What Kind Of Company Repairs Gravel Driveways

Driveways aren't just for cars. Many of the 75 million driveways in the U.S. do double duty equally play areas and user-friendly workspaces for all kinds of projects. Simply an increasing number of driveways are showing their historic period: cracks, heaving, spalling and other signs of distress. Many of these surfaces can be renewed with the procedures while others must be replaced.

Although xc per centum of driveways in the United States are either cobblestone or concrete, there are a number of other options including crushed stone, gravel, cobblestone, and interlocking physical pavers in a variety of patterns. Prices range from $ane per square foot for rock and gravel to $13 or more than for asphalt paving.

To brand your determination easier, we'll lay out the pros and cons as well as costs for each of the four major driveway materials, and include a few of our own recommendations. But first, nosotros'll detail repair methods for concrete and asphalt to help yous make the driveway (and basketball game courtroom/outdoor workshop) last as long every bit possible.

Tips for Concrete Driveway Repair

Even if your driveway is an expanse of puddles and potholes, it pays to explore repairing it outset, DIY. It's a elementary matter of dollars. For instance, an asphalt topcoat costs about $2 per square foot - roughly a third of the tab for a complete driveway redo that includes soil prep, gravel, and two coats of asphalt.

Repairing a Crumbling Driveway

If your driveway is crumbling or has heaved or subsided in a major way, then your all-time pick is to replace it. The same applies if information technology's allowing water to seep into the subsoil around your dwelling. But frequently the problem is just cracks, which permit in h2o that erodes the driveway base of operations and allows freezing temperatures to do further harm.

Fixing Driveway Cracks

Nigh any size crevice tin can exist patched with physical or cold-patch asphalt, depending on your driveway type, or with some very effective specialty materials.

Clean small-scale cracks and holes of plants and debris, then hose them clean and spray them with weed killer. Effective patching products for cracks up to 3/8 in. wide include UGL's Masonry Crevice Filler ($3 a tube), Ardex's A-300 ($47 for a large bag) and Quikrete's Concrete Crevice Sealer ($6.50 a quart). For holes or cracks larger than 3/8 in., utilise either Concrete Repair ($ii.l per quart) or Vinyl Physical Patcher ($4.l per one-half gallon), both from Quikrete. Or, you can only mix physical and apply it with a trowel.

Repairing Large Holes in Your Driveway

To set large holes and deep cracks, fill them with gravel to inside four in. of the surface, cascade in concrete, tamp with a magnesium bladder and finish with a flat trowel or broom to match the existing terminate. However, the larger the patch, the shorter its longevity—wintertime freeze/thaw cycles that exert pressure of 30,000 psi can make curt work of large repairs.

After patching, remove whatsoever spots with a specialty cleaner, such equally Quikrete's Concrete and Asphalt Cleaner ($4.50 a quart). And then seal the repair to keep water out. UGL'southward Concrete Sealer ($13 a gallon, which treats 400 sq. ft.) is an affordable option. The home-mash version: a 50-50 mix of linseed oil and mineral spirits. Simply keep in heed this sealer darkens the concrete.

Tips for Asphalt Driveway Repair

Every bit with physical, clean cracks of plants and droppings, hose them make clean and spray them with weed killer. Then do your patching when temperatures are at to the lowest degree 60°F so the repair material will cure. Fill up 1/2-in. cracks with sand to inside 1/4 in. of the surface, then add together an asphalt filler, such as Quikrete's Blacktop Repair ($2 a quart) or UGL's Driveway Cleft Filler ($iii a tube). An alternative is Dalton's Pli-Stix, a rope-similar crack and joint sealer yous melt in place with a torch.

For holes 1 to 2 in. wide, use Dalton's Tamp & Set Patch ($ix for 3 i/two gal.) or Trowel & Spread Patch ($half dozen per gallon). You can also mix sand and blacktop sealer until stiff and utilize information technology with a trowel. Wear gloves and use mineral spirits for cleanup.

For deeper holes, pour in gravel to within 4 in. of the surface, and then trowel in Dalton's Super Patch ($vii per gallon). Or, shovel in cold-patch asphalt in 1-in. layers, packing each firmly as you go with the finish of a 4X4 or the head of the sledgehammer.

Finish by sealing your asphalt driveway after patching and every other twelvemonth thereafter. A five-gal. pail of sealer ($9 to $16) will encompass around 300 sq. ft.

