New drive way: ashphalt or concrete -tolerances

[CTyler]

We built my drive at 650'+ and used crushed rock. No fabric, put down 3" followed by more 3" a couple months later follwed by 1 1/2" several months after that. It has only been just over a year but nothing is growing in it.

There is only one neighbor that has anything growing in the rock right down the middle. Spraying would take care of what little does grow.

I'd just assume have pavement or concrete but $$$.

 

[gws]

Put down a good weed fabric and you should have no problems. I personally like the stone drive from a look stand point. Looks more country. I personally perfer a small green patch between the ruts, but thats me. Wife hates it. A long concrete drive looks to industrial.

 

[chucko]

Do you have (or ever going to have ) any cattle. Cow crap tends to eat up ashphalt

 

[tomnky]

I was faced with the same issue several years ago . At that time considering the costs of re-sealing asphalt every two years as some recommend I went with concrete.

I had a six inch base put down and the concrete poured no less than six inches thick in any place. 3/8'S Rebar was laced at 24 inches except where it crossed a culvert and there was laced at 12" x12", 4,000 pound mix was used in addition to expansion joints.

The drive is over 500 feet long , taking some 258 tons of stone with 96 yards of concrete and over 1 ton of rebar.

At that time(early 90's) the cost was some over $13,000.00 but it is still in place just like it was when new.

 

[jmc]

beowolf,

Just did a thumbnail calculation for the concrete based on my recent polebarn costs. Assuming 12 ft wide (my 10 ft wide drive is too narrow) X 300 ft long X 5/12 thick @ $80/cu yd =$4400 just for concrete. They charged $.60/ sq ft for finishing but no forms were required from them. Thats another $2200. $ for forming? It mounts up fast.

I've got 2000 ft of gravel and 1000 ft of asphalt. My experience in Indiana with weeds and grass is if you have little traffic and limestone with limestone dust in it, it grows better than my yard. Little traffic and pure gravel does not grow so well and it is less dusty when its dry.

John

 

[markct]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Asphalt is only as strong as the base it is placed on . Asphalt has no strenght to speak of .so make your base STRONG! )</font>

thats for sure! today at work i was moving some picnic tables around the asphalt parking lot with the forklift which is one of those ones with the little solid rubber tires like ya use in a factory, well its been pretty wet here and boy was i surprised when the forklifts back wheel went right thru the darn pavement and sat the rear of the forklift on the ground, sure was tricky getting it out, she was stuck pretty good and made a mess in the parking lot

 

[jdmar]

RobS hit the point I was thinking....tax can kill you with concrete. Here's another option....and hold on to you hats here....it's brick!!!!

Many areas consider it a temproary (not taxed) structure but it actually lasts forever. You still need a very solid and compacted base...then crushed limstone...then a little sand. If you do it yourself it can cost less or equal to concrete...but looks better than any other option to my eyes.

If lucky there are ways to make it cheaper. 1-get used street brick from your local city if it is available in your area. 2-get "seconds" from a local brick manufacturer. I live not far from Belden Brick and they often have "seconds" at dirt cheap. Heck, its a driveway and a "blemish" doesn't matter there.

It can be a lot of work to lay...actually the "field" goes like lightning....but if you have to cut the edges much it slows everything down dramatically. The trick is to plan for as many straight sections as possible conected by turns only if required. You attach one edge strip to the ground and only attach the opposite after you lay the bricks....avoids some of that nasty cutting. Hey, its just an idea. I did it on a shorter (about 100') drive several years ago and plan on doing it again here after an addition is done. This time about 400'

Peter

 

[herdfan]

What about the tar and stone drives?
I have heard that they are cheaper and more durable than asphalt.
Still can't be cheaper than gravel, though.

 

[Old_Hickory]

They can pour concrete and make it look like brick/stone and add any color you want to the concrete.It looks great.

 

[jdmar]

Old Hickory:

I have seen those and I aggree they look great.

The two potential problems are: 1) will it last like concrete or brick without chips and fade affecting the look. 2) It is extremely expensive....makes plain concrete look free!
I liked the look but just could never justify the cost in alarge area.

Peter