I just moved to Minneapolis and they use asphalt here almost exclusively. The reason? Because on a 20 degree day, concrete will hold ice--the black asphalt will gather enough heat from the sun to melt it. Kind of strange to see snow & ice everywhere and then perfectly clear and dry driveways.

 

asphalt sucks--look at high travel roads--in settles out bad--and as one said--has to be replaced way sooner--concrete is near forever if laid properly--

 

I have to throw the flag on a 3' deep driveway pour. 6" is suggested and is more than sufficient for any homeowner.

The concrete salesman must have called the home office on that one.

 

For a bit more than poured concrete you can get concrete pavers. I like Grinnell brand. http://www.grinnellpavers.com/ To me its much nicer looking than a slab. I used them for a patio and when the asphalt driveway is shot I won't hesitite to use them there too.

 

about 20 feet out from the shop use concrete but for the rest use asphalt for cost reasons. Plus if you get snow the ice will melt easier on the asphalt. This means you would have better traction.

 

Use black colored concrete... -hehe!

 

Another nice thing about concrete is that you can use an epoxy finish on it to prevent spills from soaking in.MUCH easier to clean up.Put in a center drain with the floor gently slpoing to the center,and hose it down and all the water goes to the drain without a lot of squeegy work.Do it at night befire you go in the house and it is dry in the morning.Can you tell I`m a bit lazy?Hehehehe.

Leo

 

The epoxy coating thing would be great, escpecially on an outside pad in an area where water absorption/freezing can result in cracking. I just epoxy coated the entire basement 3-car garage in the house I just moved into... this time, before unpacking my shop. Boy!! It's a great surface... almost makes me WANT to sweep it.... ALMOST!!

 

We love it when people want 6 inch driveways and aprons, but the truth is you can save money by going 4 inches with a stronger mix.

As long as your subgrade is good you wont have any problems.

 

3' for a driveway ?. its 86 bucks a yard here it dont take long to eat up some yards when you get pouring 3 ft thick but its your money.


Jeff

 

I have a well poured and non cracked 10 year old concrete drive. If you go concrete, just keep a bucket of portland cement around in case someone with a oil leaking car comes around. Just sprinkle a nice amount on the spill and let sit for a day. Cleans pretty. Also, do a search for "pour and restore" driveway cleaner. I bought some but haven't tried it yet. An I only give "leakers" one freebie. These folks are told to stay off the drive in future visits.

 

Cat litter works good also.

 

I've never done a concrete or blacktop driveway before but three of my neighbors just had blacktop driveways done, shortly after the job was done they sprinkled the entire surface with a concrete powder mix that helps to seal the surface and now you really can't tell it's not concrete, I've always preferred the look of concrete.

 

I'd go with 5'' concrete pad (with rebar and 6 x 6 wire) that's "big enough". And then put gravel (AB3) down. Black top is a waste in my opinion. Gravel is easy to maintain on fairly level ground especially if you have a rear blade on a tractor. But if money is no object, do the whole thing in concrete with Interstate specs.

 

Even 6" is overkill for residential. I'm sure this guy is kidding because if he really had a friend in the buisness he'd know better. 4" with fibermesh is common and if you went 6" with fibermesh you could drive semi-tractors in and out daily.