Was This $20k Blacktop Driveway Worth It?!?

[@juliejones9664]

I've been doin asphalt for 30 years they did really good job. I'm glad you did not tearout the old asphalt alot ppl think you always gotta tearout but old asphalt is best base as long as it's not completely flat

[@Garageaholic]

Thank you. Now that’s a good down to earth comment!

[@pmg2120]

Yes they did a good job and yes people love to tear out asphalt when they should be recapping it. They should have tacked it first, but other than that nice job.

[@pmg2120]

This is the best comment on here. Can tell you know what you’re talking about, Having been in the asphalt paving business my entire life I’m not to impressed with the our commenters.

[@ucfsub]

Go watch his follow-up video, the driveway is falling apart after 3 years because of that old asphalt base.

[@chrislanders282]

Anytime you have an existing driveway with gator cracks or a lot of cracks in general then you overlay it you get reflective cracking through your new asphalt and the initial issue is now the same issue you have with your new driveway.

[@shawnh2590]

i would recommend a sealcoat within the next year.

[@markroberts362]

Hate to give u the bad news buddy I’m a retired paying contractor and the asphalt is only as strong as the sub base it’s laid over . And the 2 inch existing AC there over laying is junk it will look ok for awhile but it’s not going to last the test of time . Water always seeks the path of least resistance and all that alergating is that path at the minimum a stabilization fabric should have been used to create a moisture barrier and help keep water from perking up and comprising it integratey of the mat there putting down . I worked 15 yrs for one of the biggest paving and grading company’s in Northern California doing 100 s of city street over lays freeway and road construction then another 12 years doing my own thing so here’s a little advice if there are a lot rock pockets that start to form u can apply sheet asphalt which is nothing but the fines to seal the top and help keep the water from penitratrating the mat. Asphalt can be drivin on the same day once it’s cooled down after a couple of hours it’s as strong as it’s going to be . I understand from the size of ur project the price was a big force driving ur decision and luckily the driveway won’t be under continuous use bat as the weather washes the oils binding the A C together don’t wait to long to seal coat it .Good Luck

[@Garageaholic]

Great comment thank you! Plan to seal it in 2-3 months!

[@pmg2120]

Not a great comment he has no idea what he’s talking about. They drive loaded dump trucks over the old asphalt and it’s was fine. 1 inch of asphalt is the structural equivalent of 3” of gravel base.

[@my_name_is_chef4856]

@@pmg2120it’s not a terrible comment. I agree that there is a difference in the required specs for residential applications and commercial. But the contractor above has the old school mentality of building things that last forever. And with that being said he is in no way wrong about his advice. What he suggested will create the most durable and long lasting solution which is how us little companies get return business and cover our bases. I’m a concrete contractor and I apply some commercial specs in my residential jobs, and as I said that’s so I don’t have to worry about it’s structural integrity.

[@pmg2120]

@@my_name_is_chef4856 So you are not in the asphalt paving business and you don’t know any more about it than I do the concrete business. I would never try to correct someone who has been in the concrete business for over 35 years, because I would be unqualified to do so. As are you. You should stay in your lane instead of coming off as a know it all, who knows nothing.

[@my_name_is_chef4856]

@@pmg2120 at least I don’t come off as an insufferable man child as you do. I didn’t say he or you were right or wrong. I simply stated that when you own a small business you take extra steps to make sure you construct a project that will last through time so that you don’t have to ever worry about it in the future. Your reaction suggest that even if you knew what was right or wrong you would still half ass projects in the name of saving a buck.

[@aguyghow9783]

Beautiful look, the main problem we have in the north with the driveways is the 14 ton snowplows that pass through and crush everything

[@antoniocampbell463]

I got to do mine from scratch. Tired of the rain mud in Central Florida. These videos will help me understand the process and pre planning. I want a 24 foot wide and 80 feet long asphalt job in front of my garage.

[@williamcarvalho2869]

Great driveway. How did this cost?

