What do you use for your driveway?

[3pedal]

I have a long driveway and large parking area between the house and garage. It is not practical to concrete or asphault. The previous owner liked to use basic road base to maintain the drvieway. Of course it gets muddy and I am already putting ruts in it and covering the vehicles with mud and such.

I need to put something else down. The first thought is driveway granite. I have seen adds about recyled asphalt. It is a lot cheaper, but I don't know anything about how it works. Will it be stickey in the heat in the middle of the summer?

What do you guys use or recommend? I have never had to maintain a driveway before.

 

[dirttracker18]

A question I have had for a while as well.

I will sit back and wait for the responses as well.

I hate how we track sand and dirt onto the deck and into the house from the driveway

 

[BrianC636]

We have about 300' of drive then the area in between the house and shop...

I concreted all of it. I didn't want to have to fool with the dirt/time/hassle/gravel.

 

[TerryH]

I also have long driveway off the cul-de-sac extening past the house to a parking area in front of my shop. I had gravel/base on it for many years. Finally broke down and got it done is asphalt a few years ago. I have it sealed every 2 years. Looks great and finally, finally, finally I don't have to deal with tracking in the gravel **** and mud into the shop and into the house. Cost me $10k but it was worth it and less than half what I was quoted for concrete. I think it will last forever as long as it's sealed and taken care of. Time will tell.

 

[FITO]

I posted up what I use in this thread.
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=95617

 

[3pedal]

Fito, I just read your thread - looks interesting. From what I saw, looks like I need to start with something other than crushed asphalt in the areas the truck makes ruts when wet.

The place I have talked to just spread dumps the asphalt, they don't grade or roll it.

 

[deter]

Did the PO build up a suitable base/sub-base to the drive? Or did they just dump some gravel on the dirt?

If you don't have a suitable base, then you're pretty much just ******* in the wind

 

[3pedal]

Did the PO build up a suitable base/sub-base to the drive? Or did they just dump some gravel on the dirt?

If you don't have a suitable base, then you're pretty much just ******* in the wind

For most of it the PO put in a good base. In them, I mostly just get very drity and track dirt/gravel into the garage and house. He only built up the areas that followed his driving pattern through. Mine appears to be different so I have some areas that need more help than others.

I'll try to get a picture or two this evening.

 

[nehog]

I have about 400 ft plus parking and approaches.

I have tried almost everything you can think of: big rock, gravel, reclaimed asphalt/stone mix, etc. The reclaimed asphalt was the best, but the bottom line is that nothing in the above list is all that good if you get snow. Plowing will scrape off whatever you put down, and you'll have to redo it every two or three years regardless. As well, whenever you plow you end up pushing the **** on the lawn and making one big mess that is a real PITA to clean up ever spring after the snow melts. Forget snowblowing--you will not have good results with anything that is loose: the snow blower doesn't know the difference between snow and what you have on the driveway.

Add to that you will need at least 12 inches depth if you want to avoid the issues with mud season. Any less and heavy vehicles (oil delivery, the UPS truck, etc.) will leave ruts and dents that will need to be repaired.

I finally got wise and used asphalt (two layer job) and I can tell you that it was one great investment. So from someone who's been there, and done it, pave...

 

[danfromsyr]

there is a DIY pavement solution, you still need some ground workign equipment
but you can rent small heavy equipment at the local rental or find/make a new friend with a tractor and roller.

http://www.polypavement.com/

 

[NUTTSGT]

Other than the old *** asphalt, our driveway is crushed limestone. There is a quarry close by, so I can more stone any time I need it. I generally add about a ton every year or two.

 

[Bricen18]

My 75' drive was mostly rutted up grass when i moved in. I put a few truck loads of #3 limestone down in the soft spots and then a few loads of #2 limestone. Then i was able to get a few loads of asphalt millings which pack down pretty good. I havent had any problems yet and this is the 2nd or 3rd winter with that set up.

As for snow blowing just adjust the shoes and scraper blade so you wont dig into the driveway material. Works for me.

For you're driveway id say if you have the equipment dig up the spoft spots, and put down some big stuff and then top it off with smaller stone or the asphalt millings. If you dont have the equipment just put it on top but expect it to settle a little.

 

[Jimi]

This is great info. I'm about to put in a driveway to my new garage and it'll be almost 700'. Another 300' circle around it too. This is very helpful. (FITO's thread too.)

