lot more expensive then wood. Some don't use anything at all in their spacing between each slab.

Cutting the concrete after it's poured helps hide the cracking from using too much water in the mix. It creates a week line in the concrete that allows the concrete to crack in a straight line, so you don't see it. Depending on how big the slab is, and how hot it gets, cutting might allow enough movement in the slab if the cut is big enough to allow for expansion of the concrete when it's hot. I've seen people use 30 pound tar paper for this with good results.

This is not needed when building a house since the inside of the house is always at a constant temperature, so the concrete does not expand or contract.

Concrete supply stores sell felt used as expansion, typical size is 1/2 inch thick

 

[ROUSTABOUT]

It would be interesting to see what kind of support would be required to feed the slip paver. Pumper, or can the truck drive along side and dump into the hopper?

Then what about your expansion joints or keyway?

 

[Cat385B]

Concrete paver is not the same as asphalt paver, two different machines

OP did not specify, just said working paver for $7,500. You couldn’t buy a working concrete paver for $30,000, let alone under 10 grand. Hence my assumption.

 

[dodge man]

There are so many different concrete pavers I’ve seen. Some that will do two lanes wide, they finish it 100%, almost no hand work. Then there are some low dollar ones. They usually aren’t much more than a vibrating screed that strikes it off and rough finish it, they usually ride on steel forms.

 

[Streetcar]

There are so many different concrete pavers I’ve seen. Some that will do two lanes wide, they finish it 100%, almost no hand work. Then there are some low dollar ones. They usually aren’t much more than a vibrating screed that strikes it off and rough finish it, they usually ride on steel forms.

I have never seen a concrete paver that didn’t require a fair amount of hand work behind it

 

[dodge man]

When I’m talking a concrete paver that doesn’t need much if any hand work it’s the kind that does highways and interstate highways. The trucks just dump on the ground in front of it and the machine augers it from there. There is even an arm that follows behind it and swings back and forth to finish it. I’ve seen similar ones used on airport runways and taxi ways.

 

[Streetcar]

When I’m talking a concrete paver that doesn’t need much if any hand work it’s the kind that does highways and interstate highways. The trucks just dump on the ground in front of it and the machine augers it from there. There is even an arm that follows behind it and swings back and forth to finish it. I’ve seen similar ones used on airport runways and taxi ways.

Even the highway pavers will have 6 to 8 people working behind it.