Is black top cheaper than concrete?

[robert_t_wallace]

I have a 20x20 area that has my boat and car trailer and wanting something a bit better than the rock I have down. A few years back, I put down large white rock to keep it from getting muddy but now wanting something a bit better to park on. It's behind the fence so it is not in view from the driveway. Instead of digging all the rock out, could I just put black top down? Just want a cheap solution...

 

[Displaced Hokie]

Curious as well, as I've never really known what prep is needed for blacktop.

 

[zporta]

Asphalt usually is cheaper but isn't as durable. Plus some sort of base needs to be put in. Just get a quote from a few of each

 

[glider]

I would ball park asphalt at 3 to $4 dollors a sqft. The larger the area the cheaper.

 

[jlckmj]

I just had part of my new driveway poured and it cost me $2.60 per square foot, and that was for 4 inches deep. That price included prep work using my bobcat, and wire mesh.

That price was about half of what the garage slab cost me, and the contractor screwed that up.

Jim

 

[EOC_Jason]

Just do it right the first time an pour concrete. Once and done...

 

[dumper]

Just do it right the first time an pour concrete. Once and done...

I vote for this answer. I had an asphalt driveway, put off replacing it, but sooner or later, you will be doing concrete.

 

[NUTTSGT]

That size pad, 4" deep is going to be about 5 yards of concrete. Around here, concrete close to 100/yd costing $500. I can do that myself with a little help. The asphalt I can't and it needs sealed every few years.

I'd do the concrete personally for cost reasons not to mention you may get sinking spots from the trailer sitting in one spot with the asphalt.

 

[Super Scout]

Asphalt will last years, and years, sure you need to seal it every 2 years or so but it last. Esp for that little of use. Concrete will crack, you cannot use salt on it, and is more expensive.

 

[D.J.]

I would guess asphalt is cheaper in cost and performance than concrete.

 

[cj7365]

Just do it right the first time an pour concrete. Once and done...

^^^^^this^^^^


asphalt does crack, and it looks like ****

concrete will last for years with no sealer

and at least if you have to lay down or sit down on it to change a tire or do some maintenance you wont get asphalt stains all over you and your jacks stands will not sink into it

 

[rslaback]

We priced paving a gravel parking lot at school this past summer. Blacktop was cheaper. Barely. Blacktop is tied to the crude oil price.

 

[ietech]

^^^^^this^^^^


asphalt does crack, and it looks like ****

concrete will last for years with no sealer

and at least if you have to lay down or sit down on it to change a tire or do some maintenance you wont get asphalt stains all over you and your jacks stands will not sink into it

Now this is very true.

Can't speak of cost or durability, due to never having a need to buy either one. I'm sure each has good and bad aspects.

But I have experienced working on things on blacktop and I would choose concrete any day.

Not to mention the heat factor where ANYTHING black gets very hot in the sun especially if you live in a high heat area. Sometime park a white car and a black car side by side on a 100° day, touch both and you will be amazed. Granted concrete can get very hot also but not like black top.

 

[JimVonBaden]

Asphalt will last years, and years, sure you need to seal it every 2 years or so but it last. Esp for that little of use. Concrete will crack, you cannot use salt on it, and is more expensive.

Why can't you use salt on concrete?

Properly done concrete won't crack.

Jim

 

[zporta]

Salt is terrible for concrete. It eats away at the cement causing the top layer to pop and spaul. Easy way to decrease the life of it.

 

[Stuart in MN]

This is a storage area, I don't see any reason he'd use salt on it.

 

[JimVonBaden]

Salt is terrible for concrete. It eats away at the cement causing the top layer to pop and spaul. Easy way to decrease the life of it.

Good thing I need it maybe twice a year then.

Jim

 

[truckin23]

why not pour 4 concrete runners and 2 small pads for trailer jacks and leave the rest of it rock make sure you use at least #3 rebar

 

[emercaughfield]

Just do it right the first time an pour concrete. Once and done...

I also agree with this. Don't know which one is costly and which one is cheap but if I have to choose one among these I would definitely prefer concrete

 

[Super Scout]

Properly poured asphalt will last for years and years. My parents drive way is 25 years old, not cracks, no problems. And growing up working on cars I never had an issue with asphalt stains. Not really sure who is doing your asphalt work that you are having all these issues. Asphalt is cheaper, and for a place to simply park a boat and truck why not save the cash.

 

[JimVonBaden]

Properly poured asphalt will last for years and years. My parents drive way is 25 years old, not cracks, no problems. And growing up working on cars I never had an issue with asphalt stains. Not really sure who is doing your asphalt work that you are having all these issues. Asphalt is cheaper, and for a place to simply park a boat and truck why not save the cash.

