Driveway Repaving Recommendations
 

Long story short -- my asphalt driveway is shot with some major cracks (over 1" wide) that look rather irreparable to me along with a ton of smaller cracks. Add some fairly noticeable unevenness (dipping / sinking, basically) along the parts where the wheels roll over when getting into the garage, I'm leaning towards ripping the whole thing out and repaving it -- if the cost isn't going be prohibitive.

So 2 major questions come to mind:

1) asphalt vs concrete

I did some quick searches comparing the two, so I have a basic understanding that asphalt is generally cheaper, has a somewhat shorter life span (20+ yrs if properly maintained), and is not as good dealing with heat. On the other hand, concrete is more expensive, supposed to last longer (30+ yrs of service life), but doesn't handle the cold as well. But none of that tells me which type is more suitable for our climate since we seem to get both the summer heat and the winter cold (esp the frequent freeze-thaw cycles) here in Vancouver.

2) reputable driveway contractor

Going to need a good recommendation here. A few years ago, my gf's neighbour was building a new house, and I could hardly believe how poorly the driveway was done. It almost felt like they just dumped a bunch of asphalt-bitumen mixture, troweled it, and called it a day. The edges were literally breaking off within a few days of it being paved, and I can't imagine how it is going to last.

If anyone has any additional wisdom to share, I'd really appreciate it. 🙏

The difference between the durability and strength of concrete and asphalt is pretty significant. Service life is an arbitrary definition but aesthetically the concrete is generally going to look pretty much the same as it ages, minus any cracking. The asphalt on the other hand degrades pretty steadily from a cosmetic standpoint. It's also a lot softer so in extreme heat, etc can get "lumpy" from heavy vehicles sitting, you can take a chunk out of it with a sharp jackstand, etc.

The driveway on our house is concrete and I believe original to the house - 35 years old. It's in good shape, you can tell it's not new, but has very minimal cracking, etc. Previous owner painted it blue 10 years ago which I hate and will probably repaint at some point, but generally I don't expect to replace it any time soon.

IMO asphalt is a false economy. I'd be more inclined to do one of these new eco coatings if you want a cheap fix. A lot of people in my neighborhood have done it - I am not personally a fan. It looks nice, but you can't use salt on it, you can't use a jackstand on it, etc. It's no concrete, but if it's not a working driveway and you just want to clean up the appearance and level stuff out, I think it's viable for a lot less money than new concrete.

TL;DR ... if it was me, I am doing a (relatively) cheap eco skim coat if I am thinking I will sell the house in a few years, just want to clean up the looks, etc. Otherwise I am doing new concrete - crying once while you, likely happy for the rest of your lifetime in the house.

-Mark

Thank you for the suggestions, Mark! I didn't consider this eco coating -- sounds like it's a rubber-based thing -- because it just wasn't on my radar before! My driveway is on an incline, so I wouldn't be able to do any work on it anyway. If it isn't anything like the flooring at the children's playground, it would definitely be worth a look!

I'm really hoping I wouldn't have to redo the surface in asphalt again because the experience with mine has not been all that pleasant -- as you were saying, it seems to degrade on an annual basis, and the repairs / upkeep are taking up time that could otherwise be used at maintaining other places around the house. FailFish

I can chime in because I work in the industry.

The differences between asphalt and concrete are covered well already - the the caveat here is that for driveways, a lot of what the product looks like in the future will depend on workmanship.

For cities and highways, etc., there are specs to everything from the sub-base, base, to prepping the surface for either asphalt, concrete - and testing along to go with it because it's infrastructure. For residential and driveways it's literally a free for all, and depends on if its done properly in the first place or not.

Asphalt must be placed and compacted at a certain temperature to maximize its performance. Like you said, a lot of these 'driveway specialists' will come, dump asphalt out of a flatbed that's been cooling for hours, and kinda make it look flat and leave. Owners won't know because it's black and look like asphalt, but that stuff isn't gonna last at all. You also need to ensure the surface is prepped relatively well and that whatever's under the driveway isn't going to settle, etc.

Concrete will also require prepping, but it's more difficult to get concrete wrong than asphalt. A lot of the potential for concrete going wrong comes when it's hardening - if it's not protected/cured properly you'll get microcracking pretty much immediately. You also can't de-ice it without risking the surface failing. And it's more costly, as most places have minimum orders for concrete.

All in all, pick a quality contractor and not the lowest rate. Feel free to PM or ask if you have other questions!

So are you that quality contractor that we are looking for? Figuring out who is quality is the hardest part of choosing contractors.

Not at all, we don't touch residential - our clients are like Metrovan, MoTI, cities, etc., and our job is to make sure the stuff they construct meet code/spec.

Vetting contractors are definitely a struggle, but this is 2022 - online reviews are a thing, as is word of mouth. Go with the bigger companies with big crews if possible, or a smaller company where the lead guy overseeing the work has actual experience, and is there to see oversee your job personally.

A few years ago I randomly drove by a driveway being paved, and I kid you not it was about 4 old EI men wearing sandals, who were using planks with rope tied on the ends to walk around the thing making it flat. That's what you want to avoid.

Thank you, inv4zn, for chiming in with your insights! For the time being, I don't really have any major questions other than which shop is a quality contractor, so I know I have some homework to do (on reading up masonry / driveway company reviews).

A quick question on the de-icing issue -- how do you prevent the surface deterioration then? Do you just seal it every few years? Would it be fine to start salting when the temperature is noticeably higher -- say at 5°C instead of 2°C -- so that you delay the initial ice formation as much as possible? Or do you just not salt at all? As my driveway is on an incline (uphill to get out of the garage), there is a bit of concern on the de-icing issue there.

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