Asphalt or Concrete? Right Material for Driveway

Are you installing a new driveway after renovations or replacing your old, worn, and stained one? You have a lot of options these days to personalize it to your own tastes, style, and needs. Here are some things to consider when choosing between asphalt or concrete for your driveway.

Compare installation costs.

Asphalt is typically much less expensive to install. You can often get an asphalt driveway for less than $5 per square foot. On the other hand, concrete driveways can run up to over $15 per square foot, depending on the options and finish you choose.

Compare maintenance costs.

For the most part, your concrete driveway isn’t going to need much maintenance. If you get any cracks, these will need to be repaired. You don’t have to seal a concrete one; but if you do, it will help protect it against stains and cracks. You might want to have someone come clean it well with an industrial degreaser to keep it looking pristine.

Asphalt is another story. About 6 to 12 months after your asphalt driveway is installed, it needs to be sealed. Not sealing your asphalt will lead to cracks and significant breaking down over time, causing it to require complete resurfacing. You will have to repeat the sealing every three years. This adds significantly to the maintenance cost of asphalt.

Compare ease of renewal.

Are you particularly hard on your driveway? Do you do auto repair for friends and acquaintances as a side gig? Are you working on the restoration of a car as a hobby? In any of these cases, you are going to be harder on your driveway than most.

A concrete driveway is going to stain easily, although it does help if you seal it. It will only be able to be cleaned with a heavy duty degreaser. And if you get a lot of cracks or stains that won’t lift, it’s a lot harder to start over. You can’t pave over concrete.

On the other hand, asphalt is very easy to pave over with more asphalt. If you end up putting some divots in it, you can easily have them filled and smoothed over. If you do too much damage to the asphalt, you can have us come out and just pave over it with a new, fresh layer.

If you are interested in getting a concrete or asphalt driveway installed on your property, contact us today for assistance.