Replacing asphalt driveway with pavers

[ive]

Hi all.

Organizing a spring project. Driveway is 6 car, house is from ww2 and the driveway is asphalt currently.

I’m looking to put pavers down myself and save some labor. The pavers are 16x8x3.

My first question is how many inches of base should I put down. Should I use hpb or 3/4 gravel?

 

[Bent Handle]

You're going to need 8-12' of base layer more than likely. What part of Canada? HPB isn't a base layer. I'd do 3/4 or CA6 for a traditional base. You'll also want a driveway rated paver or they will crack.

 

[77thor]

I'm curious; why do you want to replace the asphalt??

 

[theoldwizard1]

16x8x3 pavers will be very heavy and difficult to set.

You need at least a 4" base layer. Sharp edge stone, like crushed limestone. Some place sell "3/4 down" which is good. It MUST be power compacted !

Then you need at least 2" of "fine" grade crushed stone (around here, they call it "slag"). DO NOT USE SMOOTH EDGE STONE !

 

[KansasArt]

You're going to need 8-12' of base layer more than likely. What part of Canada? HPB isn't a base layer. I'd do 3/4 or CA6 for a traditional base. You'll also want a driveway rated paver or they will crack.

8-12’ really? That’s gonna be hard to compact! Ik you meant 8-12”!

 

[SARG]

Just opinion.
A paver driveway is the same as a log house.
Plan on never ending maintenance

 

[Youngandfree]

Just opinion.
A paver driveway is the same as a log house.
Plan on never ending maintenance

Like asphalt driveways.

 

[NORTON'S SHOP]

Just opinion.
A paver driveway is the same as a log house.
Plan on never ending maintenance

Just about everything requires maintenance. Just an opinion as well.

 

[mike93lx]

Like asphalt driveways.

What maintenance is required? Seal coating is generally a waste. My last house had a 50 year old asphalt driveway that was in good condition with no maintenance.

 

[58Yeoman]

My asphalt driveway was cracked and alligator cracked in many places. Company wanted $25k to replace. I had it 'tarred and chipped' for around $4k to kind of hold all the cracks together, and my wife likes the gravel driveway look better. The only thing I don't like about it is the pebbles stick in the grooves of your shoes or tires and gets dragged around, plus you have to be careful snow plowing that you don't push all the chips into the yard.

 

[Youngandfree]

What maintenance is required? Seal coating is generally a waste. My last house had a 50 year old asphalt driveway that was in good condition with no maintenance.

Mkay. Every asphalt driveway I've ever had and seen gets cracks that open up over years.

 

[mike93lx]

Mkay. Every asphalt driveway I've ever had and seen gets cracks that open up over years.

That is never ending maintenance to you? Seal a crack once a year at most?

To each their own. Overall, asphalt is pretty easy to deal with and cheap to install. A lot more practical than concrete in a lot of places especially cold areas.

 

[Youngandfree]

That is never ending maintenance to you? Seal a crack once a year at most?

To each their own. Overall, asphalt is pretty easy to deal with and cheap to install. A lot more practical than concrete in a lot of places especially cold areas.

I guess your definition of maintenance is clearly different than all of the rest of us.

 

[mike93lx]

I guess your definition of maintenance is clearly different than all of the rest of us.

Guess so

 

[bassJAM]

I can't say that I've ever seen a paver driveway that didn't have weeds growing in it and didn't look wavy after a few years. I'm sure a lot of that has to do with the base, but I'd personally replace with asphault which is mostly maintenance free until the time it needs replaced again in 25 years.

 

[NORTON'S SHOP]

I can't say that I've ever seen a paver driveway that didn't have weeds growing in it and didn't look wavy after a few years. I'm sure a lot of that has to do with the base, but I'd personally replace with asphault which is mostly maintenance free until the time it needs replaced again in 25 years.

That's why every so often; maybe annually, you need to sweep in polymeric sand. Keeps everything tight and keeps the weeds from popping up. That's maintenance and most people are too lazy to do it.

 

[zippyslug31]

I'm located out in a rural-residential area with a few houses that have fully pavered entries/driveways - they look pretty impressive.

But I'll add as somebody with (1) a long asphalt driveway, and (B) a 40x50 pavered patio that (iii) I personally did all the paver work myself... I wouldn't do a driveway. My asphalt works very well, is more stable, and I'd hate to see how much labor would cost of installing a pavered driveway. I know how how much time and effort my patio took me and the bill would be a big ticket for somebody's time to do something that large.

