I have a very nice asphalt driveway about 250' with a turn around area in front of the garage. I have had a lot of problems with it. But it does look nice right after installation. My pet peeve is people who turn the wheels on a stationary vehicle. If the car isn't moving just a little bit when you turn (for a three point turn) the wheel, then you get two perfectly ground in circles that very quickly erode allowing water to break up your nice asphalt driveway. And each time they turn around it is in a slightly different spot so you can do some really nice damage pretty fast.
That is something that is on my list too. When the kids started driving I probably drove them nuts about turning the wheel when stationary. I told them even the slightest movement makes it so much easier to turn the wheel and its easier on the tires which some day you'll be paying for out of your own pocket. It took a while but it sunk in. I never thought about the wear on the asphalt but its a valid concern.
Business must be good around here, or my puny drive isn't worth getting off the couch for. I called 4 paving contractors and never got to talk to anyone on the first call, left messages for all. Two never bothered to call back, the third one took two weeks to return my voice mails, and the fourth did a drive-by, then called and left me a voice mail with a number. All four of these contractors are ones that have been in business in the county for over 20 to 25 years, and do work for builders in the area as well as smaller road work for the townships, parking lots, etc. The big guys of course were not interested and had referred a couple of the smaller guys to me who were the only two who gave me a number.
So the first two are out of the running as no shows/not interested. The last one doesn't even know the full scope of the job so his bid is non-responsive, and I am left with the contractor #3 who sent his foreman to meet with me and discuss the job. This contractor I found to be knowledgeable and open to hearing my ideas and worked with me on solving the problems and logistics of implementing the work. Things like how they would deal with the shrubbery next to the drive, my desire to install a pipe sleeve under the drive so I can bring irrigation water and low voltage wiring across the drive for sprinklers and landscape lights, etc. I've also checked with friends who have used him and they were pleased with thier work.
The job now is to remove all the old asphalt and existing gutter curb. Pave with 3" (compacted) of I4 from the garage to within 3 feet of the road, then come back saw cut the asphalt parallel to the road about 5 feet back and place roughly 2.5 yards of concrete (5' running, 24' wide) at the end of the drive creating a more gentle slope than the gutter curb on which the wifes car drags every time she goes in and out. Both edges would be headed off with a 2x4 to create a square edge which will have pavers laid next to it. Overall the price works out to $4.05/sf which is double the drive-by number that contractor #4 gave me, but that number doesn't include the concrete work since the guy never called to find out what the job really was and he didn't say how much asphalt he was putting down (2", 3" who knows). I've called the third guy back but no response as yet so I am inclined to drop him too but that leaves me only one number to work with and nothing to gage him against. Area labor rates are higher here than most parts of the country so while you may think this is high for your neck of the woods its not outrageous. I would like to see the number around $3.00 or $3.50, but it is what it is.
