Prices on driveway paving

   / Prices on driveway paving #11  
Some comparing of the pros and cons of asphaltic concrete vs Portland cement concrete:
Pros:
Concrete: wear and weather resistance, no base needed (just good clean, compact subgrade); no special equipment need to form/pour
Asphalt: cost, speed, the ability to tack and resurface, or mill and resurface; tends to not drastically heave when it cracks; moderate bump; smooth ride; immediately drivable

Cons:
Concrete: cost, worse ride quality, much more difficult to do major repairs; min 24-48 hrs after piur till you can drive (atleast 7 days for heavy vehicles); not affected by spills/chemicals
Asphalt: fewer contractors/suppliers; shorter 7-14 year life span (can easily be much more for residential); large equipment needed; chemical (petroluem) can/will damage asphalt;

The mobilzation on asphalt is a significant cost, making it expensive in small quantities; but getting cheaper as the job gets larger. Concrete requires almost zero real mobilzation. 3 guys can easily form and pour a typical residential drive in 1 or 2 days; with zero equipment.
 
   / Prices on driveway paving #12  
All of the asphalt driveways around here just don't hold up. I have asphalt now. It probably needs to be resurfaced or something done but I'm just not going to put anymore money in temporary fixes.
 
   / Prices on driveway paving #14  
I don't see concrete or asphalt driveways until I get into town. My driveway - mile long, gravel. Lower cost - easy to repair/maintain.

42 years ago - $16.5 to build my driveway. Now - at least 3X or 4X or more to get the same job done.

The entire mile of driveway had to be completely built. There was nothing here except the neighbors barbed wire fence - running down the section line.
 
   / Prices on driveway paving #15  
One of my clients works at the Asphalt company here in Tyler TX. She told me that when hiring somebody to pave a driveway, you have to know what you want in your mix, or they can cut corners and use a cheaper mix that doesn't last very long. This is very common with driveways. The State, County and City all have very specific mixes that they require that are considered the best, but also the most expensive.

Another clients of mine works for one of the local paving companies and his personal driveway is asphalt. It's cracking and developing potholes. He is going to tear it out and install concrete. He said that even with the best materials, asphalt requires too much maintenance and money to keep it in shape.

One of the issues with asphalt is that it needs a curb or border at the edges to keep it solid. If you do not have that, then it will move a little on you over time, and develop cracks. Small cracks lead to big cracks. The wider the driveway, the less this happens, but the cost increases dramatically. One foot of pavement outside the width of your tires isn't enough, you really need two feet or more on either side to stop the spreading and movement of the pavement when you drive on it. And if you drive off of the pavement, that area needs concrete to hold the pavement together.

In my opinion, anything is better then gravel, but if you are going to pay for something nice, concrete done correctly will last the longest.
 
   / Prices on driveway paving #16  
If your really looking to spend $30-50k on a driveway; it worth the time/expense/effort to have a contract, with a spec, material call outs, and some Geotechnical testing.

For a residential, asphalt driveway, in my part of the world (that affects the terms used) I would spec, subgrade to be stripped of organic materisl/top soil, proof rolled, and shaped to the finished shape, then 6" of limerock, LBR100, from an approved pit, compacted to 98% density, primed with asphalt emulsion prime (I like Special MS), and than, 165#/sy of Superpave Sp-12.5, traffic level-b, rolled with a min 4 ton roller.

The density testing would require either a pit proctor or a proctor and LBR pulled (cost you about $500 and 3 days wait), and then a density taken every 500 lf at a random location (that'd gonna be about $120 per test, with a 3 test min, or about $360). Yes, you dropped $900 in testing, but you have a leg to stand on.

If your contractor doesn't understand any of the terms (or he'll, if he starts talking about square feet) I'd run away. The terms vary area to area, so, down load a copy of your local county/city/state DOT standards, or local Land Developemnt Code; work if building a home, have your EOR write the spec for the driveway. Just understand your driveway is not a road, and a road spec like (tyoical FDOT) 12" stabalized subgrade LBR40; 10" limerock, LRB100; 2.5" SP-12.5 and 1.5" FC-12.5; traffic level C; is not needed for a home drive; that's designed to carry 10,000 plus trips per day, for 7-14 years.


Most guys doing small work for homeowners are a iffy lot at best.
 
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   / Prices on driveway paving #17  
Not to keep going on a rant; you wouldn't go to a home builder, and say, "Build me a 3 bed/2bath stick frame house, right here" and just show up 6 months later, and hope for the best. You would have a plan and spec, inspections, reviews, progress payments, ect. A $30-50k driveway isn't that much different, except the average builder doesn't know anything about asphalt/base, ect.

Someone mentioned brick pavers.... unless you are a multi millionaire, who hires out maintenance; DONT Do It. They are more expensive, ride worse, don't last as long, and are high maintenance; but they do look nice.
 
   / Prices on driveway paving #18  
If your contractor shows up with just a plate tamp, or a 1/2 ton static yard roller, you're in for a screwing...

People will argue if priming the base is needed, I like it, and it's required for roadwork, but many people don't worry about it for parking lots/driveways; as it's most prevent the asphalt from sliding on the base from traffic.
 
   / Prices on driveway paving #19  
"One of the issues with asphalt is that it needs a curb or border at the edges to keep it solid. If you do not have that, then it will move a little on you over time, and develop cracks."

This can be true or not; but if there isn't a curb, you want the base to extend 6-12" beyond the asphalt (EOP). That would be something shown on your typical cross section of the plan or spec.
 
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