 

[70runner]

I can't say that I've ever seen a paver driveway that didn't have weeds growing in it and didn't look wavy after a few years. I'm sure a lot of that has to do with the base, but I'd personally replace with asphault which is mostly maintenance free until the time it needs replaced again in 25 years.

Or consider what a previous owner of my property did, asphalt over existing asphalt. $2.50/sqft (around here) asphalt demo cost eliminated.

 

[billconner]

I can't say that I've ever seen a paver driveway that didn't have weeds growing in it and didn't look wavy after a few years.

Patina! I guess the choice of a brand new excellently done asphalt driveway versus an old wavy paver one (easy to get rid of weeds) is in the eye of the beholder. I'd love a coble stone or brick driveway. Just can't diy that myself and paying someone makes it too expensive.

 

[Youngandfree]

What maintenance is required? Seal coating is generally a waste. My last house had a 50 year old asphalt driveway that was in good condition with no maintenance.

BTW, you dodged a bullet if you lived in a house for 50 years without ever maintaining an asphalt driveway. That's an outlier, not the rule. I'd wager that it may also stem from different build quality 50 years ago compared to more recent times.

 

[LopezBart]

Out here, there are lots of long private driveways/roads. Almost everyone just leaves 'em gravel; every so many years you get more gravel; a box blade or land plane can help stretch out the time, as does taking it easy. We're going to confine our laying of rock to a patio, but my wife and I agree the shop comes first .

 

[Jazz1]

I bought my used pavers for .30 each…the guy just wanted them gone…after laying the 28’x 8’ patio i understood,,,not something i ever want to revisit…fortunately the ground had crusher fines the past 20 years so i had a solid level base

 

[andyvh1959]

Pavers are all about the base. You cannot overdo the base. But if you "under-do" the base it will be obvious in less than two years. The base, especially in anything in the snow/frost/ice belt must have at least an 8" base of compacted gravel (at minimum) on top of compacted subsoil. Then, about 2" of screeded sand atop the compacted base, then a layer of weed block fabric, then after setting the pavers, use a compactor on top of the pavers to set them into the screeded sand. Then use the right polymeric sand to broom into the pavers joints. If you don't use polymeric sand, as I found out, eventually the damn ants WILL dig through the sand and create their domains under the pavers, leaving little sand mounds atop the pavers. Over time the pavers will then sag into the cavities dug out by the ants. Also, weeds WILL grow into the regular sand between the pavers and then your maintenance changes to eliminating/pulling weeds, which leaves distrubed sand between the pavers, which invites the ants, which,...well you get the idea.

I do like the look of a paver driveway, carport or patio. But without all the extra work to do a proper base, it'll look like **** within five years.

LOTS more work up front to do it right the first time will avoid LOTS more work about three years after you laid the pavers.

But go to Europe, and many roads in the cities are some form of pavers or quartz cut stones set on a very stable base.

 

[Old Moparz]

Something to consider before you do any type of paving, whether it's asphalt, concrete or paver units, is the conditions of the ground below the pavement & whether you have water or poor soil conditions creating problems with the pavement. Not enough aggregate base underneath it, like others have said, is also an issue. There's a process called "Reclamation" where the existing asphalt is ground up & turned into new aggregate to be used as a base course. This works well except it may be prohibitive for you not knowing how much aggregate is under the existing asphalt. Also, if you are going to try to match adjacent sidewalks & garage aprons it'll be too high.

Also, don't ever use pavers from a home center that are designed for patios & walks. They are not strong enough for vehicles & will eventually crack & fall apart.

 

[pcmeiners]

"8-12’ really? That’s gonna be hard to compact! Ik you meant 8-12”!"

8-12' if the OP plans on launching Saturn missiles on the 4th of July.

 

[frankd]

While I can't comment on the base, I will agree with others on the maintenance. We have a 3-car wide paver driveway and the pavers run along the side of the house as well. Maintenance *****. Weeds are always growing out of the joints. The parts that don't get as much sun have moss growing on the joints, which I scrape out every year. If you have a snowblower you need special plastic skids to prevent from damaging the pavers. And now that the driveway is close to 10 years old, there are some sections that have sunk lower and need to be re-leveled.
When its time to replace the driveway, my wife and I already agreed that we're going asphalt with maybe a paver border.

