Cutting asphalt to create a drain

[4570Man]

With that driveway already being in such bad shape I’d have the whole thing resurfaced and make sure they slope it to drain off this time.

 

[SouthernSky]

What would your wife do if you simply said, "You fix it honey."

Probably just continue to nag me about it.

I tell her all the time she made a pretty good choice for my first wife.

 

[SouthernSky]

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Aquaphalt/5013048889

Lot of work and would take a lot of buckets. But 'cold patch' is the typical homeowner asphalt repair.......

I’m actually using bags of the stuff for potholes down the driveway. It doesn’t work so good on sloping depressions which is one reason I’m looking for a new plan here for this.

This area actually does slope away from the house into the woods. Just not this depression (and a few others not pictured here.)

 

[jaxs]

I’m actually using bags of the stuff for potholes down the driveway. It doesn’t work so good on sloping depressions which is one reason I’m looking for a new plan here for this.

This area actually does slope away from the house into the woods. Just not this depression (and a few others not pictured here.)

An overlay is not an option (without a complete removal of all the current blacktop) as that will cause water to drain the wrong way.

The above statements cause me some confusion. Why are you saying an overlay will change the direction of drainage? That entire driveway has about expired,patching is a waste of money unless you find something less expensive than masonry products and i don't think that's possible.
I have always disagreed with demoing asphalt before laying new. The depression has compacted the base below far better than the contractor would compact it after demolition. Unless contractor can level by making overlay thicker at depressions I would recommend filling depressions with 6+ sack sand mix before a complete overlay.
If you can recruit a bunch of free help, material for laying 4" of well reinforced concrete using existing drive as base is probably less expensive than hiring a contractor for asphalt.

 

[SouthernSky]

Sorry I wasn’t real clear on that. If we overlaid it now like it is, the new height would trap water on the left side of the road between the house and the blacktop.

That was assuming I could find someone to do the work. The last person who came out told me it was $3500 just to bring the equipment to the site without doing any work. I said fine, give me a quote to do this whole front. They never sent a quote. They were telling me they didn’t need or want the work.

And I guarantee I won’t find anyone until next Spring if I don’t get them working in the next thirty days. During hunting season they only seem to get help when pickup truck notes come due.

 

[Diggin It]

I don't see that there's anything you can do to that as is without having the same problem(s) again.

You probably have a big enough tractor (if you have an FEL), to scoop that old surface off and move it out of the way. It looks like it's broken up enough to move easily.

Cut your trenches and lay pipe for drainage to get water away from the house.

Then lay some larger gravel and let it set for a few months to settle. Later on, you may be able to have the chip and seal done, or even concrete. No matter what, you'll have a better surface than now and you'll have better drainage.

 

[SouthernSky]

That is pretty much where I’m at right now. Most of the original alleged 4” is really 2” so it should be really each to break and make a run off area until the Spring where I can hopefully find some pro help.

Thanks.

 

[dodge man]

A couple of thoughts. You can’t put asphalt down and feather the edge. In other words you need to saw out the low area so you have an edge of at least a couple of inches deep to match into. I had decent luck with the bagged asphalt but you’d need a bunch of it.

That leaves you with a couple of options. One is oil and chip like someone said. Around here they use these machines to patch oil and chip roads, it sprays it out and would work well. The trick is to find someone that has the machine.

Another option is to saw cut around it, remove the old and bring in either hot mix or cold patch. It’s probably going to take a dump truck or dump trailer to haul it in. Without a lay down machine it will be a little rough.

The last is like someone else said, concrete. Same thing, you can’t feather it out, you’ll have to sawcut the old out and make a rectangle to concrete in. Go at least 6 inches deep.

 

[Fuddyduddy1952]

Maybe it's time to have driveway repaved? I just had ours done and it sure is nice.

 

[jaxs]

Sorry I wasn’t real clear on that. If we overlaid it now like it is, the new height would trap water on the left side of the road between the house and the blacktop.

That was assuming I could find someone to do the work. The last person who came out told me it was $3500 just to bring the equipment to the site without doing any work. I said fine, give me a quote to do this whole front. They never sent a quote. They were telling me they didn’t need or want the work.

And I guarantee I won’t find anyone until next Spring if I don’t get them working in the next thirty days. During hunting season they only seem to get help when pickup truck notes come due.

I'm sorry to but it seems like you want a silver bullet that doesn't require effort or expense from your side. We can't shoot grade on the place but you can. If water drains down the existing driveway it will drain down a gutter or swale between house and new driveway. $3.500 will buy two truck loads of concrete and that is a good start on fixing it. As for getting people off their ass to work I can't help you. As long as people get hand outs like loan forgiveness they don't need to work.