Concrete, asphalt or pavers

[Creamer]

It is getting time to replace my asphalt driveway as it is old and the driveway needs to be regraded for better drainage. I am debating what material to replace it with.

Asphalt is the lowest cost initially but needs regular sealing to last. Plus it looks kind of passe but i do like the fact that it is black and snow and ice melt off it which is very handy in my climate.

Concrete is the next option in order of cost but it really is not much more than asphalt - maybe 10-15%. Natural concrete does not attract the sun as well but it could be stained darker. It could also be stamped to improve appearance. My concerns are my snow removal is with a tractor and blade and would it chip or scratch and look ugly. If if does is it repairable?

I was also thinking possibly large concrete pavers which provide a different look and if one gets damaged it is replaceable. This would be the most expensive option I believe.

With any of these options I will be ensuring plenty of slope for good drainage as well as tile underneath. Frost heave will mess with any of these surfaces.

I am looking for comments, lessons learned, other options, etc.

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[shui5612]

The way I see it is that concrete is the only one of the three that is somewhat structural. I.e. supports weight and holds ground better than the rest.

Asphalt can buckle and you can get potholes, not to mention the fact that it smells on hot summer days.

Pavers is a good option but with any equipment on it, you will need to leave a good 1/2 inch of snow to prevent the blade from scraping and picking up the stones. Another downfall is that pavers have gaps through which grass/weeds can grow, and water infiltrates the areas therefore potentially washing out the base.

I have a concrete driveway that needs to be redone soon but it was mixed by hand and the concrete quality is poor, nonetheless it has lasted 17years and had many truckloads pass over it.

The best thing you could do is rent a compactor, dig in say 3 feet (all depends on the soil type in which you live in, my land is swampy/soft so I dug in 3 ft) and backfill with uniform material, gravel and compact everything as you go. Then you could layer 2inch rigid foam if you have wet soil, this will raise the frost line and potentially prevent heaving.

Then add good rebar, say half an inch thick, every foot, assuming you pour 6inches of concrete.

Lastly, when ordering your concrete, get air mixed Into it, essentially microbubbles in the concrete that give space for water to expand inside and therefore reduce cracking.

I would go for a "brushed look" which is simply having a brush pulled along the surface to create tiny ridges, this gives tires/ shoes more traction especially when the concrete is wet/iced over/snowed over.

Hope this helps.

 

[oosik]

I like the idea of pavers(and its not my $$$) but I have experience with small (8" x 8") pavers on my walkway. One or two can tend to frost heave and at times I will catch my foot on one that's lifted slightly. They are well bedded in gravel then sand but still a couple can tend to heave slightly - I tend to shuffle at times too.

Translate this to your driveway and the only problem I can see is catching either your front blade or rear blade as you plow snow - if there were any frost heaving. I like the patterns you would be able to create with pavers, its easy to repair any that might become damaged and generally speaking they should last a lifetime.

 

[RNeumann]

Size and location of the replacement? Front of garage or a mile long road?

 

[CalG]

Pavers will be the only option that ADDs to the value of your home on resale.

But , why would you want to sell"

to get away from the bumps and snags of running the plow and blower over those dam pavers? ;-)

 

[Rara Avis]

Since this is under RURAL LIVING...I'll recommend tamped extremely fine gravel...mine has lasted for over a hundred years......(with the dump trailer load of added gravel every so many years)...

 

[coobie]

It is getting time to replace my asphalt driveway as it is old and the driveway needs to be regraded for better drainage. I am debating what material to replace it with.

Asphalt is the lowest cost initially but needs regular sealing to last. Plus it looks kind of passe but i do like the fact that it is black and snow and ice melt off it which is very handy in my climate.

Concrete is the next option in order of cost but it really is not much more than asphalt - maybe 10-15%. Natural concrete does not attract the sun as well but it could be stained darker. It could also be stamped to improve appearance. My concerns are my snow removal is with a tractor and blade and would it chip or scratch and look ugly. If if does is it repairable?

I was also thinking possibly large concrete pavers which provide a different look and if one gets damaged it is replaceable. This would be the most expensive option I believe.

With any of these options I will be ensuring plenty of slope for good drainage as well as tile underneath. Frost heave will mess with any of these surfaces.

I am looking for comments, lessons learned, other options, etc.

Thanks in advance for your help!

I have brick pavers there are a Pain in my arse,hate them.To much up keep.If your snow plowing the pavers shift over time and you can easily hook one with your snow plow.I wish I had went with cement.

 

[Egon]

If frost heaving is present the area should be excavated and back filled with material that does not support upward percolation of water.

 

[EddieWalker]

I'm a huge fan of asphalt. Love how smooth it is. That would be my first choice, but it has to be thick enough to last and have a solid base. Too many cheapy jobs are done with it too thin, or with a cheap mix. One of my clients works at the asphalt plant, the only plant in the area, and she says that the contractor specs out what mix they want. For city and highway jobs, it's always the best, most expensive mix. For other jobs, it depends on the job and how crooked they are. You really need to know what to specify if you want a good quality mix. I have no idea what that is, but would find out before buying.