...just some food for thought

 

[engineer2]

My brick guy says to use the minimal amount of sand you can get away with. 1/2 an inch and run a plate compactor over it.
Someone should come out with a polymeric sand that inhibits ants, black mold, and moss. I have to re-sand my patio about every 3 years.
The big annoyance I've heard with brick driveways is that hand snow shovelling is a PITA because you catch the edges of bricks.

 

[Youngandfree]

My brick guy says to use the minimal amount of sand you can get away with. 1/2 an inch and run a plate compactor over it.
Someone should come out with a polymeric sand that inhibits ants, black mold, and moss. I have to re-sand my patio about every 3 year.
The big annoyance I've heard with brick driveways is that hand snow shovelling is a PITA because you catch the edges of bricks.

You can also use a sealer to seal and lock it in.

 

[ive]

Hi all.

Sorry for the late reply. Been busy with work.

 

[ive]

You're going to need 8-12' of base layer more than likely. What part of Canada? HPB isn't a base layer. I'd do 3/4 or CA6 for a traditional base. You'll also want a driveway rated paver or they will crack.

Greater Toronto.

I didn’t know about ca6. This is the way to go?

 

[ive]

I'm curious; why do you want to replace the asphalt?

 

[ive]

I'm curious; why do you want to replace the asphalt??

I think pavers look nicer, hoping to add a little value to the curb side appeal of the place.

 

[ive]

Just opinion.
A paver driveway is the same as a log house.
Plan on never ending maintenance

Hah. Good point

 

[ive]

Gonna start pricing this all out over the next few days. Will be back with some numbers

 

[Firebrick43]

I have a customer with a gorgeous paver driveway, no weeds or waves.

His base is over a heavy geotextile and 12” of 3/4clean stone and a few inches of rock chips which is 1/4” which they call #12.

He used a ground sterilant spray every spring.

We drive a class 7 truck on it with no issues

He does live one the edge of a ravine and it’s sand/gravel soils there so drainage is not an issue

 

[Beemer]

Neighbors have them. A little winter frost movement, then snow plowing, and ouch.
Glad we have blacktop.

 

[nota4re]

I am actively getting quotes for an all-paver driveway as well. About 7,000 sq-ft. I had contemplated all concrete but I think the pavers will look SO much nicer. We already have ~8" of compacted road base acting as a temporary driveway and getting more and more compacted as we drive on it every day. To the OP - I think you need to consider smaller pavers. The smaller the pavers, the more load and abuse the driveway can take without cracking the pavers. Around here (SoCal) pavers come in 60 and 80mm thickness. From my discussions, the 60mm will work fine for a residential driveway but multiple vendors have cited the need to use a 4-stone-size pattern where the largest stone is ~12x12.

 

[rancherbill]

My first question is how many inches of base should I put down. Should I use hpb or 3/4 gravel?

-Where are you in Canada?
-Why has the asphalt failed - age, load, weather?
-Why hpb? I have sidewalk supervised several large brick instalations and they are using sand.

IMHO opinion, preparation, preparation preparation is the key to success.

 

[67carl]

@ive - any updates? Our concrete driveway has heaved from maple tree roots. Our plan is to remove the tree, roots and concrete, then have widen it (from 2 car tandem to 3 or 4 car). We get no snow, and maybe a few times a year the temp dips below freezing at night. We want to do pavers as well so I was searching the forums and found this one.

 

[ive]

@ive - any updates? Our concrete driveway has heaved from maple tree roots. Our plan is to remove the tree, roots and concrete, then have widen it (from 2 car tandem to 3 or 4 car). We get no snow, and maybe a few times a year the temp dips below freezing at night. We want to do pavers as well so I was searching the forums and found this one.

Hi,

Sorry for the late reply, been busy with work and life in general as we all are.

It’s still up in the air as for what we are going to do here, as we may be looking to move. If that happens I’ll pay for asphalt. Either way nothing this year.

Pavers do offer way nicer curb appeal imho. I was looking at a thicker paver, but not big lengthwise. It was 8x16x3. Like the guys said less chance of cracking and it would be easier for me to lay.

The experienced people here say so much is preparation. I come to this site because people here know what they are talking about. If I was to do pavers I would lean towards 12” of base. I understand your weather isn’t that severe but I’d rather err on the side of caution.

Like Andy said you can not over do the base.

Let us know how it goes.