Blacktop or Concrete driveway?

[arrabil]

Exactly. I should add that the hole is due to the loader and then the snow blower on the tractor. When I used a walk-behind snow blower it wasn't enough weight to affect the driveway at all.

My wife and I were even saying we wouldn't mind it deteriorating a little more.... that much more grip on a 17 degree grade in the winter.

You may be able to make out the one and only hole I'm talking about in the attached picture...

 

[mjncad]

Looking at purchasing a home in Ohio with a fairly sloped gravel driveway. Would like to get it surfaced, always liked blacktop more, but looking for recommendations, pros/cons for either....

thanks in advance!

As others have said, proper prep work is the key to having a long lasting driveway regardless of it being concrete, asphalt, or crushed rock.

You didn't say how long and wide the driveway is or how steep the slope is.

I like asphalt for its lower initial cost, concrete for its looks and durability, and when I resurface our ~4,000 square foot driveway this year it will be with crushed rock or recycled concrete. The reason for my surface choice is cost savings, I can do it myself, easier to repair, and I don't have to worry about our expansive soils and freeze/thaw cycles wrecking it. My other gripe with asphalt is tracking oil/tar into the garage/house.

Get some estimates for asphalt and concrete, see how much sticker shock it is for your budget, then maybe reconsider crushed rock.

 

[GE222]

My drive is one continuous slope and is made of asphalt. After 20 years, cracks are starting to show. I really do like the way the snow melts quickly.

With both asphalt and concrete, the base is very very important.

 

[Pops15]

A quality concrete drive is far superior to a quality blacktop drive. The reason for sealing blacktop is to keep water from penetrating it. It doesn't need to be done every year. Maybe every 5-6 years. Some people just like the looks of a freshly sealed drive. The reasons you don't see streets being sealcoated is because the base is almost always better than what a guy blacktopping a drive will do, and blacktop streets nearly always have better drainage than driveways. It's been many years since I compared price between concrete and asphalt but a concrete drive used to run about 2 1/2 times what a blacktop drive would run.

 

[Egon]

A quality concrete drive is far superior to a quality blacktop drive. The reason for sealing blacktop is to keep water from penetrating it. It doesn't need to be done every year. Maybe every 5-6 years. Some people just like the looks of a freshly sealed drive. The reasons you don't see streets being sealcoated is because the base is almost always better than what a guy blacktopping a drive will do, and blacktop streets nearly always have better drainage than driveways. It's been many years since I compared price between concrete and asphalt but a concrete drive used to run about 2 1/2 times what a blacktop drive would run.

:thumbsup::thumbsup:

Check the prices and the budget and go with concrete if it's affordable.

Asphalt starts deteriorating the day it's installed.

 

[20 20]

Black top

 

[brin]

I've had black top on my 1,200 ft. road for 24 yrs. now ..we sealed in after the first 6 mos. and then again after 10 yrs. the road is boardered by bermuda grass pastures so once a year we spray roundup along the edge of the road to keep the bermuda grass at bay. The road has held up great and we had a real good base before we put it down.. You do not need to sealcoat it ever if you have a good installation to start with and seal it 6 mos. after it has been down. If you are going to jack something up on it..put a board under your jack..problem solved. Concrete cracks and you can have a real mess but with black top you can always top it with one inch and your road is totally resurfaced and not expensively.

 

[JB4310]

There was a thread last winter of a guy that had a long concrete drive with some steep grade, he was parking at the bottom and walking up with ice shoes cause his driveway froze and he couldn't or wouldn't put sand/salt on it.

Around here in New England you will not find many concrete drives, their OK for down South but not where the ground heaves 4 inches or more in the winter. There were some areas of my driveway that looked like a roller coaster this year, but they are going back down.

Freezing and thawing is brutal on concrete, even with a Govt project base and heavy steel reinforcement, where the structure is not compromised, there's not much that's looks worse than a concrete surface all spalled and chipped.



JB.

 

[nickel plate]

I put myself through college (and with the help of the G.I. Bill) working for an asphalt paving and grading company and I worked on anything from freeway projects to parking lots. The key to a residential asphalt driveway that is well prepared base-wise is to add a border of at least P.T. 2x material or ideally a concrete berm (curb) to contain the asphalt then backfill and tamp the border.

 

[galen1115]

If you can afford it, concrete. It your drive is long or on the north side slope, blacktop.