Concrete is not signifigantly more expensive these days, and sealing it every few years adds to the overall costs over the years. Others have given other reasons why concrete is better as well.

Personally I hate my asphault driveway. One large truck on it and now it have divots running in it. Plants are growing out of it, and it is only a year old.

Jim

 

[DCarr]

in 4/11 I paid approx. 1$ a sq. ft. for Asphalt. This is in the Middle TN. area. I never got any bids on concrete, would have been great ... but knew it was out of price range.

 

[Kevin54]

If you are going to be parking anything on the driveway or pad for any extended period of time, you want to go with concrete. When it hits 90 degrees out the asphalt gets hot. Anything sitting for a few weeks or more will leave indentations in asphalt. I had a car trailer sitting in my driveway and now have four indentations from the tires.

If money is an issue, look at putting down pavers. If you already have gravel down and it has been down for a while, put some sand on top, level it, add pavers and be done.

 

[JimVonBaden]

If you are going to be parking anything on the driveway or pad for any extended period of time, you want to go with concrete. When it hits 90 degrees out the asphalt gets hot. Anything sitting for a few weeks or more will leave indentations in asphalt. I had a car trailer sitting in my driveway and now have four indentations from the tires.

If money is an issue, look at putting down pavers. If you already have gravel down and it has been down for a while, put some sand on top, level it, add pavers and be done.

Good idea!

My front drive project recently completed.

Jim

PS Concrete would have been cheaper since I was doing it from scratch.

 

[srmofo]

For that small of an area the price might be negligible. Get some quotes and go from there. Prices can vary greatly depending on your location and time of year

 

[Toomanytools?]

Well I will add my 2 cents, I have a 14' wide x 180' long driveway and a parking area about 60' x 50' all in asphalt. House was built in 1977 don't know but guessing drive was done some 30 years ago, has about 5 cracks across road about 1/2" to 1 1/2" wide, parking area has many cracks. Had the asphalt company bid on sealing cracks and top was about $2200. So I fixed cracks somewhat and sealed with the 10 year mix at Home Depot, that lasts about 2 - 3 years then needs a recoat which I did one more time, but only on the parking area not road. Also had same company bid to do a parking spot for a trailer about 20x40 already had a gravel base but was full of weeds. They would scrape down remove gravel and weeds, place 3 inches or so new gravel and pave for $4500! That same spot in concrete which is about 10 yards would be about $2200.
My experience in Eastern Washington is asphalt is always more than concrete for a drive or road.
Granted my drive is some 30 years old and looks like ****, but when I tear it all up I'm putting down concrete. Yes concrete will crack but done right you can greatly minimize cracks, and no maintenance, I don't plan on eating the concrete so it won't need any SALT ! )

 

[R6 Racer]

Around here concrete is about 5 times the price of asphalt. With all the snow & ice in the winter not using salt is almost impossible. Salt destroys concrete fast making it even more expensive.

Another question about asphalt... why do you need to seal it every couple of years? The city never seals the asphalt on the roads, it seems to last for years & it has hundreds of times more use than my driveway. My last place had an asphalt drive that I never sealed & that lasted for the 20 years that I was there! It was still good when I sold the place. The neighbours who sealed their drives (put in by the same company at the same time as mine) had cracks & splitting within 10 years. Many of them ended up replacing their drives while mine was still great.

Now I use pavers.

Steve

 

[csp]

Personally I hate my asphault driveway. One large truck on it and now it have divots running in it. Plants are growing out of it, and it is only a year old.

That's not because it's asphalt, it's because of what's under it (or not under it).

 

[e-tek]

Asphalt usually is cheaper but isn't as durable. Plus some sort of base needs to be put in. Just get a quote from a few of each

I just stopped by a home with the Rubberized Paving treatment. This stuff is awesome - super durable, stays much blacker in color and feels great under foot.
I would have gone this route but when I called for a quote they said they weren't doing residential! Now I see it everywhere - and I have "regular" asphalt with dips from tires and stains from oil already....arrgghh!

That's not because it's asphalt, it's because of what's under it (or not under it).

PArtly tue - but partly not. Asphalt is soft and gets softer in the sun. Easy to pock mark and divot regardless of what's under it, although a good base does make it more stable.

My experience in Eastern Washington is asphalt is always more than concrete for a drive or road.

That seems opposite to most areas, but if it was the case - I'd go concrete for sure.

 

[pop pop]

Usage determines what you should use. If you only park light wheel loads, you can get away with asphalt. But if you do more that drive over it. walk on it, or park lightly on it, asphalt will fail. There are very different grades of asphalt, and some will hold up better than others, but it is all plastic - will creep under load.

