Paving the driveway

[Jim Becker]

I can't imagine what 400 feet of asphalt driveway would cost. I got a price to pave the rest of my driveway when oil prices were lower around 2018 and it was $14,000!

It was done in 2018 and the cost was about $11K total. 'Was only going to do part originally, but the company cut me a big break when I agreed to do the whole thing. They will get my business here when I renew the driveway after all my building construction is done.

[Dick Strauss]

Slightly OT - property tax assessors used to use a valuation for homes with a paved driveway that was 20-40% higher for some reason. So, many people left their driveway unpaved to lower their property taxes.

[Jerome Stanek]

Where I live if you have a concrete drive all the way to the road you are assest taxes but if it stops 20 ft and then blacktop you aren't. If you have a full aspgalt you don't pay taxes on it

[Lawrence Duckworth]

slightly OT
The thing I've always liked about a newly paved asphalt road is there is still enough oil in it to do a huge Burn Out! The smell of burning rubber and oil is what we motor heads likes to huff.....

back in the day all the kool kids would huff may-j-wanna and airplane glue....us motor heads would stand behind the car and huff the burn-out

congratulation on the new driveway!

[Brian Elfert]

Some states have screwy property tax rules. In Minnesota we simply pay based on estimated market value minus a homestead exemption. No worries about what type of driveway, number of bedrooms, and all the other silly things that affect property taxes in other states.

[John K Jordan]

Slightly OT - property tax assessors used to use a valuation for homes with a paved driveway that was 20-40% higher for some reason. So, many people left their driveway unpaved to lower their property taxes.

Every property on our dead-end rural road had a paved driveway except for ours, the only farm. We’ll see if they increase the taxes. They did once and I contested it and they revised the assessment. The taxes didn’t increase when I added the new driveway, electric security gate, fencing, shop, other buildings, and major remodeling.

We are on the county forestry greenbelt program which cuts property taxes in about 1/2 so maybe that makes a difference. With a registered farm there’s also no sales tax for anything related to ag or forestry, including big equipment, which helps. And by country law no inspections or permits are required on ag property. On top of that the gov has paid me cash for certain improvements. We’ll see.

I’m not worried. If it get too expensive or too much work for aging retirees i could probably sell and buy a house on the lake or in the mountains. There are always people looking for a place with good horse facilities, especially one 8 minutes from grocery, drug stores, autoparts, gas stations, farm store. Maybe having a 24x62’ shop with heat and air would sweeten the deal for a prospective buyer.

[Tom M King]

The State has repaved our "driveway" several times since I let them take it over in 1986. It's a mile long, and runs about through the middle of our property. It goes to about 50 waterfront homes on the end, and another fifty down that road you see to the left. We have always called it our driveway from where it turns off River Road. There is almost no traffic on it. More people walk on it for exercise than cars travel it.

Little gravel strip to the right is to our mailbox. There is about 100' of gravel real driveway to the house, but it's bordered by some really large Oak trees, and I'm sure their roots would heave any pavement up every few years.

[Jim Koepke]

I forget how thick they laid the asphalt, but I know it was something over 2 inches.

Every jurisdiction; township, city, county or state may have different specifications. In the area where I used to reside the specification for asphalt on most through roads was 4" thick as measured by the width of a common 2X4.

jtk

[John K Jordan]

… included a 1/4 mile state spec road for access. … I forget how thick they laid the asphalt, but I know it was something over 2 inches.
…

I read that the prep under the asphalt was more important than the top coat of asphalt. Our contractor put 2” of asphalt over 2” of “pug” which was compacted over the existing gravel drive compacted by driving vehicles for 40 years and heavy trucks and equipment for longer than a dozen years in places. They told me a commercial installation uses different and thicker base material with the same top coat as the residential. Apparently putting in a new road over soil requires different prep.

I’ve done a lot of and enjoy the digging and shaping but never want to do any asphalt paving.

[Ronald Blue]

I never really considered asphalt because it isn't maintenance free. I had gravel before we did this a couple months ago. No it wasn't cheap. It is SO nice now though and no more plowing gravel into the grass either with snow removal. Yours looks great John.

[Brian Elfert]

I never do any maintenance on my asphalt driveway. All the sealer in a can really does is make the asphalt look blacker. It really doesn't do much to prolong the life of the asphalt. You need to a hire a company that installs a true sealer with a big machine if you want to extend the life of the driveway. One local company here does the driveway sealcoating, but with inflation and cost of oil they charge around $2,000.

My city requires homeowners to have their driveway paved if they pull a building permit other than basic stuff like siding or roofing. The city wants paved driveways so the edge of the street isn't undermined where a dirt/gravel driveway meets the street. I know from experience the city will compromise and not require the entire length to be paved if the driveway is long. I really wish I would have spent the extra $6,000 or so to do the whole driveway when I had the first 100 feet paved. The problem was I really didn't have the $6,000 and would have had to cut something else from my remodel budget to pay for it. It would probably cost double today eight years later.

[John K Jordan]

I... I really wish I would have spent the extra $6,000 or so to do the whole driveway when I had the first 100 feet paved. The problem was I really didn't have the $6,000 and would have had to cut something else from my remodel budget to pay for it. It would probably cost double today eight years later.

I mentioned we had a few 100 ft at the entrance and the circle drive at the house paved, dropped the middle for the cost. However, on her way out this morning the CEO told me this morning she might want the rest done sooner or later. Maybe have to skimp in foreign travel or something. Rats, and I was just about to buy a grapple for the tracked skid steer...

JKJ

[Ronald Blue]

The bottom line you're just making my point. Asphalt will need maintenance. Driveways will never be prepped and prepared at the level that a state or federal highway will be. So 2 in of asphalt is going to deteriorate over time. My concrete driveway will outlast me.

[Tom M King]

I read that the prep under the asphalt was more important than the top coat of asphalt. Our contractor put 2” of asphalt over 2” of “pug” which was compacted over the existing gravel drive compacted by driving vehicles for 40 years and heavy trucks and equipment for longer than a dozen years in places. They told me a commercial installation uses different and thicker base material with the same top coat as the residential. Apparently putting in a new road over soil requires different prep.

I’ve done a lot of and enjoy the digging and shaping but never want to do any asphalt paving.

The requirements were minimum of 8" of Road Base (crusher run). It was a clean cut down to red clay subsoil with no fill dirt. I bought two dumptrucks, hired retired log truck drivers, and did the spreading with my tractors. I sold the dump trucks for what I paid for them when we finished the job. The nearest rock quarry is a little less than 20 miles away. Stone was less than half the price that it is now.

The paving crew cut test holes with a state inspector watching them after they paved it. I didn't pay attention to the details because I knew the paving contractor, and trusted him. Both his girls were in our US Pony Club based out of our farm at the time.

[Jim Becker]

Looks very nice, Ron! (Just be careful about ice melt products as they can damage concrete as you likely already know)

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I'm with Brian around "sealers" on asphalt.