I hate shaving my driveway 
Concrete vs. Blacktop
Lead Driver
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 6,773
Likes: 7
From: On the road in Ohio
just wanted say ,you might consider fiber reinforced concrete, its replacing the use of rebar. rebar rusts over time.creating holes inside of the concrete, and with the cost of steel going up the price differance won't be much.and if you figure the labor of putting in the rebar it should end up saving you money. maybe some of the guy's here will tell you the strengh benefits of fiber reinforced, i believe its rated at 4000psi maybe 5000psi?
Last edited by f=2504by497; Apr 2, 2004 at 07:20 PM.
Lead Driver
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 6,773
Likes: 7
From: On the road in Ohio
dennis , i beg to differ about the finish, there is no differance in appearance, the end result is depended on the concrete finisher's ability. but there maybe a differance in the product that is used here in the us vs in canada, i don't know... but i look at at fiber concrete everyday ,up and down our street , at drives that have been poured in the last two years, the finish is very good. and fiber concrete has been in use for 15+ years. rebar rusts, which is why fiber crete was developed.
Posting Guru
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 1,750
Likes: 0
From: Lenexa, KS
I have a "fibre-mesh" driveway that was poured about 4-5 years ago. I didn't realize that they were'nt going to use re-bar until the day they showed up to form and pour it. We had a little bit of a discussion about it, but ultimately I gave in to the contractor. So far the driveway has held up fine, but I have only seen this practice in a residential application. When I see commercial projects like roads and buildings that involve concrete, I still see re-bar being used. By the way, I went with a broomed finish and I had them "shine" all the edges for a picture framed effect.
Posting Guru
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 1,099
Likes: 0
From: Destin/Ft. Walton Beach,
Concrete hasn't got to be so thick if you have "footers" under where the tires of the truck will be. Four to six inches is plenty, with 16 inch by 16 inch footers. Footers are really like ditches dug down into the ground, and rebar placed in the ditches. This effectively builds concrete beams under your driveway. It holds up high-rise building, so your truck weight is not a problem. Make sure you seal all your expansion joints too. If you don't, water gets in them and freezes in the winter. I don't care what psi concretr you use. Ice will crack it. Been there, done it for over 20 years.
Post Fiend
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 13,873
Likes: 3
From: Atlanta GA
It is 100 degrees outside, you jack up the truck and leave it on jackstands, then you come back in the evening. If you used concrete you will not come back to find the jackstand sunk into the driveway.
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Junior User
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 69
Likes: 0
From: on a mountain road, UT
go with the concrete. i'm sure the climate i live in is similiar to yours. up in park city we get temps from -20F to 95F. and lots of snow at 8k feet. never had any issues with it. about 3 years ago, i had to write a technical paper on the advantages of concrete vs. asphalt for a civil engineering class(i am doing transportation engineering). concrete's benefits far outweigh asphalts. asphalt is also the reason why half of america's highways are under road construction each summer. always repaving. which really sucks. plus, the heat that it gives off in summer is horrendous.
good luck, you always get what you pay for.
good luck, you always get what you pay for.
Thread Starter
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Senior User
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 309
Likes: 0
From: Big Bear, CA
got some good leads today from one of the businesses up here that sells rock and stuff to all the contractors. Un-biased hopefully. The names they gave are not who I got the estimates from, so that could be a good thing. I'm leaning heavily towards the concrete. If it's too expensive maybe I'll do blacktop with the concrete strips. Hopefully I have time to get the estimates tomorrow.
thanks for all the info everybody, I feel a lot more informed now. I won't let the pavers walk on me (bad-pun).
thanks for all the info everybody, I feel a lot more informed now. I won't let the pavers walk on me (bad-pun).
New User
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 0
Likes: 24
To me that just means they will be doing a 3-6" base of road gravel. Since you're not doing a hwy where they have massive rolling equip to pack down the material what will they do to pack it down?
btw, I waited to ask about creating a type of base until you told us what material you would go with.
Thinking of Water run off from your yard,etc
btw, I waited to ask about creating a type of base until you told us what material you would go with.
Thinking of Water run off from your yard,etc
Posting Legend
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 30,255
Likes: 37
Remember one thing about asphalt, it is a mixture of aggregate and heavy oils or "tar". Asphalt flows under continuous pressure. Check out installations in front of stores etc in parking lots where cars and trucks sit. There are usually pits there where the asphalt has flowed. Check out loading docks also. Asphalt also flows at intersections when vehicles apply braking force to the surface. Of course this gets worse the hotter the climate is.
Thread Starter
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Senior User
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 309
Likes: 0
From: Big Bear, CA
alright, I have 3 different contractors coming over within the next two days to give estimates. I'll let you guys know what they wrote up and see which is better. I'll also ask about the base, Dennis. That's a good idea.