[@13579roadrash]

I hope the ground under the old asphalt is stable enough to hold up to the traffic that is going to be on it. The asphalt was laid on a rough top all though the whole driveway is alligator cracked it should hold in place. I think i would have added tack oil to the old asphalt. I would not recommend paving over old cracked asphalt it should have been removed and roll test with a loaded truck to see if there is any soft spots that need attention. That being said that is a lot more money to do that, probably double the cost, I think if you get 15 years out of it the way it was paved, the money you saved by doing it this way will get you a new driveway again in 15 years at the same cost and increased the life of his driveway to 30 plus years. It has terrible looking seams watch for rock pop. try sealing it once a year and getting a sealer with fine sand in it will help get rid of the look and help hold the rocks in place, rock pop is going to happen in time so try and getting them sealed in place may prevent this. It will be 3 or 4 coats to do this but in as many years, for instance a coat a year till you think it is sealed. Good Luck

[@pmg2120]

Seal it every year for 3 or 4 years? It will look like a broken windshield if he does that from the clay in the sealer cracking.

[@MrNicoe36cabrio]

Wow Frank, 90 tons is a lot! This is a big investment. Thanks for sharing. Dutch regards, Nico.

[@brenyz5013]

Good vid it is a roller we don’t call it a steam roller any more that was when they ran on steam .

[@Garageaholic]

HHAH, yeah, I'm not into the lingo!

[@b-tek4383]

@@Garageaholic how many days we have to wait for using it or driving car on it

[@andywhite1636]

Very satisfying I have recently completed work on my home totally feel your excitement and pleasure gained from the end result

[@deandefrancesch613]

Glad to see the homestead getting some love!! It can’t always be cars getting upgraded. Now we can look forward to sick LT1 burnouts!!!

[@rccalhoun]

we used to use petromat fabric layer placed on the alligatored areas before paving

[@nkosanamabena3484]

Looks really good, great job!!

[@anthonyariza8215]

How much did it cost ?

[@adamsnyder6931]

Terrible seems. They rolled down the edges before tying in again that’s why you have seen lines everywhere. Also their paver screed needs replaced; leaving horrible shadows in the mat

[@Garageaholic]

I’ll end up sealing in the spring

[@devonfreshwater3211]

@@Garageaholic sealing it won’t hide the seams if anything sealing will make the seams of asphalt and roller marks more noticeable

[@pmg2120]

Sealing it with a water based sealer definitely will hide the seams. Especially if applied by squeegee. Just ask anyone with even the slightest bit of knowledge on the subject.

[@robertsfamily2028]

Idk how people fine see this is a bad job lol and the garbage come on.

[@Dusboy7]

Third generation paver. They should have pulled an inch over any cracked areas and rolled that. Then layed two inches compacted over the whole driveway. Edges aren’t strait and seams are rough. Another thing is why would they dump asphalt on the ground and use a skid steer to fill the paver? Pavers are made for trucks to dump into them. Just my opinion.

[@billpiehler9010]

Have to used sealer on the ends. It will crumble faster in places like the cement edge in front of the garage. Also back fill the sides to keep that from breaking off when cars go off the edge

[@Garageaholic]

Just got it sealed today actually!

[@thomasshidlow172]

Don’t listen to this guy either. Back filled or not the edges are fucked. They just backfill them will do absolutely nothing there will be no lateral force on that asphalt great enough with the typography of the ground to cause such damage as if a car rolls off the edge. The problem is what’s underneath the asphalt and what the company didn’t do

[@thomasshidlow172]

Hey you can put shit in a plastic bag and it will smell a lot better but it’s still shit under the bag right

[@pmg2120]

@@thomasshidlow172 You have no idea what you’re talking about. You should always backfill asphalt edges. With out support they will start to crack within about a year. That’s why public roads have a concrete curb or gravel shoulder.