 

[Falcon67]

there is a DIY pavement solution, you still need some ground workign equipment
but you can rent small heavy equipment at the local rental or find/make a new friend with a tractor and roller.

http://www.polypavement.com/

Had an interest in this for about 5 minutes until I had some Google results. Just sayin'

 

[Always_Thinkin]

What ever you do start with a good base. Dig out the ruts until you hit a firm bottom place crushed stone and tamp each lift for compaction. Also I would use a woven geotextile for any new driveway sections. Most cement batch plants where I buy my driveway stone calls it driveway mat. The mat looks like black landscape mat but comes in a 12 foot wide roll. The mat allows you to distribute the load of a vehicle tire over a larger area and not sink the rock into the mud. Another secret to using crushed stone for a driveway is to have good drainge for the driving surface. Have a slight crown in the center of the driveway and build the driveway slightly higher than the yard. People can use crushed stone for driveways if it is built properly. Let me know if you have any more questions.

 

[bczygan]

Besides a good base and sub-base, consider drainage on and around the paving.

 

[BrianC636]

Sorry, Been busy and forgot to post these.

Should have all of it done today and hopefully covered with insulated tarps before the snow gets here.

 

[Abj87]

Mud with a little gravel mixed in for good measure.

 

[BrianC636]

Mud with a little gravel mixed in for good measure.

LOL...pretty much. They cut everything down and put a few inches of 5/8" clean base down then wire and rebar.

I used 4000 PSI for everything they poured. So far it's turned out pretty nice. I need to seal the last portion of it that they poured yesterday and hopefully today.

 

[Jsf721]

I recently removed the front lawn and installed pavers. With the addition of a new driver in the house and another vehicle it made life easier. Plus the basketball court not longer is against the house.

Pavers have been great so far. I have them in for about 1.5 years.

 

[3pedal]

Here is what I have now.

I got a couple pictures of where I am making ruts I need to upload.

 

[DIC]

There was a place here that shredded roofing shingles in to about 3/8 strips and put it out for driveways. After a while it was almost like asphalt

 

[BrianC636]

There was a place here that shredded roofing shingles in to about 3/8 strips and put it out for driveways. After a while it was almost like asphalt

I've heard of that. If I remember correctly, it worked pretty well too.

 

[Ft.ValloniaStreaker]

Ok, this is where people will start sayin I'm nuts.........get out that Old Farmers Almanac. I know some will shake their heads, but put your gravel down in the light of the moon. I put down 120 tons of No.2's 25 years ago, and I'd give $100 for every 5 gal. bucket of those s.o.b.s you could find now! One week later and 1/2 mile down the road my B.I.L. done the same thing and to this day I get pissed off every time I pull in his driveway......it made a believer out of me.

 

[BrianC636]

Here is what I have now.


I got a couple pictures of where I am making ruts I need to upload.

Getting the initial part of it done in concrete would be the most expensive part but the drive/road part wouldn't be terrible.

I've been spending about 1500-1700 bucks for 12' wide and 50' long at a time for concrete.

For our 280' section we did, it's going to cost around $8500.00. Asphalt was going to be about $7k.

 

[csp]

Get what you have now graded to have a crown for drainage and put down recycled aspalt. It works great in CO.

As far as snow goes, unless it's really deep the sun we get here will melt it quick because of the black color. It's not like back east or the midwest where snow stays for months on end. I plow mine with a blade on my tractor and with practice you can keep the blade just above the gravel. Same thing with the 3-pt snowblower on the really deep snows. We had 4-5 ft drifts two weeks ago and I didn't pull up anything but snow with the blower.

We have 350ft of driveway of our own in addition to 1/2 mile of private road of this stuff.

 

[Zeke]

Many years ago I had a brief relationship with Talladega International Raceway (now called Talladega Superspeedway). Good ol' Alabama red soil that would probably make bricks. For the areas not paved and where they needed roads, the used crushed granite.

Crushed or chipped granite has sharp edges compared to pea gravel. It locks together when compacted yet it drains really well. I saw many heavy trucks including NASCAR haulers drive on that stuff when 4WD off road trucks were up to their hubs just a few feet away and off that road.

I've never seen the stuff for sale in CA, but if I could get some, I'd use it. This is not anything like decomposed granite and I think limestone would turn to dust.

 

[mikester]

Do they have RCA (Recycled Concrete Aggregate) in your area ? Ive seen it used out here and it seems to work well.

 

[dbabicky]

I have over a 1/4 mile long driveway and I use nothing but lime-rock, (crushed limestone,3/4 crushed). You put it down about 3-4 inches thick, let it get rained on or soak it down, **** gets damn near hard as concrete. Like said earlier, if you have to plow snow on it, just set your shoes up about 3/4-1 inch and never a problem. The stuff lasted about 15-20 yrs then I just had another 100 yds brought in last summer. I love it for a driveway. Here the stuff is only about $10.00-$11.00 a yard.

