Driveway repair

[steppinthrax]

So I'm blessed with a 5K sq foot driveway. I have around a acre of land and most of it is in the front. The driveway is long and has a side section to park other vehicles. The driveway is from 86 and looks faded and tired. In the front area where the hosue is there are several cracks (almost like a cracked mud dessert), where if you try hard enough you can actually take out chunks of the driveway. The road portion of the driveway is in OK condition (just faded, almost no cracks).

The guy is quoting me $8,500 to redo it ($1.70 a sq foot).

I'm thinking I could buy several bags of asphalt repair and rent a compactor and go over several of the potholes and cracked areas with asphalt, then seal it?

Have you guys have experience with using the cold asphalt repair??? Also the sealers seem to be realy good? almost like a ruberized compound that fills in cracks and everything????

 

[mizzou]

If you have an asphalt driveway that looks tired and worn, you can reseal it, but it will probably only look OK for a season or two then you are back into it.

If you want to be a bit more gung ho, clean out the big cracks and refill them with patch repair or an asphalt compound, then pound it in, and then reseal.

If you want to be a pro, have them rip the entire thing out and start from scratch.

Me, I'm poor, so I just reseal w/ 1-2 buckets and a squeegee. Looks fine.

 

[steppinthrax]

If you have an asphalt driveway that looks tired and worn, you can reseal it, but it will probably only look OK for a season or two then you are back into it.

If you want to be a bit more gung ho, clean out the big cracks and refill them with patch repair or an asphalt compound, then pound it in, and then reseal.

If you want to be a pro, have them rip the entire thing out and start from scratch.

Me, I'm poor, so I just reseal w/ 1-2 buckets and a squeegee. Looks fine.

I have the money, but Jesus the last thing I want to sink 9K is in the driveway, when I need to do the kitchen rehab and landscaping????

 

[dmcowen674]

If you do cold asphalt you may as well just burn whatever money you were going to spend in a marsh-mellow pit fire.

 

[richardycc]

you need to hire a pro that does hot pour crack filler and then might as well hire that same person to do the sealing.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

I've never done major repairs. I just do the small cracks every year and reseal the entire driveway about every 3rd year and it stays in good condition. The buckets of refinishing tar you get from Home Depot for about $20 are not a long term solution. They don't last all that long, but as long as you're willing to redo things every few years they'll be fine. If you have major damage or want something that's going to last longer you'll be better off letting the professionals do it.

Maybe split the difference? Get the pros to do the small section where it's chunk-ing away, then do the routine maintenance yourself.

 

[weadjust]

The cold stuff in bags from Lowe's will fill a pot hole but it doesn't work well and is expensive. $13.98 per 50lb bag.

I have a rental property with an asphalt driveway that I have to patch occasionally. I call the local hot mix plant to schedule a pick up of a ton. They drop it on my 5 x 8 trailer. Last time I bought a ton (5 or 6 years ago) it was less than $40. Then I just shovel in on to the driveway. Smooth it out with a rake and drive over it a couple of times with my truck to compact it. Your rake and shovel will only be good for doing asphalt work after that cause that stuff isn't coming off.

 

[Dead3ye]

Cold patch is just a temporary fix till you come back and fix it permanently. Money wasted IMHO.

$8500 doesn't sound bad especially with the price of oil right now. I did mine last year for $8800 and my lane is about 7500 sqft.