[@simd510]

​@@pmg2120what do you recommend to backfill with? I'm trying to decide between dirt, gravel or recycled asphalt

[@kwacz]

had my driveway top coated at 6 years later it looks worse than before it was top coated. I got burned!!

[@jameskotsch8271]

You never gave us any idea of the cost-but it does look good-I am thinking of redoing mine

[@krazyshady902]

It hurts my soul to even think about how much this would cost

[@sealthedeal716]

Failure will happen in a year or two. No tack coat Asphalt failures happen 99% because of poor or failing base material. That paver is not laying a good mat.needs maintenance.

[@DeqauriusWadsworth]

That paver was laying a nearly perfect Mat also not all driveways need tack coat only in case we’re the driveway has been sealed multiple times.

[@head7502]

@@DeqauriusWadsworth umm no. Any overlay especially one over an old failing driveway needs tack to bind the 2 mats together. Otherwise it’s like paving 1-1/2 to 2” over dirt. Ain’t gonna last long. Also the ground was wet in multiple areas(another bad sign). Lots of short pulls with way more cold joints then needed and way more raking them needed for such a squared up easy job.

[@manny53o]

@@head7502 agreed on the tack coat and short pulls clearly you know your stuff. Also those pot holes should have at a minimum been excavated out and back filled with AC. I would have suggested a paving fabric over the damaged sections

[@dubez3784]

@@DeqauriusWadsworth your completely wrong . any overlay needs a tck coat and yes the mat looks bad , has horrible center segregation

[@DeqauriusWadsworth]

@@dubez3784 just cuz you get paid bud 100 a day to tamp some asphalt does not mean you know what you are talking about

[@AnarchyEnsues]

I do asphalt. You will never get what is claimed. Asphalt is expensive. They quote you 50mm you will get 45.. you can trust, but verify. Best way is to work out spreadrate and make sure that amount of material went down. Would of looked better if they had a multi tyre roller on it. But some of the scares should go away with use. You can drive on it straight away, it would of helped get some marks out of it if you drive on it while it's still warm, after an hour when laid that thick. I wouldn't trust an asphalt contractor that recommended not to drive on new asphalt, I would question their product and thickness. Probably trying to lày a think coat and wants to be a long way away with your money when you car cracks up the driveway

[@luboo4034]

It’s a mess there was no tack coat sprayed on the old road the pothole was shaped up with road millings instead of asphalt look at the marks on it it’s terrible so it is

[@johnsonbar5022]

have a contractor that has a paver that lays down the asphalt, and while the paver is sitting in my driveway waiting for the rain to stop, I notice a layer of oil in the bed of the paver where the asphalt is going to be. Is this going to create a problem for the asphalt to asphalt to adhere to itself and maintian a quality layer?

[@pmg2120]

No not at all. We spray diesel in the hopper to keep the asphalt from gumming things up. We do the same with tools. It’s common practice.

[@AA-dg3ig]

Were r u located the view is awesome

[@dubez3784]

that driveway is a bit much for that company . a driveway that size needs to be done with a more adequate paver and roller package . all the pick up and set over show really bad . with a better machine like a leeboy 8520 or larger they could've done the main stretch out in 1 pass with the exception of the 17' area , that would've got rid of all those horrible middle seams and start joints . also rolling it first with the 1 ton in this situation makes no sense . I would've put our HD13 with oscillation on it first then back rolled with the 1 ton , would've blended in much better. let's not look past the fact that they never put a tack coat down .

[@Garageaholic]

And how much would you charge to do the job?

[@dubez3784]

@@Garageaholic in my area that would be about a 17k to 18k driveway

[@rfair123]

@@dubez3784 I have a similarly sized driveway, but bigger garage pad area, it's currently very solid gravel, approx 15k sq ft total, how much should I expect that to cost?

[@dubez3784]

@@rfair123 you'd have to add a fine grade item to yours since it's gravel . At 2" compacted that measurement you gave me comes out to aprox 190 ton or at 2.5" compacted it's aprox 240 ton . In my area you'd expect to pay around $25000 to $30000 for that job.