 

[holdover]

My drive is 400+ long, when I built the house in 1977 I put down about 50 ton of #57 gravel. over the years I have added about another 50 ton. When I built it I worked in drainage. Cement trucks, UPS, oil delivery etc are not a problem. When I plow snow I just keep the blade up an inch or two, some gravel get on the grass, but not much. For the cost compared to asphalt or concrete I would do it the same. todays cost of 16 ton of gravel delivered here is 235.00.... BUT that cement drive way sure looks good!

 

[Doug B]

I used asphalt millings that came off a local road. Put down fabric and then about 3" of millings.The plan was to let this 'base' settle for a winter and the top with another load the following year. But good old New York State outlawed the sale of millings...it now has to go back to the blacktop plant for recycling. I'm still looking for a contractor who might sell me a load on the side or something..

 

[skyking]

Nothing beats the beauty and durability of concrete. You can see that in Brians build. If you can at all afford it , you will always be happy you went that way.

 

[2012 LML]

I use millings. Use them on everything from my house driveway, leading up to the concrete, to commercial applications.

Locally, I have a really good box blade man who also has a smaller vibratory roller. Truck dumps the millings, he levels it off, rolls, repeats. After a coupld rains and some heat it might as well have been hot asphalt laid.

 

[BrianC636]

Finshed up the driveway yesterday and I got it sealed last night while the sun was up.

We are supposed to get snow today so I put some insulated tarps over it this morning to keep it from freezing.

 

[NUTTSGT]

I've never seen the stuff for sale in CA, but if I could get some, I'd use it. This is not anything like decomposed granite and I think limestone would turn to dust.

Limestone does turn to dust over a period of time which does require some periodic maintenance. As it turns to dust, it generally packs tighter and tighter as you drive on it. The down side is, you need to take care of any potholes or they just grow.


I try to get a trailer full every year or so, maybe a ton, 1 1/4 ton. I believe the price just went up (thanks oil prices/raising electric rates) to about $11/ton. For the longest time it hovered around $5-7/ton which makes it cheap and great when you can go directly to the quarry and get your own.

 

[xtremek]

For my app, asphault or concrete would be outrageous(1000+ ft). When the wife had the place built, they scraped off the top soil and dumped in road gravel. No maintenance for the last 15+years and now we can park her Exploder in the holes and some of them are over 10" deep. Also, the driveway is lower than surrounding landscape. In the past(2 gravel driveways), I dug up the top soil and laid in 3"-8" stone/broken block/bricks and then put in road gravel. It was always solid. This time around, I'm starting the same way, 3"-8" chunks of whatever I can find (but just in the holes), but I plan on topping it off with asphault millings. My Dad has this now and he loves it better than anything else he's had in the past (3 gravel driveways). He doesn't complain of it being sticky. I'm told that the limestone gets a thin film of soup on it when it rains (but stays very solid). Pea gravel is a pain to walk and drive on, always shifting. Sloping/crowning the driveway and the surrounding landscape will help reduce the mud even when it's wet.

 

[3pedal]

Finshed up the driveway yesterday and I got it sealed last night while the sun was up.

We are supposed to get snow today so I put some insulated tarps over it this morning to keep it from freezing.

Looks nice. Wish I could afford to hard surface the whole drive, but for now it isn't going to happen.

 

[BrianC636]

Looks nice. Wish I could afford to hard surface the whole drive, but for now it isn't going to happen.

It was a tough pill to swallow for us. Asphalt up front was cheaper but for about 3000 more we got concrete.

My concrete guy worked with on the labor and costs of goods by letting me buy most of it myself. He helped get the price of concrete down for me also.

I think total we have around $16,000 in our driveway which includes everything out in front of the shop and house. I want to say it was about 90 yards of concrete for everything.

 

[xtremek]

It was a tough pill to swallow for us. Asphalt up front was cheaper but for about 3000 more we got concrete.

My concrete guy worked with on the labor and costs of goods by letting me buy most of it myself. He helped get the price of concrete down for me also.

I think total we have around $16,000 in our driveway which includes everything out in front of the shop and house. I want to say it was about 90 yards of concrete for everything.

For me, that would probably mean about $50k with a 10% volume discount

 

[BrianC636]

I got a quote on asphalt originally for 1000' since I wasn't sure how everything was going to lay out, just under 20K for everything.