Driveway repair or complete redo - Recommendations

[Parks 788]

Needing some recommendation to get some or all ov our driveway fixed. We have about 500' of "gravel" drive from the Hwy to our main house and shop building. I don't know much about the process but it almost looks like a chip/seal they did then spread a peagravel of some sort on top. I say this because we are getting some potholes and cracking in it. When I've pulled some of it up it looks like about an 1" thick of asphalt type material with a lot of gravel in it but the underside is almost like a shiny black asphalt look. About the same hardness as asphalt too.

Wife is wanting something done in the near'ish future. My thought is this stuff we have now looks like it'd be nearly impossible to repair properly and I don't have the time and knowledge to do this work. I'm leaning on ripping it all out and starting over with a different process. Wife is prefering all asphalt to the shop building to keep her vehicle cleaner. I dont want to have to deal with future repairs.

Ultimately, I'm wanting a recommendation on a quality company to come out and give advice and quote to get this done. Also, to give a full quote for our entire length of driveway to our small house that sits further back on our property an additional 600+ feet. Who would you recomment I call to get a quote? We live out in rural Bristow area north of I-44. Thanks.

 

[retrieverman]

I don’t know about up there, but asphalt is ridiculous down here. I got a quote of $24k to do my 350 yard driveway.

 

[Chief Sapulpa]

When I lived in rural Okmulgee County I had a 600’ driveway and every 2 years I’d add a layer of screenings. When wet it had a concrete like composition.
https://www.gravelshop.com/p/screenings-574.asp

 

[Oklahomabassin]

Pictures of what you have would help.
The county does a new chip seal on many roads every 5 years or so and it holds up well. Its cost efficient compared to asphalt.

 

[turkeyrun]

There is a guy in Duncan that hauls asphalt regrind, from grinding old roads. He charges $400 for a dump truck load (about 14 yards).

All he does is haul and dump. You have to do the spread. Once it gets packed and summer sun hits it, it is near solid as a road.

He may not haul that far, but there are several around the State. Working on every road.

Pretty cheap for a quality drive, if you can do it yourself.

 

[retrieverman]

There is a guy in Duncan that hauls asphalt regrind, from grinding old roads. He charges $400 for a dump truck load (about 14 yards).

All he does is haul and dump. You have to do the spread. Once it gets packed and summer sun hits it, it is near solid as a road.

He may not haul that far, but there are several around the State. Working on every road.

Pretty cheap for a quality drive, if you can do it yourself.

My current driveway is crushed asphalt, and it’s ok on level ground but doesn’t “compact” enough and washes on inclines. Mine was packed initially with a roller.

 

[dennishoddy]

There is a guy in Duncan that hauls asphalt regrind, from grinding old roads. He charges $400 for a dump truck load (about 14 yards).

All he does is haul and dump. You have to do the spread. Once it gets packed and summer sun hits it, it is near solid as a road.

He may not haul that far, but there are several around the State. Working on every road.

Pretty cheap for a quality drive, if you can do it yourself.

We used some recycled asphalt once. It does fine on level ground but will wash out on a steep grade like we have. In our situation anyway. Can’t speak for other’s experience.
Chip and seal seems to work really well.
When we moved to our current home, about 100 yards of the driveway was asphalt.
After 15 some years, it started crumbling from some of the heavy trucks that come to the house.
( delivery, utility company, etc)
I called the local company to skim over it with about 2” of asphalt that was $3 a foot at that time. Hate to think what it’s going to cost now as 25+ years later we are seeing crumbling around the edges again.

 

[rickm]

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

 

[-Pjackso]

It's important to know where to invest your money in road projects.

Roads fail because of insufficient road base. The base is the structural foundation. City road specs require 6" thick of road base.

I'd recommend planning on 4"-6" compacted rock base, followed by the road surface you like.

- Chip and seal is ideal because it's a thin overlay that can be reapplied in layers (when needed). It's cheap(er) upfront and 'more' can be added later.
- Asphalt minimum thickness is usually 2" thick. Asphalt by itself is not structural, and typically has a 25 year service life.
- Concrete is a good road surface. Concrete is more structural and can 'bridge' over bad areas. It costs a little more then asphalt, but concrete roads typically have a 50 year service life. (Think 20% more cost, but 100% longer service life)

I manage our HOA asphalt roads, and we repair in accordance with Norman city road specification. (Complete excavation of existing failed road section, then add 6" rock base + 6" asphalt surface) We consistently get bids at about $8-9/sq-ft at the low end of the quote range.

A driveway doesn't see the same traffic-loads as city-roads. So you could reduce the thickness some.
...If you have to cut-costs, I'd put more of the money into the base - and reduce the thickness of the road surface.

City of Norman road specification - see sheet 4 for residential streets:
https://www.normanok.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2020-09/Street Standards Optimized.pdf

 

[-Pjackso]

Further.....
I know you're just looking for a contractor recommendation to write them a check...
***BUT*** Contractors will give you bid to match your budget. Regardless of the quality road you'll own. (Read: They will lay asphalt on the mud if you sign the contract)
Therefore, know which part of the road project is critical - and which part can be minimized. You can only fix the base at one time.

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.

If the complete project price is too high, I'd recommend trying to contract the road repair in 50-100ft sections/year - and repair it correctly in small increments.

OR - If you have the time, you could possibly buy a tractor and do most of the excavation/road-base work. Your old road could be broken-up and used as some of the rock/road-base.
It'd be a long-term project, and a lot of time. Not fun stuff, so consider carefully.

Good luck!