Driveway questions?

Question

1.  I live in a northern clime.  My driveway is about 300' long... half gravel, half concrete.  The part on the slope is all buckled, other parts have fallen, or cracked or pitted.  I am not going to deal with half that is gravel.
2.  I received a few quotes for redoing the concrete part of my driveway.  I received concrete quotes of $11k, and $12k, and an asphalt quote of $9550.

Question:  which is better...asphalt or concrete?  My wife worries about the indents we will make when we turn around in the landing area next to the garage.  Can i reinforce that somehow?  What about traction up the slope with asphalt?

Question:  Would contractors be open to doing this in sections?...say the part closest to the house first for a third...then coming out in the spring...and doing another third...etc.

Question:  What percentage of the price will I save if I chose to do my own demo...me renting a jack hammer and delivering it to a concrete recycler?  Will contractors even allow me to do that?  All I need is someone to do the install....

Thoughts?

Whatevers · Answer

Concrete is certainly capable of lasting longer than asphalt, and if you have the money, I'd consider it the cheaper long term investment.  If done right.  If your installation is done poorly, you're screwed badly.

Traction can be handled regardless, depending on your needs and the slope.

I'm sure a contractor would let you remove the parts yourself, but in terms of breaking it into sections, it depends.  See it will cost them more money to send a truck out multiple times.  Now if they had to work over a couple of days, and let it set in, then that's fine, you'll notice that road construction is rarely done all in one day.  It takes time to do it right.

So...you'll have to ask.

J C · Answer

Thanks..all your points make sense.  I am going to see if I can cut the cost in half by doing my own demo...A few sledgehammers, a few teenagers, and a jackhammer should make this light work...then all I would need is someone to put in the footings, compact, and pour.  thanks for responding.

Driveway questions?

2 Answers