Pave Your Own Driveway?

[Cat385B]

Where the heck are people getting concrete anywhere close to $100 a yard on a truck? $170 here.

Concrete will not go thru an asphalt paver. It will not flow out to the edges.

I was finally going to surface my gravel drive this year, 45’x70’. After the sixth bid, 3 bit, 3 crete, I gave up and said maybe next year.

 

[Diggin It]

Some thoughts.

OP says the neighbor/library is doing their portion in blacktop. Would the concrete trucks have to pass over that portion? In many places they won't do that without a signed waiver. Would the library sign a waiver for their new blacktop?

Concrete fails in fire. Lots of roads, bridges and even building foundations have to be redone after a major fire. Would that warranty (likely made in jest) apply?

People often mention reclaimed blacktop on these threads. It isn't available everywhere. Many plants roll it back into fresh mix, so they refuse to sell it.

 

[PILOON]

When existing pavement is overlayed they often use a device called a rotomill. It grinds up some of the existing pavement and levels it out. It usually dumps the millings into a dump truck on a conveyor. The contractor often gets to keep this material or sometimes it gets added to new asphalt. It ends up looking about like gravel but still has a lot of asphalt in it.

Yep, you got it.
Back then it was dumped but now days of recycling it has become a desirable commodity.
Often road builders will simply shred the old asphalt, compact it in place and add a new layer of fresh asphalt as a topping.

 

[3 Horse Ranch]

People often mention reclaimed blacktop on these threads. It isn't available everywhere. Many plants roll it back into fresh mix, so they refuse to sell it.

Where I worked they would sell it and it made a good stable driveway, but it would track. They had mountains of waste asphalt that had been dumped by contractors that was awaiting grinding down to make what they called "recycled asphalt product". The best time to buy it was early spring before paving season. They would grind it in the off season and it was used to augment certain mixes of asphalt.
Some people have used fresh ground asphalt straight from the resurfacing project, but I am not fond of it myself. I've seen the stuff in my truck that was too chunky, 3"x5"x 3/4, and other loads that looked about like hot mix asphalt except for the temperature,

 

[Creamer]

Some thoughts.

OP says the neighbor/library is doing their portion in blacktop. Would the concrete trucks have to pass over that portion? In many places they won't do that without a signed waiver. Would the library sign a waiver for their new blacktop?

Concrete fails in fire. Lots of roads, bridges and even building foundations have to be redone after a major fire. Would that warranty (likely made in jest) apply?

People often mention reclaimed blacktop on these threads. It isn't available everywhere. Many plants roll it back into fresh mix, so they refuse to sell it.

That is the exact problem I have locally. I have to find it when road construction is being done in my area and the contractor has to find a place to put it. The local plant mixes it back in and is always looking for it was well because they sell it in the mix at almost full price.

 

[Creamer]

Some thoughts.

OP says the neighbor/library is doing their portion in blacktop. Would the concrete trucks have to pass over that portion? In many places they won't do that without a signed waiver. Would the library sign a waiver for their new blacktop?

Concrete fails in fire. Lots of roads, bridges and even building foundations have to be redone after a major fire. Would that warranty (likely made in jest) apply?

People often mention reclaimed blacktop on these threads. It isn't available everywhere. Many plants roll it back into fresh mix, so they refuse to sell it.

The library has set up their asphalt to handle the large trucks like the garbage truck, semis that I have come in regularly, and rock trucks for my driveway, pond, etc.

 

[Creamer]

Where the heck are people getting concrete anywhere close to $100 a yard on a truck? $170 here.

Concrete will not go thru an asphalt paver. It will not flow out to the edges.

I was finally going to surface my gravel drive this year, 45’x70’. After the sixth bid, 3 bit, 3 crete, I gave up and said maybe next year.

I was quoted $118 a yard for 5 bag mix delivered with no waiting.

 

[4570Man]

I was quoted $118 a yard for 5 bag mix delivered with no waiting.

It’s around $120 here plus tax for the lowest PSI mix. And there’s a 4 yard minimum for free delivery.

 

[Creamer]

I think you're severely underestimating the cost of enough concrete to do a 1/4 mile long driveway 12' wide by 5.5" thick.

I only have to do half of the 1/4 mile long driveway which is where I got my numbers from. Sorry about the confusion.

 

[Creamer]

I calculate 315 yards of concrete to do a 1/4 mile 12 foot wide and the 2700 square foot pad. That’s way more than $17,000 of concrete. More like $40,000 worth. Aside from that attempting to DIY it especially through a paver is an awful idea. If the driveway is already asphalt why would you demo it? Just put down another 2” on top. You’d save the cost of demoing and hauling away which in itself would be expensive and you’d cut the material in half.

Because the asphalt area is already even with the garage floor height and consequently I have some poor drainage that I need to fix when I do this. Now the Asphalt is almost level with a few dips that doesn't drain well which means when it thaws in the winter some places are nice and others are small ice rinks spread intermittently all over the paved area.