Get prices, as both are bulk shipment cost items (what goes into each) and shipping is a lot of the price for any locality. Years ago in this area, the material cost (bulk concrete delivered) was the same cost as installed asphalt. So with finishing and prepration, concrete was more expensive, but much more durable without maintanance. It is also more useful as it is not as limited as to how you can use it without damage.

 

[mntbkrguy]

It sounds like the answer to your question is yes, blacktop is cheaper than concrete in most cases.

Whichever way you go another thought is the impact to your property with what you choose. The gravel you have lets the water wash right through but if you pave with blacktop or regular concrete it will create run off. Granted not much in this case but it's a good thing to mention in a thread like this. Many of them are cheaper than both concrete or blacktop and you can easilly do it yourself.

http://www.unh.edu/unhsc/sites/unh....o/unhsc_pervious_concrete_fact_sheet_4_08.pdf

Just a thought if it is only to park trailers.

 

[csp]

PArtly tue - but partly not. Asphalt is soft and gets softer in the sun. Easy to pock mark and divot regardless of what's under it, although a good base does make it more stable.

First of all, my statement was in reference to the specific example I quoted.

I'm quite aware that it's soft and gets softer with heat. We have 1/4 mile of asphalt driveway that regularly sees 50k-80k pound semis and there are no ruts or cracks which go
through all the way to the base material. No plants/weeds growing through it.

The temperature at which it's installed, the thickness and the actual asphalt mix can also have a lot to do with its strength.

 

[cj7365]

Properly poured asphalt will last for years and years. My parents drive way is 25 years old, not cracks, no problems. And growing up working on cars I never had an issue with asphalt stains. Not really sure who is doing your asphalt work that you are having all these issues. Asphalt is cheaper, and for a place to simply park a boat and truck why not save the cash.

and the economy is recovering not gonna argue

 

[bmwpower]

Another question about asphalt... why do you need to seal it every couple of years? The city never seals the asphalt on the roads, it seems to last for years & it has hundreds of times more use than my driveway. My last place had an asphalt drive that I never sealed & that lasted for the 20 years that I was there! It was still good when I sold the place. The neighbours who sealed their drives (put in by the same company at the same time as mine) had cracks & splitting within 10 years. Many of them ended up replacing their drives while mine was still great.

Now I use pavers.

Steve

As others have stated, there are different grades of asphalt. The stuff on the major highways is likely a different mix, not to mention its like 8"+ thick with an even deeper base levels.

 

[superduty59]

Black top is usually a little cheaper. Around me there are several mexican crews that do it dirt cheap. A friend of mine does concrete for a living. He said his ultimate driveway would be 4" of concrete topped by 2" of black top. Concrete for a solid base and black top to avoid salt "popping".

 

[bmwpower]

Black top is usually a little cheaper. Around me there are several mexican crews that do it dirt cheap. A friend of mine does concrete for a living. He said his ultimate driveway would be 4" of concrete topped by 2" of black top. Concrete for a solid base and black top to avoid salt "popping".

Not sure that would work well here. The blacktop would expand faster that the concrete and would likely lift. At least that's what happens over here when the state cheaps out and paves over old concrete roads. Big humps and cracks all over the place.

 

[joes169]

Generally speaking, asphalt is significantly cheaper on large jobs, and concrete is slightly cheaper on small jobs, like the one teh OP is curious about. Your best bet at getting a deal on asphalt would be to contact a number of local asphalt contractors and see if they have another local job where they can "piggyback" your's with to create efficiency on their end. On bigger projects, it's not uncommon for them to throw more asphalt away than needed to pave your parking pad...........

 

[JimVonBaden]

Not sure that would work well here. The blacktop would expand faster that the concrete and would likely lift. At least that's what happens over here when the state cheaps out and paves over old concrete roads. Big humps and cracks all over the place.

They did that to part of my driveway. It is coming apart in less than a year.

Jim

 

[dnroe]

Joes169 nailed it with his answer. Concrete is cheaper on small jobs and asphalt is cheaper on larger driveways. The equipment and crews needed to do a good asphalt job cost a lot more than just a couple of guys with floats and trowels needed for a small concrete pour. I am an estimator for an asphalt contractor and even I will tell you that if your going to be doing more than parking and driving on it go with concrete.

 

[Vettman]

When we had our driveway done 20+ years ago the cost difference between asphalt and concrete was around $1K. Knowing asphalt required maintenance, top coating etc. concrete was a slam dunk. It used 59 yards. exposed aggregate. and although it has three cracks, and unless pointed out they're barely noticeable. There's a large turn a round at the bottom.