Check on paving cost

[Jeff590]

Finishing up the garage build and I need to get the area between the existing driveway and the garage paved. I requested 4 estimates and have 2 already, but they are coming in higher than I expected, so I wanted a sanity check. This is for about 500 sqft, and the area to be done is shown below:

There is a slight slope downward to the garage, so the question of a drain came up.

First company says no drain (they can put a slight dip to run the water off - it's a slight down slope away from the basketball goal) - total cost $3000

Second company will put in a drain in front of the garage - total cost $4000

So is this just the going rate now - $3-4k for 500 sqft of asphalt? This is in a higher cost of living area (northern Virginia).

Thanks!

 

[garic3712]

Finishing up the garage build and I need to get the area between the existing driveway and the garage paved. I requested 4 estimates and have 2 already, but they are coming in higher than I expected, so I wanted a sanity check. This is for about 500 sqft, and the area to be done is shown below:

There is a slight slope downward to the garage, so the question of a drain came up.

First company says no drain (they can put a slight dip to run the water off - it's a slight down slope away from the basketball goal) - total cost $3000

Second company will put in a drain in front of the garage - total cost $4000

So is this just the going rate now - $3-4k for 500 sqft of asphalt? This is in a higher cost of living area (northern Virginia).

Thanks!

Just had 1200 sf done. Old drive torn out, 3in gravel base then 3in asphalt. Orange county N.Y. cost 4200

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[DC73]

Seems high to me. Around here, I could have 500 sq. ft. of concrete put down for no more than $2000.

DC

 

[milksteak]

You have 2 things working against you.

1. You are getting the nice neighborhood/looks like you have money to spend price. It ***** but not uncommon in Northern VA.

2. This is a small area to have paved. It isn't worth it for contractors so they are padding the price.

This is a very busy time of the year for asphalt contractors. If you don't get a quote that you find reasonable try waiting later in the year to have it done when work will be slower.

 

[joseywales]

For a 950sqf driveway, the best estimate I got was $3.75sqf.

 

[Brad Beam]

You have 2 things working against you.

1. You are getting the nice neighborhood/looks like you have money to spend price. It ***** but not uncommon in Northern VA.

2. This is a small area to have paved. It isn't worth it for contractors so they are padding the price.

This is a very busy time of the year for asphalt contractors. If you don't get a quote that you find reasonable try waiting later in the year to have it done when work will be slower.

This

 

[Sidney Porter]

I had an estimate earlier this year. 450sq ft. Tear out the old and put in new $1200. Central ohio

 

[jhelrey]

Concrete it! Might get it cheaper due to much less equipment needed on site.

 

[mike93lx]

i was given an estimate of $5/sq ft to remove and replace my existing driveway. approx 2000 sq ft

I'm less than an hour outside of Boston in a nice suburb, so a high COL area. I would expect your quote to be lower, but ultimately, if you get multiple comparable quotes, that is just what it will cost.

 

[Jeff590]

Thanks guys. I'll get a few more quotes and see where they end up at. Maybe the gravel isn't so bad

 

[AMCguy]

I'm on the Sunshine Coast of BC.

I just got a quote for my 6,200 square foot driveway. $3.00/sq. ft.

 

[TonkaJoe]

Yeah that's definitely steep in my opinion ( especially for that size of area), I have a 2 car wide by 3 car deep paved section in front of my garage which is around
23' W x 60' L.
I did the removal of the old asphalt, excavation of old aggregate, replaced with new 3/4" crusher run A grade gravel, cut the driveway down to grade and compacted it. Had a company pave all that with 2 1/2" actual compacted asphalt for 4k. I'm definitely planning on going with concrete next time around as I'm just not satisfied with asphalt in the driveway anymore... I would honestly suggest having that section cribbed and poured with concrete instead of asphalt.

 

[ard]

As someone mentioned, it is too small. A contractor needs to get a crew out, equipment, basically spend half a day, a day. Same cost to him as compared to laying down 1000 or 1500 feet- with the exception of a bit more $$ from the batch plant. I don't view it as them 'padding' it, or taking advantage of you due to the size. JMO

You should be careful about slopes and water, drainage at that door. Nothing worse that snow and ice and water and refreezing and the garage door getting iced shut...

 

[dave89iroc]

I'd look into concrete, or even let the contractor know that he can do it when he has a slow period(or left over asphalt from a big job???)

 

[383]

As someone mentioned, it is too small. A contractor needs to get a crew out, equipment, basically spend half a day, a day. Same cost to him as compared to laying down 1000 or 1500 feet- with the exception of a bit more $$ from the batch plant. I don't view it as them 'padding' it, or taking advantage of you due to the size. JMO

I agree with this.

Material is a small part of a job like this, getting equipment to the site costs the same no matter the size of the job.

I am having my drive and parking area paved in a few weeks. It's about 9,000 sq ft (3500 sqft parking area, 10'x550' driveway). My quote is just under $15,000. I'm close to Harrisonburg, VA.

 

[Showkey]

Small job extra charge.........and everyone has more work than they can handle.

Huge ball park estimates $3-$6 sqft for asphalt.........$7-$12 for concrete.

Small jobs get added on in the end of the day when they are in the area.......so be prepared to wait for ( months).

 

[blair683]

You could concrete it for $1500.

 

[thickhead]

At most that is 8-10 tons of asphalt. 6 1/2 tons at 2" compacted thickness. Too small to get any heat in a screed and too big to rake by hand and still look good. Youll wind up with a hand finished mess with a segregated surface of small stones that will pop out for the next 20 years.

I agree with skip it and pour concrete or maybe even nice concrete pavers. The pavers would be self draining to help if you really dont have enough slope.

 

[pepi]

You could concrete it for $1500.

I'm sure that's not the whole drive way, that being said. I built a second garage and was looking @ asphalt.

Ended up going with concrete, longevity being the maine reason. Asphalt will cost twice as much over the same time span. It just does not last, a quick fix that always needs attention. Hell I can see where the hoop shooters are taking the shots from. Makes the case regarding the weakness of asphalt.

It's like the difference of an auto zombi brake pad versa the OEM pads. Yes cheaper, install 3 sets over the same time period as 1 set of the OEMs., oh did I mention 3 times the labor if one cannot diy.

greg

 

[Radix2]

And with respect to the drain.... avoid if at all possible. Go with a proper dip, sideslope to get the water to naturally flow away from the garage. A drain gets clogged with leaves, snow, ice, when you need it most, has edges to crumble and fail, needs fine detail work to look good... bad idea if there is any other way.

 

[falcongarage]

I'm on the Sunshine Coast of BC.

I just got a quote for my 6,200 square foot driveway. $3.00/sq. ft.

We are just outside Vancouver BC and had our 2200 sqft driveway redone last October. It worked out to about $2.25 per foot.

 

[johnnyradiant]

If Vancouver area prices are cheaper you know yer getting hosed.

Do you have any real close neighbours in need of some work too? Maybe your combined work is enough to get them to sharpen their pencils.