[@danfettig9438]

They wouldn’t pave for me, that’s all I will say about it.

[@Evansthoughts]

And the plot thickens...

[@bro7013]

Cause ur driveway was prob to short

[@pmg2120]

I doubt anyone else would either. People like you come up with millions of excuses, but what it really is, is you can’t or won’t spend the money.

[@kalebwhite2802]

About how much would this cost?

[@krazyshady902]

Disgustingly a lot

[@Garageaholic]

Yeah it ain’t cheap. But you do it once every 15-20 years

[@darylducholke4059]

Sorry about all the haters:((((....were they right?...did it fall apart already? Show them its holding up great!

[@Garageaholic]

Hahah yeah it’s holding up great!!! No cracks - looks brand new still. Maybe I’ll do a follow up video one year later?

[@pmg2120]

They did a good job. It will hold up just fine. Other than maybe 2 or 3 of the commenters on here, nobody has any idea what they’re talking about.

[@GeneralF34R]

Most excellent 🙌🏼

[@simd510]

Do you know how many sqft your driveway is?

[@collinsclan4136]

Was this recycled/crushed asphalt?

[@young4594]

Good job

[@MrLoudog7]

I would love a quick update video after all these years. Looks like they did a good job to me. there’s always something more that can be done no matter what you’re doing. Nevermind the nay sayers.

[@ucfsub]

He posted a 3 year update video

[@Garageaholic]

@ucfsub and guess what, I’m due for a 4th video next month. What will this year bring?!

[@45crazykid]

Looking great😎

[@tr3vorb438]

Did you ever seal the original driveway?

[@Garageaholic]

I paved over the original driveway. Sealed the new one after 1 year

[@hevendranarayansamy2793]

Well done Frank

[@ian.M440]

Great job 👍

[@brendanbailey2925]

Nice job

[@adrianperez6708]

You don't mind if I ask you how much you paid?

[@mohammadbenattia9102]

congratulations

[@PorscheCaymanB]

I'm getting quoted $12K for something thats a fraction of the size here in OH!

[@shawnlapoint276]

This was 3 years ago asphalt has skyrocketed

[@DDDhorus]

Why didn't they replace the sub floor .... Uh oh !!

[@Garageaholic]

$$$$$ 2 yes later still very happy!

[@DDDhorus]

@@Garageaholic that's good, yeah this stuff is super super expensive.... These days, you did good!!

[@pmg2120]

Sub floor? Hahaha

[@michaelfromm3325]

i would like to say if you are happy then that is great. but frst of all the driveway is to thin to grind down. you should have at least 4 to 5 in. black top and the old should have been removed . a crush of 3 to 4 in put down so the potholes and dips would not have happened in first place. yess it would have been alot more but if you keep it up it would have lasted 10 plus years. and not 3 to 4 with what you got. sorry . thanks mike

[@drzflyest4]

Every area is different. Here in Florida standard practice is 2"

[@pmg2120]

It always blows my mind when people with absolutely no idea what they’re talking about whatsoever decide that they should comment on a subject.

[@47kato]

How much it a square ft

[@luboo4034]

Yet another American video of asphalt being laid and not done right for one the old existing road should’ve been sprayed with a tack coat solution which is a sticky solution that helps the new material bind better and helps the new road from moving in future and while laying it down I’m amazed at the amount of Americans that’s poor in this kind of work

[@Garageaholic]

Wow tell me how you really feel! Haha

[@brandonpryormusic]

They screwed you by not putting tack down. Especially where your driveway slopes down to meet the main road. Don’t slam on your brakes or do any burnouts. You might rip that pavement up like an area rug on a wood floor.

[@AriasGamingKC]

This and some spots looks very thin! They probably charged him for 3 inches and only laid down 1-2 inches.

[@pmg2120]

It should have been tacked but it’s a rough old driveway I think it’ll stick down fine.

