Bricks, Masonry, Asphalt and Concrete - Asphalt Paving of driveway

Hi All,

I want to tear out my existing concrete driveway and pave with asphalt.

Its about 1000 sq ft with a french drain at the end near the garage. I live in Canada where its mild in the winter but lots of rains.

What is the approx cost per sq ft for Asphalt? Is there a thickness I should be looking at? Whats a good base?

Thanks

Hespeler,
I was asking the same questions as you and fortunately there was a Minnesota civil engineer that took the time to respond to my post at the time. I think he's gone off line because of computer problems since. You should be able to come up with most of the answers you need from those exchanges.
The only thing you need to make sure of is that you route all the water away from your driveway. Water that gets underneath is prone to heave the asphalt with repeated freeze/thaw cycles.
As far as price, I have a 120' X 10' wide driveway, with a new previously unpaved 25' X 40' section and a 12' X 20' new turnaround scheduled for next month for $8000 USD. That's on a 3" base of gravel and 3" coarse asphalt. We plan on getting a finish top coat of a fine asphalt layer the following year - finances willing and price of oil under $100...
Greynold99

Thanks Greynold99. I guess mine would cost almost half of the price then since yours is more than double my driveway. I was thinking of just asphalting over the concrete but that would cause more issues. How often would you need to reseal? every year? 5 years?

Cheers

Hespeler,
From my understanding, if the concrete surface is a good surface, not cracked and definitely not experiencing any movement that you could probably pave over with asphalt. It would also probably save a lot of tear-out/disposal cost as well. I've seen our state highway dept. do something similar -- and basically a good base is a good base. If you have cracks then you're right, you're going to have different sections of the asphalt heaving because the underlaying concrete is moving and that will telegraph up through the asphalt as cracks and crumbling driveway.
As far as sealing is concerned, the finer the finish top coat asphalt the less frequently you have to seal. That's why you'll see a year's waiting period before applying sealant over a standard fine finish top coat. It takes water more time to penetrate the smaller surface granules. With larger, coarser asphalt the bitumen tends to wear off faster on the larger gravel - therefore the more frequently sealant is necessary.
The real key is in how good a compaction you get when the contractor is 'rolling' out the asphalt.
Good luck,
Greynold99