What to Know About Replacing a Driveway

Large areas of concrete can't exist resurfaced reliably, so your contractor volition have to interruption up the old slab and pour a new i.

For asphalt, the contractor tin can simply apply a base of operations and end coat over the existing asphalt. All cracks should exist treated with weed killer and filled, and the driveway should be graded if it's not draining properly. The surface layer of asphalt should be a consistent i 1/two in. throughout - which could require some excavation around door openings and garage thresholds.

Hiring a Pro

As with all professional work, a new driveway is equally proficient as the contractor who puts it in. Bank check with your neighbors who take had driveway work washed. You can also find a qualified pro through a local masonry or cobblestone supply firm. Or check the yellow pages nether "Paving Contractors" and "Asphalt and Cobblestone Products." Then enquire to audit driveways they completed four or five years ago to meet how they held up. Look for cracking and heaving, which signal poor soil grooming or drainage.

Once you've chosen a pro, be sure the contract guarantees the work for at least two years. Information technology should also stipulate a payment schedule with no more than than a tertiary of the total up front and a clause ensuring that your lawn will exist restored to pre-construction condition. The contract should also include:

For a new cobblestone or concrete driveway installed where none existed, a compacted gravel layer 8 to 10 in. deep of 3/four-minus gravel (no stone is bigger than 3/4 in.). If the soil is unstable, a netlike geotextile fabric may be required beneath the gravel, as may bleed tile - four-in. perforated pipe that drains the perimeter of the driveway.
For any physical driveway, a slab (at least 5 in. thick) made of iv,000-psi, air-entrained concrete that'south reinforced with wire mesh or rebar; the slab should be thicker if yous have heavy vehicles. In cold climates where road salt is used extensively, some contractors, concerned it will corrode in the concrete over time and create voids that lead to fracturing, omit the steel reinforcing.
For new and existing cobblestone, 2 layers: The first should exist a 2 1/ii-in. base layer of asphalt containing 1/ii to 3/4 in. of stone, the second a 1 i/2-in. topcoat containing 3/eight in. of stone. Full cobblestone depth should be at least three 1/two in. - thicker if you have heavy vehicles.

Driveway Surface Options

Physical driveways

A concrete driveway leading up to a detached garage.

What's out there: Choices include apparently concrete; concrete colored with pigments or acid-staining; colored and stamped concrete that mimics stone; and exposed aggregate that allows the top layer of textured gravel to show through.
Pros: Long-lasting. Depending on the weather, exposure to road table salt and subsoil preparation, concrete should last at least 15 years and frequently more than 50 years with biannual sealing and proper drainage. Precise edge treatments are a snap; its smoothen surface is platonic for basketball and makes snowfall removal easy.
Cons: You'll take to wait seven days for the physical to cure earlier driving on information technology. Groovy is inevitable—specially in freeze/thaw conditions—and repairs stand out. Concrete can't be re-layered like cobblestone, and should be sealed every two years. The finish tin vary widely depending on the installer. Oil stains are tough to remove, colored concrete fades over time. Because concrete cracks when non supported, poor drainage and unstable soil can reduce life span to just v to viii years.
Cost: $iii to $four per foursquare foot for a patently concrete slab and $5 for pigmented concrete, $7 for exposed aggregate and $8 for an acrid-etched finish. If you lot're putting in a driveway where none existed, add $1 to $2.50 per square foot for an 8- to 10-in. gravel bed beneath the concrete.
Recommendations: Be certain any bedding or gravel base, including a pulverized slab, is compacted and the ground well-drained. A new gravel base should be iii/4-minus gravel and eight to ten in. deep. After the concrete is poured, to prevent cracking, employ a sprinkler to keep physical moist equally it cures.

Asphalt driveways

A newly installed asphalt driveway, wet with rain.

