[Greg Reid]

I'm tired of the gravel and dust wearing out carpet and constantly depositing dirt and dust throughout my house, garage and cars.
This is pretty much what I'm dealing with. A gravel/dirt roundabout with a concrete slab in front of the garage that butts up to the gravel.







I'd be satisfied just to get the roundabout paved. The entire drive is about 100 yards to the street.....so that's out.
Don't know if I can afford it done right but I'd rather leave it as it is than to get scammed by a lowball price from a grifter....

Tell me what I need to know to be an informed consumer....

Another view-

[chrisinestes]

Finding a reputable paving Co. can be tricky. I can't really tell you how to do that where you are.

A couple pieces of advice for the actual paving job... Make sure it's as thick as you're paying for. Around here, private driveways are usually good with a real 2 inches... light use commercial 3" is usually good. It's not uncommon for the 2 inches you pay for to get a little thin if you're not there watching.

Have your work done as early in the day as possible. The more the day passes, the colder the asphalt gets, and that means lower quality work. Also, if they show up at the end of the day and start paving, and run out, you get an ugly looking seam when they come back the next day to finish.

A friend of mine had his dirt drive covered with ground recycled asphalt. After a summer, it was really pretty hard, not loose like gravel. Check in to that, too. It's quite a bit cheaper

[salem1912]

Most of that loose stone you have now would need to come up and replaced with modified stone base.

[Greg Reid]

Ok, sounds like I need to wait until Summer first of all for the hot temps and the long days.
Secondly, sounds like it may be a deal killer if I have to have the gravel removed. That's 25 years worth down there and I'm sure it's a foot deep.
I had a guy come by the house 6 or 7 years ago and he was ready to go but I wasn't. He did not mention having to remove anything..but maybe he was conning me.
I'm going to look into the recycled asphalt. Sounds intriguing.

[chrisinestes]

Whichever way you go, you have to have the ground prepped right. Otherwise you're wasting your money. In Colorado, Gov't spec for paving temp is 40*F and rising. I'd think you being in GA, there wouldn't be many days they couldn't pave.

[Greg Reid]

Ok, thanks for the info guys. I'll check with some of the locals for a reputable outfit. Maybe have them come out and look it over.

[Jeff Hamlin]

http://www.asphaltpavement.org/index...120&Itemid=267

[The Boss]

I would think a foot of compacted gravel that's had years to settle would be the best base for a driveway, but I could be wrong.

They'll come in and grade it out for you, and possibly remove any of the loose material but otherwise compact it into the base. Unless you're going to have construction equipment rolling through there or heavy dump trucks rolling over it you will be fine with a 3" spread compacted to 2" driveway. I would also recommend you pave it now and let it season for several months before you start turning your tires on it in the hot sun.

[Greg Reid]

Thanks for the link Jeff. I haven't had a chance to read it yet but looks like just what I need to educate myself some.

I would think a foot of compacted gravel that's had years to settle would be the best base for a driveway, but I could be wrong.

That's kinda what I was thinking too...The ground here in this part of Georgia is super hard as well. I mean after all.... they make red bricks out of this stuff.
I would expect them to have to do a little grading up front but hopefully, nothing major.

[GT182]

Greg, you can always use the gravel they removve someplace else.... or stockpile it to sell. People are always looking for fill.

If you're going to have vehicles parked on it and not moving for a while, you need a thicker base. Up north we had a gravel driveway all year except in the spring when it was mud. One outfit came to give a price and said all we need was a 1" topcoat job. Wrong... don't let anyone try and sell you a job like that. A company on the Indian reservation did ours, and did it the right way. They took out a good foot of gravel and all the large stones that could work their way up thru and ri=uin the blacktop. Then they came in with crusher run for a base. Then they put in a good 3" blacktop base with a 1-1/2" top coat. Cost us 2400.00 for a driveway 20 feet wide by 65 feet long. And that was done back in 1997.... prices are more costly these day.

I'm not trying to scare you on the price, but you will pay for a good job that will be done right and last for a long time.

A better option would be a cement driveway. We have that here and boy it's nice to be able to walk barefoot on it in the summer where you couldn't if it was blacktop. Down there you guys would burn your feet raw with blacktop, just like they do up here.

[PonchoV8]

Yeah, I'd do a concrete pad and add stain in the mix--maybe like this place.
Or maybe stain it so motor oil doesn't stand out.
You're retired, now? Too bad you let your free labor enlist.

[GT182]

That's nice Doug. Where'd ya steal it from? LOL

[Greg Reid]

Oh, I'd love concrete...No doubt about it.... but I KNOW that's too expensive. I had a guy come out and talk to me about that 15 years ago and it was into 5 digits.
I'm looking at a budget of around 3K. If I can get it for that, I'd do it.
Yep....free labor is gone..lol

[PonchoV8]

It's a house along a project I worked on, Gary. Very nice, and simple. I don't like just plain old gray concrete. It's just a border and makes all the difference.

Greg, your budget doesn't sound out of place at all for that area. I'd go with the advice of thicker than 2".

[Greg Reid]

Thick as I can get it. I know material costs are up all over but I also know that revenue is down. I think I can find somebody that wants my money. I just want to make sure they're competent.

[rexs73gto]

Your comment about waiting until summer , thats correct!!!!!!! Wait until it's the hotest day you can get them to do it, as it will lay much better. Also make sure it's in the contract that you are getting at min. 3" of base & 2"s of top cover. If not you won't get a good looking driveway. Depending on what you want to do with your drive has a lot to do with it also. You can't jack a car up on black top without takeing some sort of percautions. You'll need to put down some wood to put the jsck on instead of the blacktop to distrubit the load or it will sink right through it. If your going to be jacking up on it you'll need cement. If your just doing it to keep all clean & for a good drive then the blacktop is ok. If you can find someone to do your job make sure it is in WRITING excatly what there going to do . Remember the higest & the lowest are not always the best & the worst company to use either. Go see some of there work before you sign. That way if you want to look at there work before you sign they can't pressure you into signing. Don't just look at pics. Anyone can take a pic of a driveway. It may or may not be one they did. Knock on the door of the house they did to confirm that it is there work, & ask how there work was for those people. Make sure you know & is in wrting when it's going to be done on a certian day. But the biggest thing about the work is GET IT IN WRITING.

[Jeff Hamlin]

It can be colored...
http://www.richardspaving.com/color_asphalt.html

[Cammer-6]

we are redoing our private road,driveways and my garage apron with asphalt millings in lieu of the concrete washout material we have used in past.
We found a contractor that was redoing a county road about a mile away to haul some in at $250 a load with us spreading.So far we are at 40 loads on road and several more on my garage apron and driveway.Im wishing for a good rain right now so we can compact and final grade.I agree that you need to remove some of the gravel if you dont want it higher than the concrete.One of my neighbors had his driveway paved in asphalt and it was $5k for about 150'x10ft wide.

[Greg Reid]

Thanks...good info. I'm not concerned about coloring it but interesting nonetheless.
I found an online calculator that gave me an estimate of about $4000 in this area. Of course, it's just an estimate but it's in the ballpark.
http://www.buildingjournal.com/aspha...stimating.html

[PonchoV8]

For how big of an area is that $4000?