[@hugostiglitz7997]

This should make burnouts easier up and down the driveway

[@Garageaholic]

Hah I get mad when people turn their tires while stationary! Tire scrub ruins new driveways so I don’t think I’ll be doing burnouts on it anytime soon!!

[@lisasmith9278]

In the UK I would get sent to jail for doing a job like this lol no offence but its as rough as a bears ass and them tamped in edges will start growing grass through them in no time. Seen Americans do incredible concrete drives far superior to what we get in the UK but the tarmac jobs are terrible. Should have tar and chipped it and saved $10000.

[@Garageaholic]

How do you prevent vegetation from growing through it?

[@lisasmith9278]

@@Garageaholic Weed killer, but thats constant maintenance so a nightmare. If it was mine I would trim the edges straight with an abrasive saw and tightly retro fit some 3/4 x 3 pressure treated planks to act as a kerb. Slot them in vertically and peg them in place with wooden stakes. The lawn side is the problem because when you mow it you spread the grass seeds all over. Once it gets a foot hold in the edges the roots can grow between the 2 layers because there is no tack coat to properly bond them together. I meant no offence by the way you have a lovely property.

[@Garageaholic]

Thank you I will just be more aware to take good care of the vegetation through this spring and summer. Appreciate the comment

[@youngbithum]

Not the best practice done laying 50mm on poor base id rather have had it all ripped up stoned then paved ,regarding the divot they had to redo thats poor finish same as the centre joint ,it also looks as if the paver screed was dragging the tarmac in places overall not the greatest

[@Garageaholic]

I’m still happy after 1 year’

[@FusionOutdoorServices]

Comprimises😢 were made I assume the price was one of those comprimises

[@Kenken-dv7li]

2 inch pavement hopefully it lasts 5 years maybe 10 years if your lucky

[@Garageaholic]

Man, so much hate for this video. LOL

[@Kenken-dv7li]

@@Garageaholic actually awesome video they did a good job it looks awesome professional grade My only concern is the thickness 2 inch on top ain't much I doubt it will ever last 20 years that's just my own opinion

[@gilderlopez4278]

it looks like they only poor 1 inch in half i am 8 years aslphat worcker experienc

[@Garageaholic]

Nope - was at least 2”

[@luboo4034]

This driveway is a bad job m8t really bad and won’t last 5 years before it fails and there is absolutely no way you should need to seal a brand new driveway after a year no way I have been doing this work for 23 years and can tell you straight away it’s a mess

[@shawnh2590]

you at very least should have crack sealed it before the over lay.

[@pmg2120]

What? You don’t crack seal when you’re recapping. Ever. Why are you commenting when you have no idea what you’re talking about?

[@shawnh2590]

I’ve been doing this for 30 years. I know what I’m talking about.

[@pmg2120]

@@shawnh2590 No you have not or you would know you don’t crack seal before you recap. You’re probably a seal coater, but even 99% of them would know better. Have you ever seen them crack seal a highway, county road, parking lot or anything else before they recap it? The answer is no. Because it wouldn’t help in any way. It would prevent the asphalt fines from filling in the cracks and actually bleed up through the new asphalt making a mess though.

[@TonyAndersonUSA1]

They broke even at $20K? It should have been $30K

[@AffordableAsphaltstriping]

Why no vibroplate why use tapper 😂 why no tack ss1 seal it in 1 year or it will unravel

[@shawnlapoint276]

Sorry to tell you bud you got ripped of no tack coat no vibrator rolled the old should have been removed All them cracks are gonna move and wreck the new layer

[@robertmcdonald9280]

I will drive on free dirt.

20K? wtf. Do it yourself with a couple of other people..

[@AUdioHipster]

10 get a grip

[@robertsfamily2028]

They did a bad job lol

[@RHEC1776]

🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄 please stop talking.

[@TimothyEdwards-gp2vd]

Waste of time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!