I am looking to put in / upgrade my U-shaped driveway at the house; current driveway is an old crushed rock/sand driveway that probably hasn’t seen improvements in 20yrs. The house sits back approximately 150ft from the road and I plan to have the new driveway have lots of open room in front of the house. My main goal is to be able to pull my 32’ gooseneck trailer loaded around the driveway without having any tires leave the driveway (I hate ruts, been there, done that!!!). Total driveway area will likely be around 4200 SF with the drive part being 8-10ft wide.

Crushed concrete rolled in would be the cheapest; I have some geotextile fabric I will lay within the sharp turn as this will wear the quickest. I will also put some geotextile on a few pot-hole problem areas. This should cure my muddy driveway during the wet season.

Asphalt is the likely idea; new asphalt looks great, but I cant stand seeing cracks / holes develop over time. My asphalt experience is only with DOT specs; I am not sure how this will translate into the residential / affordable side of things. I know the subrgade is extremely important, what else do I need to look for to prevent 2-5yr problems from developing? Keep in mind 3/4ton truck/heavy trailer making tight turn regularly.

Concrete would be ideal, but probably out of my price range. I would be looking at approximately $5K in material alone.

I work in industrial construction and I am very familiar with pricing for roads, just not sure what factor to apply for industrial vs. small residential. Any ideas on typical $/SF pricing in the Houston / Tomball area?

What are yalls feelings on rate of return on the driveway installation? I will likely sell within the next 2-4 years; I remember the lack of established driveway being a big argument in my price reduction 3yrs ago when I bought the house.

Finally, any suggestions for contractors in the NW Houston / Tomball / Waller / Magnolia area?

 

If its done properly. Proper prep work, proper thickness, proper maintenance, you wont have any cracks.
Price is going to depend on how many of these propers you want.
the square footage is important, but a gypsy crew will do it cheaply, but it may only be an inch thick and laid over grass.
if your selling in the next few years, I wouldn't worry about it.

 

I had the double wide driveway done at my old house, with a parking spot alongside the 2 car garage.
Heavy trucks weren't a problem. Just before I sold I had
a good heavy duty sealer put on it, made it look brand new, very smooth and shiny.
It really made the whole house look good and I'm sure helped get my price.

 

Is asphalt a good idea for those hot Texas summers? I'd be worried about driving on it and causing damage to it when it's hot. I'd like to do my driveway too but It would cost a fortune.

 

Engineered fill for base (6"). Min. of 1 1/2 asphalt. Spray it with a good weed killer before you lay the asphalt.

 

Here locally I'm being told that concrete driveways aren't much more than asphalt due to oil prices. If you use a cheap asphalt company the price might be a lot less than concrete, but the job won't last either.

My brother and his wife bought a new house in 1999. The asphalt driveway was so bad that it didn't make it a year before it had ruts and was falling apart. My brother's father in-law owns a asphalt driveway company so they redid the driveway and no problems since then.

I had the same company do the asphalt driveway at my house and no issues other than a crack from a tree root. (No discount unfortunately.) That said, I would never do asphalt again since it is so soft in the heat for the first few years.

 

Go with concrete. The maintance on alphalt aint cheap, and it will crack and rut when hot.

 

if done properly asphalt will last years without any cracks or ruts . I had a driveway put in 6 years ago when I built a detached garage. I used a very reputable contractor they removed 12 inches of soil .The base is crushed stone item 4 that was rolled with large roller like the ones used on highways to 9 inches. Then it sat for a few weeks while I drove on it and parked . Any ruts were filled again and rolled then the blacktop(roadgrade) was put down and rolled again to a thickness of 3 inches. I park my camping trailer on it and my truck they never sink and not one crack.

I plan on coating it for the first time this summer not for anything other than looks.

 

Concrete is king. However, if you don't plan on staying go with blacktop, just get a good job so it looks good when you sell. Kurt