Driveway repair or complete redo - Recommendations

[Perplexed]

Good luck on your contractor search.
Your project (and even my HOA projects) are peanuts to their DOT projects. All the good contractors have multi-million dollar projects and are scheduled for years.

You'll likely be dealing with smaller contractors. Our success with contractors (price/quality) is a consistent challenge.

This! I searched for months for a small-time contractor to redo my 140-yard asphalt driveway, and no one wanted to bother with it. Finally found someone with a halfway decent reputation who did a chip-and-seal job (1/3 the cost of their all-asphalt quote) and it lasted about 5 years before starting to come apart.

 

[SoonerP226]

I dont want to have to deal with future repairs.

Unfortunately, that’s not an option, no matter what you do.

 

[-Pjackso]

Probably the cheapest option is to ripout the old road, put in 6" thick compacted rock base, and finish with chip and seal.

Reapply new additional layers of chip and seal every few years until its gotten to a decent thickness.

Chip and seal (oil+rock) isn't smooth like asphalt, but it's a good road surface. Drive country roads and you'll probably see it.

(FYI - rock is significantly cheaper then asphalt. Obviously)

 

[dennishoddy]

As for your potholes they make a product that comes in a 5 gal bucket or some put it in a bag that you can pour in and pack down to seal and fill the pot hole it works ok for lite traffic but not good for heavy. asphat millings work ok if you have a heavy roller to pack it in but over time it will wash out if you dont keep it sealed. And yes asphalt isnt cheap at one time it was about the same price as concrete i havent done a price comparison in several years so something you need to compare in your area with the price of concrete going out the roof these days. a properly laid gravel drive will last for years with very little maintance if properly maintaned

Exactly. Crusher run limestone hardens like concrete and works well on steep grades. It’s the only thing we can use on our hill that will actually stay in place.

 

[rawhide]

Pictures may be helpful. IIRC you acquired a tractor when you bought the property. If so, Pjackso’s made a good recommendation. Depending on the material currently on your driveway, a box blade can make a driveway look like new. I’ve used reclaimed asphalt on my 450’ driveway and prefer road rock. I don’t know what the current price is for new or reclaimed asphalt, but last I checked road rock is $480 a load, screenings around $400.

 

[Parks 788]

Probably the cheapest option is to ripout the old road, put in 6" thick compacted rock base, and finish with chip and seal.

Reapply new additional layers of chip and seal every few years until its gotten to a decent thickness.

Chip and seal (oil+rock) isn't smooth like asphalt, but it's a good road surface. Drive country roads and you'll probably see it.

(FYI - rock is significantly cheaper then asphalt. Obviously)

Thanks for all the replys, fellas. This is what I may end up doing. My biggest issue is time is not on my side. My work schedule is rediculous M-F and weekends I can pretty much do what I want but there is always a ton to do around the property. Prioritize I guess. I sure wish I had a box blade for my tractor and I could bring home a track skidsteer from work.

@Pjackso, are you saying if I remove the old chip and seal I should cut down about 6" and fill with rock and compact. Probably would be a good idea to put some geotextiles down under the rock. What size and type of rock would you use? THen what goes on top of the 6 layer of rock? I think I really need to prowel youtube for this type of intel. Appreciate your post. Thank you.

 

[dennishoddy]

We are needing to build a small new road as well and have been watching all the replies.
When leaving this winter in January for our winter trip in the RV, it had been below freezing for several days with a little snow.
The day we left it was 50 degrees with an 8% grade downhill on a bermuda lawn and cambered to the left.
Quickly found out the ground was still frozen with a 1/4" of slop on top that had melted.
The RV started jackknifing to the left. Got off the truck brake and started feathering the trailer brake trying to bring it back around with zero success. The Rv was headed sideways to a big tree that would fold it in half until hitting the throttle on the truck to outrun the jackknife.
Problem was there was a steel fence 200' ahead, but the approach downhill to the fence was graveled, the RV tires grabbed the gravel and after a couple of heart attacks, we got out of the driveway, shocked that the RV didn't turn over with the sharp turn.
Long story short, we are going to build a new road from where we park the RV to the main road so that crap doesn't happen again.

 

[SoonerP226]

This looks interesting...

 

[dennishoddy]

This looks interesting...

I've seen video's of folks removing about 12" of soil, laying tires in there and moving the gravel back and forth until it filled the tires, then adding another couple of inches.
Interesting concept for a short driveway.

 

[okietool]

When I was in Carlsbad, my company sprayed tree sap on caliche, it held up great until another company decided to blade the road. It smelled nice too.