Asphalt driveway damage / repair

[paulharvey]

Good thread because I've the same problem developing.
I've a driveway/parking area about 180 yards long and about 1,000 sq yards in area (SWAG). It's in Mississippi thus USUALLY very little frost problems, it's fairly well sloped so little standing water. But I am getting areas that are "cracking", mostly around the edges.

Did you mean Crafco crack sealer? Request Rejected
Is that much the same as the "tar blocks" mentioned below?

Are "tar blocks" the same thing as what I used to put in the hot tar kettle when I used to work flat roofs? We would then mop it on the felt.

What I had feared doing was to section off an area, dig it out, put down base, repave on a retired do-it-myself basis.

I figured getting a contractor to do it would be big bucks I could spend elsewhere (grapple, QA, log arch )

It might be Crafco; but it is not just block asphalt, it has a high amount of rubber. The machines I've seen use electric or propane heat and it's much hotter (400-500) than regular asphalt concrete (300-325 degrees). You clean the cracks with compressed air, then pour and squeegee it. If you need to open to traffic immediately, you can spray with "detack".

 

[Streetcar]

Actually Dgeesaman I think your driveway is in pretty good shape for it's age and could last several more years with no attention whatsoever. If you are fussy and want it to look perfect then it comes down to how much you want to spend on perfection. Being a cheap SOB I'd probably drive on it as is for years until you needed to fill pot holes with patch to drive over it without spilling your commuter cup of coffee.

The driveway for the OP is two years old and showing alligator cracks and rutting. As roadway , it would rate fair to poor condition .
Repairs will be cheaper if the base driveway remains in fair condition.

 

[dgeesaman]

Actually Dgeesaman I think your driveway is in pretty good shape for it's age and could last several more years with no attention whatsoever. If you are fussy and want it to look perfect then it comes down to how much you want to spend on perfection. Being a cheap SOB I'd probably drive on it as is for years until you needed to fill pot holes with patch to drive over it without spilling your commuter cup of coffee.

That's slightly reassuring - my personal standard is I hate potholes. The cracks don't bother me but chunks of asphalt coming is disrepair in my book and once cracked and the cracks begin to widen, the potholes are not far behind. Snow removal, icing, etc become a big problem. I don't mind the look of professional patch repair and sealants provided they are functional.

In a few years we'll be past some major initial loans that helped get us into our place and a big project like this may be possible. It would be great to capitalize on low asphalt prices now but I don't have a cash stash to be that flexible. That said, when the time comes, if asphalt is still cheap I'm not above taking a loan if the cost of interest beats out the likely increase in project cost.

I'm trying to understand all of this now because it went from no cracks to a few cracks to many cracks with grass growing thru in a matter of two years. The rate of degradation is a bit alarming. It reassures me to understand what's going on, and so this knowledge is very helpful.

The driveway for the OP is two years old and showing alligator cracks and rutting. As roadway , it would rate fair to poor condition. Repairs will be cheaper if the base driveway remains in fair condition.

My driveway is probably 10 years old, based on the bleaching. The cracking began two years ago. There were no cracks when we bought the property.

 

[vtsnowedin]

Good thread because I've the same problem developing.
I've a driveway/parking area about 180 yards long and about 1,000 sq yards in area (SWAG). It's in Mississippi thus USUALLY very little frost problems, it's fairly well sloped so little standing water. But I am getting areas that are "cracking", mostly around the edges.

Did you mean Crafco crack sealer? Request Rejected
Is that much the same as the "tar blocks" mentioned below?

Are "tar blocks" the same thing as what I used to put in the hot tar kettle when I used to work flat roofs? We would then mop it on the felt.

What I had feared doing was to section off an area, dig it out, put down base, repave on a retired do-it-myself basis.

I figured getting a contractor to do it would be big bucks I could spend elsewhere (grapple, QA, log arch )

Why would you be afraid of that? sounds like an excellent project for someone with some time and a tractor.

 

[vtsnowedin]

Cash flow is always a consideration. A emulsion and sand seal is a cheap treatment that won't fix any ruts etc. but will slow down the rate of deterioration. At the least it would give you a couple of years to consider you're options and let you pay down those huge loans you bit into to buy the propery in the first place.
Unless you're planning on flipping and reselling it in a couple of years the condition of the drive isn't really that important as long as you can drive all the way to the garage.

 

[newbury]

Crafco is the brand name of the crack sealer
The tar blocks at lowes are the same as roofing tar.
The OP has a new driveway that was severely under designed for the loads it carries .
Can you post pictures of the Mississippi driveway.
If your driveway has been functioning and is showing age, it will be a different repair method

Yes, it had been functioning and is showing age.

<snip>
What I had feared doing was to section off an area, dig it out, put down base, repave on a retired do-it-myself basis.

I figured getting a contractor to do it would be big bucks I could spend elsewhere (grapple, QA, log arch )

Why would you be afraid of that? sounds like an excellent project for someone with some time and a tractor.

I feared/dreaded it because it looks like a long, slow, HOT project. I only ran tar kettles for a few years in Vermont, where a HOT day was when it hit 90 degrees F in the sun. In Mississippi this summer it was routinely 97 degrees F in the shade. Plus there are many other things I need to do that I've got some experience doing.
I've never used hot tar/asphalt on the ground. Usually 50 to 100 feet up.

 

[Streetcar]

Yes, it had been functioning and is showing age.



I feared/dreaded it because it looks like a long, slow, HOT project. I only ran tar kettles for a few years in Vermont, where a HOT day was when it hit 90 degrees F in the sun. In Mississippi this summer it was routinely 97 degrees F in the shade. Plus there are many other things I need to do that I've got some experience doing.
I've never used hot tar/asphalt on the ground. Usually 50 to 100 feet up.

To repair driveway, you will need several things.
1a dump truck to haul asphalt. Shoveling asphalt before it cools is not fun
2 method to excavate existing driveway
3 roller to compact asphalt.
The asphalt will need to be compacted in layers . Getting patch flush with surrounding driveway will be trial and error process. Most patches done by inexperienced crew are rough
Rough patch is still better than a hole

If your driveway is aging with some cracking, sealing the driveway makes sense.

 

[ruffdog]

It looks like the classic narrow pavement break-up. If you don't want the edges breaking, go at least 12 feet wide. If you know heavies will be driving on it, go to 14' and crown the gravel underneath so the edges are thicker.

OP...how wide is it?

 

[dgeesaman]

It goes as narrow as 9 feet. 10-11 in some areas. That's narrower than I thought.

 

[ruffdog]

The neighbor that is a excavator and put in my drive said 12' is the min for the pavement because of edge break-up. I have the propane truck and septic pumper for heavy trucks. He recommended 14' wide for the base(4" rock w/ 3/4" over) at 10"+ deep, rolled, to support a 12' wide drive.