What's out there: Choices include apparently hot-mix asphalt; chip seal with gravel pressed in for texture; pattern-stamped asphalt; and acrylic polymer colors.
Pros: Resists cracks, because it flexes with minor ground movement. Cobblestone is easy to contour, and usually lasts 15 to 20 years when properly maintained. Topcoats can often be applied over existing layers.
Cons: Getting straight, clean edges is hard. Cobblestone can deteriorate in equally little as five years without proper drainage, and should be resealed every ii years. Burdock and other plants tin grow through information technology, breaking it up.
Price: Prices vary considerably by region. Figure on $ane to $2.50 per foursquare foot for the base coat. Geotextile and drains cost actress. And so add $1 to $2.50 per foursquare foot for a plain topcoat, about $3.50 for chip seal or $three to $5 for a stamped or colored topcoat. If y'all're putting in a driveway where none existed, add $i to $2.50 per square foot for an 8- to 10-in. gravel layer below the asphalt.
Recommendations: Remember that an asphalt topcoat is only as good every bit the base and lasts longest with proper drainage. Accept a soil sterilizer practical beneath a new gravel layer to impale weeds. And apply a latex sealer every two years to continue out water and improve appearance.

Crushed rock and gravel driveways

A victorian house with a stone gravel driveway.

What'southward out in that location: Choices include crushed shale, granite, limestone and concrete, forth with gravel in various sizes and colors.
Pros: Both stone and gravel are economical and both offering good freeze/thaw resistance. No base is required—just dump and spread. And when stone or gravel compacts or scatters, adding a fill coat of pea gravel, called redressing, is easy.
Cons: Rock and gravel scatter hands and develop ruts. Likewise, smaller stones, or fines, tend to sink after four or v years, leaving larger stones on superlative. Periodic redressing is a necessity. Both materials are difficult to turn or shovel in snowfall climates, and adjoining areas typically require a spring raking.
Cost: Crushed rock and gravel costs around $1 per foursquare foot for a 2-in. layer.
Recommendations: When a fill coat of pea gravel is necessary to fill in ruts, be certain to redress the unabridged driveway for consistency since stone size and color can vary depending on the source. For new gravel driveways, use iii/4-minus rock for stability. Depth required ranges from one ane/ii in. for stable soil to 6 to 8 in. for unstable soil.

Pavers and cobblestone driveways

What's out in that location: Pavers come in a broad range of shapes and patterns, from unusual ones like trefoil and anvil to common designs like bow tie, keyhole and hexagon. Asphalt, or Belgian block, is more traditional and comes only in a rectangular shape.
Pros: Lots of choices for pavers. Cobblestones hands concluding 100 years, pavers somewhat less depending on soil preparation and drainage. Stained and broken pavers are easy to replace, as are private cobblestones.
Although cobblestones tend to trap ice and snow, removing both is easy with pavers if they're properly installed.
Cons: Pavers are relatively expensive, and asphalt tops the cost spectrum. Installation requires careful excavating and preparation. Pavers and cobblestones tin can settle unevenly if sand layer over gravel base compacts, while the wide joints between cobblestones invite weeds and grass.
Cost: From 50 cents to $1.50 each for pavers, or $half dozen to $10 per square human foot installed with bed training depending on the intricacy of the design. For cobblestone, figure on almost $thirteen per foursquare foot.
Recommendations: Visit a four-year-old chore and check for settling earlier hiring a contractor. Exist wary of landscapers installing pavers or cobblestones as a sideline—specialized skills are required. Remember that these surfaces are only as good every bit the compacted sand and crushed rock they're laid on. Insist on compacted subsoil, a 10-in. layer of 3/four-minus gravel and a ane 1/two-in. layer of coarse bedding sand with compaction between layers. Cobblestones are laid upwards like brick, but pavers require a plastic retaining edge. The master supplier is Pave Edge ($2 per human foot).

Where to Discover it:

Ardex Inc.
1155 Stoops Ferry Rd., Dept. TH998
Coraopolis, PA 15108
888-512-7339

Dalton Enterprises
131 Willow St., Dept. TH998
Cheshire, CT 06410
800-851-5606

Increte Systems
8509 Sunstate St., Dept. TH998
Tampa, FL 33634
800-752-4626

Interlocking Physical Pavement Plant: Offers how-to installation guide for pavers
1444 I St. NW, Suite 700, Dept. TH998
Washington, DC 20005-2210
703-450-4998

Pave Tech Inc.: Offers how-to installation guide for pavers, and sells a full range of equipment
P.O. Box 31126, Dept. TH998
Bloomington, MN 55431
800/728-3832

Thompson'due south Co.
Box 647, Dept. TH998
Olive Branch, MS 38654
800-367-6297

Quikrete
2987 Clairmont Rd., Suite 500, Dept. TH998
Atlanta, GA 30329
800-282-5828

United Gilsonite Laboratories
Box 70, Dept. TH998
Scranton, PA 18501-0070
800-845-5227