The picture on the left shows the final result of a driveway repair involving patio stones as well as asphalt. Basically the old asphalt was cut out in a half-moon shape up to about 5 feet from the garage. A strip down both sides was also cut out. Then the existing base was compacted. More stone was added to fill in the gap needed to bring the top of the patio stones even with the garage floor. We also removed the old drain pipe. We installed one of these roll-out – roll-up devices that stay hidden until it rains. This was done to protect the new brick and get the water as far away from the foundation as possible.
We hope that this will prevent or at the least slow down any further sink-age near the garage entrance which is what triggered this asphalt driveway repair in the first place.
Asphalt Driveway Repair – Why Not Excavate
Most contractors will excavate the entire driveway, refill with the proper stone mix and compact it down to a minimum of 18 inches. Then the new covering is installed over top of this base using either asphalt, patio stones, or a combination of both. They do this to protect themselves from callbacks to potential problems that may or may not occur. They have no idea what the base is like and want to ensure that they replace any existing problems with new material.
In our case, we chose to not follow this approach for several reasons. One was the overall cost. We saved between $6,500 to $4,000 by taking this approach. The base is already fully compacted, the existing asphalt was in good condition with no cracks or porous locations. We added crushed stone where needed, compacted, and then added the patio stone in the design we had planned. The result is shown in the picture above. This solution was augmented by then sealing the asphalt using a high-quality sealer, which makes it look almost new.
Asphalt Driveway Repair – How Long Will it Last
While this solution may not last as long as a new driveway with new asphalt will last, it is certainly good for another 10 years or so. This is great for us and we saved a great deal of money by taking this approach. In addition, the work was completed by the homeowner providing another huge saving. The savings in labor cost along are significant and the homeowner already had the pavers from a previous job.
The original reason for doing this job was that the asphalt had sunk about 3 inches near the garage. This may happen again over time with or without new compaction. If it does sink, all we have to do is remove the pavers, add more crushed stone, compact it, and replace the stone! A straightforward simple and inexpensive job.