Concrete is great, but around here, super expensive and time consuming since you have to do it in sections.

I just have gravel and probably always will.

I love pavers for walkways. Hope to do them in my backyard one of these days. I would never even consider them for a driveway. Too much to go wrong and repair.

 

[dodge man]

Our first time with asphalt lasted 15 years. We just added a layer it will probably last more than 20 years. We have about 700 feet of driveway and it was almost 20k the second time

 

[Creamer]

Size and location of the replacement? Front of garage or a mile long road?

Good question! This is for in front of my garage and a parking area - approximately 3000 sq ft. I have a quarter mile long limestone driveway leading to it which does bring up an interesting point of tracking the fine limestone/gravel onto whatever surface I pick.

Eddie - I hear what you are saying about the asphalt as it does give some and the nice black surface is really good at melting off the ice and snow in the winter but the black does track into the house some.

The soil around here does have a lot of clay in it so it does move and of course the frost goes deeper under a driveway than on grass - more frost depth equals more swelling.

 

[EddieWalker]

Are you sure you have asphalt and not oil sand? I never heard of asphalt tracking, but oil sand does. It also falls apart fairly quickly.

 

[RNeumann]

It sounds like you want a higher end look near the house but are concerned about the concrete or pavers getting munched by the snow plow. The dream would be adding heating under the parts of the 3000sf that need snow removal. The next would be special blade designed to prevent damage.
Pavers with the proper base will outlast concrete. I've had/seen spalling issues with concrete so that would be my third choice.

Choices in order-
Pavers with heater
Pavers with special plow blade
Asphalt
Concrete

 

[Billrog]

If you go with asphalt follow Eddie's advice and use commercial grade hyw. specs. which is 4" compacted rather than 2" and has larger aggregate in it.
With concrete exposed aggregate will not get marked up when plowing.

 

[Creamer]

If you go with asphalt follow Eddie's advice and use commercial grade hyw. specs. which is 4" compacted rather than 2" and has larger aggregate in it.
With concrete exposed aggregate will not get marked up when plowing.

Definitely agree that no matter what material it is going to have a solid well drained base under it - which is not what I have today. I appreciate the comments even though it is obvious that there are different grades of asphalt mix or concrete mix I wasn't thinking like that. I will find out the different grades - a good friend of mine is the county highway superintendent.

What do you mean by "With concrete exposed aggregate will not get marked up when plowing?" Normally there is no large aggregate exposed.

 

[Creamer]

It sounds like you want a higher end look near the house but are concerned about the concrete or pavers getting munched by the snow plow. The dream would be adding heating under the parts of the 3000sf that need snow removal. The next would be special blade designed to prevent damage.
Pavers with the proper base will outlast concrete. I've had/seen spalling issues with concrete so that would be my third choice.

Choices in order-
Pavers with heater
Pavers with special plow blade
Asphalt
Concrete

I definitely want to upgrade the look but a very nice asphalt would certainly be an upgrade - still if there is something with less maintenance required and a different look I am all for it.

I had an industrial parking lot redone last year with 5" concrete and there were spots of spalling. I am not very happy as it spalled within a couple of months. The contractor and the concrete company said it was because of salt. I am not buying it - there are spots that spalled badly and others that did not spall at all. No salt was spread on it but I am sure there was plenty of salt dropping off of vehicles and yet some parking spots were badly spalled and others were not. They patched it with some patching material and it looks like exactly that a patch job which wasn't why I had all ripped out and replaced.

 

[Streetcar]

Spalling of concrete is almost always a finishing and curing issue. Either too much water was used or the water was allowed to evaporate from the curing concrete too quick

 

[Billrog]

I don't have any good pics. of exposed concrete but this is mine after 25 years. 3/8" aggregated is in the mix. and I used 4,400 psi cement water proof to resist salt.

Maybe can get a better look next to the guy in the pics. feet.

 

[Creamer]

I don't have any good pics. of exposed concrete but this is mine after 25 years. 3/8" aggregated is in the mix. and I used 4,400 psi cement water proof to resist salt.
View attachment 520696
Maybe can get a better look next to the guy in the pics. feet.
View attachment 520697

Thanks. The pics help!

 

[newbury]

Our first time with asphalt lasted 15 years. We just added a layer it will probably last more than 20 years. We have about 700 feet of driveway and it was almost 20k the second time

I'm very interested in that project. How many square feet?

I've about 8,000 sq feet of my asphalt. I've also got a concrete drive off that which is about 150' long by 12' wide.

the red line is the approximate boundaries of the asphalt.

It's been cracking since WAY before we bought it and I'm planning on replacement, but we figured it would be partially dug up before we did it, and it was this summer. It's about a 4" layer.

They've been redoing the roads around here and lot's of "new" asphalt driveways sprung up where they did it. I'm hoping that if the contractor already has the equipment and crew out in front of my house I can get a good price on redoing the whole thing.